“Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.” ― Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed
I do not know how many people read the column in the January 5, 2018 One Voice about the position taken by the Bishops from Kazakhstan concerning the questions raised by the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia and the subsequent publication of guidelines. Amoris Laetitia has passages of great wisdom and beauty on marriage and on family life. And it has other passages that have caused some obvious controversy regarding the readmission of Catholics who are divorced and remarried to the Eucharist (Chaput). The article in the One Voice addresses a lot of the questions raised. Now no one or two-page article is going to fully address all the issues, but my hope is to shed some light on the matter and provide some information which I hope you find useful.

Why does the Catholic Church teach that marriage is indissoluble when there are so many divorces today? To answer this question, we must first look at exactly what the Church teaches. This is summarized in paragraph 1061 of the Catechism of the Catholic which states: “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.” This has been carried over into Canon Law. Canon Law states: “The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility, which in Christian marriage obtain a special firmness by reason of the sacrament.” (Code of Canon Law 1056) It is a relationship in which the two people, by mutual consent; give themselves freely and totally to the relationship in an “irrevocable covenant”. (Code of Canon Law 1057 §2)
There are a number of key words here: “covenant”, “partnership of the whole of life” and “sacrament.” So, let’s examine each of these.

Let’s examine the phrase “partnership for the whole of life.” What is a partnership? Merriam-Webster’s on-line dictionary has this definition: a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities. Whole of life which means well, “until death do us part” to put it in the most common phrase we hear today.

Rather than a business partnership in which there is a contract the Church says that it is a covenant, a solemn agreement between human beings or between God and a human being involving mutual commitments or guarantees (CCC Glossary). This covenant, this sacrament, this marriage covenant involves such an intimate binding of two beings that this is image that God Himself favored, through the Scriptures, as the one which most imitates or emulates the sign of His covenant with His people. A covenant is still binding even when one of the partners tries to sever the partnership. Reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to those who have repented for having violated the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, and who are committed to living in complete continence (CCC 1650).

Marriage is a sacramental sign of God’s love for His people as it is testified to in both the Old and New Testaments, the act itself must accurately reflect that love. It must be faithful, monogamous, indissoluble, and fruitful. This is the foundation of all traditional Christian sexual morality. This is the image presented to us by God when he created them male and female (Genesis 1:27). This is what Christ taught as recorded in the Gospels in Matthew 19: 1-9 and Mark 10:1-12 where Jesus himself declared marriage as indissoluble. The two become one and no “human being” must try to break them apart. It is in this proclamation that Christ raises marriage to the level of a Sacrament.
What has happened in our time is this idea of being married to the same person for life is not seen as the norm but rather as an “ideal.” Christian marriage is never simply an “ideal.” Describing it as an “ideal” tends to open the door to excusing and then normalizing failure. The current number of marriages that end in divorce, especially in today’s world of institutionalized selfishness, shows that many people do fail (Chaput). I would venture to say that all of us know someone or several someone’s who have had a marriage that ended in divorce.

There are many myths out there about what the Church holds and teaches about marriage such as you should stay together no matter what. Again, that is not true. When a situation arises, which makes living together a practical impossibility the Church permits the physical separation of the couple and their living apart. The spouses do not cease to be husband and wife before God and so are not free to contract a new union (CCC 1649).

But of course, all of us fail many times every day. Being divorced or separated does not mean you are barred from the sacraments. This occurs only when a person attempts remarriage by entering into a civil union or attempt marriage in another denomination. In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ – “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Consequently, they are contravening God’s law and therefore cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists (CCC 1650).

Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. It is the duty of the Church to reach out in mercy to those who have separated themselves from God’s grace and try to lead them back to communion. It’s a living expression of God’s goodness. But mercy does not abolish God’s law or His justice any more than it can soften or adjust the demands of truth in order to be more congenial to our weaknesses, to our culture, or to our times (Chaput). This is the heart of the controversy centers around how the Church reaches out to those who are is such situations and how the Church goes about restoring them to communion with the Church and with God’s law? This debate is far from over.
References:
Chaput, Charles OFM, Cap. Archbishop. Amoris Latetia and the Nature of Mercy. 8 11 2017. Article. 2 12 2017. <http://archphila.org/archbishop-chaputs-address-at-the-national-assembly-of-filipino-priests-usa-amoris-laetitia-and-the-nature-of-mercy/>.

USCCB. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Second. Washington: United States Catholic Conference, 1994. Book.