165. Divorce

Henry VIII, king of England, asked the Pope to grant him a divorce from his lawful wife, Catherine of Aragon, so that he might marry Anne Boleyn. The king had rendered valuable services to the Church. If the Pope refused, England would surely be plunged in heresy. But Pope Clement VII stood firm. Not even to save England for the Church could he break God's law. The only reply he gave was: "Non possumus; I have no authority to set aside the divine law." As a result, Henry VIII abandoned his obedience, and intent on his evil desires and yielding to his passions, he revolted from the Church. This was the beginning of the Protestant Church of England.

What is meant by the unity of the sacrament of Matrimony?

— By the unity of the sacrament of Matrimony is meant that the husband cannot during the life of his wife have another wife, nor the wife during the life of her husband have another husband.

1. Christian marriage is a union between only one man and one woman. God created only one man and one woman in the beginning; and thus then there was unity in marriage.

Under the Mosaic Law, divorce was in some cases permitted, to avoid greater evils, because after the Fall the primitive revelation had become obscured to men. But when Christ came. He withdrew this permission absolutely, and restored marriage to its original unity, saying: "Have you not read that the Creator, from the beginning, made them male and female, and said, for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore now they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder. . . . Moses, by reason of the hardness of your heart, permitted you to put away your wives; but it was not so from the beginning" (Matt. 19:4-8).

2. Christian marriage is a sacred and holy state pleasing to God. St. Paul compares it to the mystical union between Christ and His Church. As Christ is one, and the Church is one, so marriage is between one man and one woman. As Christ and the Church are inseparably united, so marriage is indissoluble. It makes the contracting parties "two in one flesh."

St. Paul said: "This is a great mystery — I mean in reference to Christ and the Church" (Eph. 5:32). Christ is the head of the Church; so is the man the head of the wife. The Church is subject to Christ; so must the wife be obedient to her husband. Christ never abandons the Church, and the Church is always faithful to Christ; so a man and his wife must be faithful to each other.

3. The important object of marriage is to provide for the proper upbringing of children. This could not be attained if divorce were permitted.

What would become of the children if the parents were free to separate at their leisure? Court records show that many youthful criminals come from the broken homes of divorced parents. Divorce destroys the family and will some day, if not arrested, destroy the State.

4. If the indissoluble character of Matrimony is well understood, even should, as may often happen, husband and wife disagree, their tendency would be to make up, not to rush to the divorce court.

The preservation of the sacred character of marriage is vital to society; give in to divorce, and destruction of all social life will come. Divorce is a breach in the wall of civilization, a destructive force in morality. Today two out of five marriages end in divorce. Beginning with causes of adultery, now in many places divorce can be obtained on almost any grounds; it has become only an excuse to change partners. Is that Matrimony?

What is divorce?

— Divorce is a legal separation of married persons; as generally understood today, it is a complete severance of the marriage bond giving the parties the right to marry other persons.

1. Our Lord lifted marriage from the natural to the supernatural level, making of it a holy sacrament. And this consummated sacramental marriage can never be dissolved, except by the death of one of the parties; there can never be such a thing approved by the Church as divorce.

The marriage of unbaptised persons is not sacramental, though it may be valid. The valid marriage of two baptised persons is always sacramental, whether they be Catholics or non-Catholics. For this reason the valid marriage of two baptised non-Catholics performed in the authorized manner is always a sacrament. This is easily understood when we remember that neither pastor nor official is the minister of the sacrament of Matrimony; they do not really confer the sacrament. The contracting parties are themselves the ministers, and confer the sacrament upon each other.

2. Christ definitely and strictly forbade the cutting, the breaking of the marriage bond. Nobody can misinterpret His meaning: "Everyone who puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries a woman who has been put away from her husband commits adultery" (Luke 16:18).

"For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore now they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mark 10:7-9).

3. The bond of the sacrament of matrimony lasts until the death of husband or wife. Christian marriage is indissoluble, except by death. Divorce, that is, the breaking of the marriage bond, with the right to remarry, is never permitted. By the law of God, the bond uniting husband and wife can be dissolved only by death.

"And he said to them: ... Whoever puts away his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if the wife puts away her husband and marries another, she commits adultery" (Mark 10:11-12). "Everyone who puts away his wife, save on account of immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and he who marries a woman who has been put away commits adultery" (Matt. 5:32).

4. No power on earth can break a Christian marriage. The indissolubility of marriage is not a law ordained by the Church, but by God. The Church cannot and will not tamper with the laws of God. As St. Paul said:

"To those who are married, not, but the Lord, commands that a wife is not to depart from her husband, and if she departs, that she is to remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not a husband put away his wife" (Cor. 7:10, 11).

5. Not even to avert the most serious calamities can the Church sanction divorce.

When Nicholas I was Pope, the King of Lorraine, Lothaire II, had the Emperor Louis send an army to Rome to frighten Pope Nicholas into giving him a divorce from his wife. But the Pope did not grant the divorce. Napoleon the Great appealed to Pope Pius VII to annul the marriage which his brother Jerome had contracted with Miss Patterson of Baltimore. The Pope sent the following reply after minute investigation: "Your Majesty will understand that upon the information thus far received by Us, it is not in Our power to pronounce a sentence of nullity. We cannot utter a judgement in opposition to the rules of the Church, and We could not, without laying aside those rules, decree the invalidity of a union which, according to the Word of God, no human power can sunder."

6. A non-consummated marriage between two baptised persons, or between one baptised and another unbaptised, is dissolved either by the solemn religious profession of either party, or by papal dispensation for very grave cause.

In contrast to the attitude of the Popes on divorce was the action taken by the Protestant "reformers," Luther, Melanchthon, etc., when Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, wished to have two wives at the same time. For sixteen years Philip had been married to Christiana, daughter of the Duke of Saxony, and the couple had been blessed with several children. Soon after the Protestant outbreak, Philip became attracted to Margaret Saal, a maid of honour in his household. He did not, however, apply for a divorce from the Protestant leaders, but wished them to sanction another marriage, so that he might have two wives, Christiana and Margaret, at one and the same time. The Protestant "reformers" gave this answer to Philip: "If Your Highness is resolved to marry a second wife, we judge that it should be done privately. ... Thus all opposition and scandal will be avoided. Still, we ought not to be anxious about what the world will say, provided the conscience is at rest. Thus we approve of it, and Your Highness has, in this writing, our approbation."