Catholic Teaching - Indissolubility of Marriage from Dogmatic Series, 1915

Matrimony produces a bond of union between man and wife which can not be severed except by death. The Sacrament of Matrimony increases sanctifying grace in the soul if it be worthily received. Those who receive this Sacrament in the state of sin do not receive sanctifying grace. However, the grace revives if the hindrance is afterwards removed.

The Sacrament of Matrimony confers sacramental grace. This grace enables the married to resist the assaults of concupiscence. The evil desires of the flesh are not satisfied with one person. Concupiscence seeks not the utility which nature intends. It seeks pleasure alone. Satiated lust loathes its victim. Sacramental grace enables the husband to be content with his own wife. It enables the married to use marriage for its proper purpose. It enables them to bear the burdens of their state.

The bond of marriage can not be broken except by the death of one party. In no case can one party enter another marriage contract so long as the other party is still alive. It might seem that if two persons freely enter a contract they can dissolve it by mutual consent. This is true of material contracts amongst men. Ordinary contracts are dissolved by the agreement of both parties concerned.

If matrimony be viewed as a means of propagating the human race, there would often seem to be reasons for dissolving the marriage contract. Some women are sterile. Others suffer from some chronic disease that hinders them from fulfilling their conjugal duties. It would seem reasonable to sever such a union.

St. Thomas Aquinas answer the difficulty: "Matrimony was instituted mainly for the common good of humanity because of its principal object, which is the good of offspring, though it was instituted secondarily for the good of the contracting parties insofar as it is a remedy against concupiscence. Thus in the laws of matrimony more attention is paid to what is beneficial for all than to what is beneficial for one. Though the inseparability of matrimony may hinder the interest of offspring in a particular case (because of sterility), yet it promotes the interest of offspring in general." (Supplement q. 67; a.I.)

The common good is always superior to the individual good. This principle is recognized by all governments. In time of national crises the individual is sometimes forced to take up arms and give his life for the welfare of the nation at large. No society could exist unless the interest of the individual were subservient to the common interest of all. So it is with human society. Its first great foundation is the family. Matrimony is the bond of union in the family. States are composed of families. Individuals could not perpetuate society.

Divorce is perhaps the greatest evil in the social order. It strikes at the very vitals of a nation. It makes the family an unstable institution. It gives lust license to seek promiscuity. It enables corrupt human weakness to shirk the responsibilities imposed upon it by nature. Divorce endangers the welfare of offspring. It destroys homes. It blights the bloom of filial love. It tears little ones away from their parents. It marks them as the children of disgrace.

Divorce is essentially a pagan idea. It is a product of lust. It is a tenet of Epicurean philosophy. Life is a time of pleasure and self-indulgence. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die." According to this pagan creed man is free to seek all that can bring him pleasure so long as he can escape the civil law. If he can make the conquest of one younger and more beautiful and more attractive than his wife, he calls her his "soul-mate". He then puts away his wife and marries the other.

Undoubtedly there are many joined in wedlock whose tempers are incompatible. Many good men are joined to fickle and faithless women. Many devoted women are joined to base and shiftless husbands. Their earthly lives are perhaps filled with bitterness and unhappiness because of their matrimonial union. Children are growing up in sin and depravity because of the evil parent.

It seems cruel that the innocent party should suffer because of the other's guilt. It seems unreasonable to demand that they respect a bond that unites them to reprobates. Indeed, if matrimony were intended solely to bring earthly joy to the individual it would be impossible to defend such a union.

If pagan teachings represent the true philosophy of life then these unhappy ones should be free to seek more agreeable life-companions. If man was created for earthly pleasures alone then the time is short. He must hasten to indulge himself before the end comes. If he must labor hard in dire poverty he is also in an unpleasant position. He should steal a million from his neighbor and live in luxury. Pagan philosophy should permit him to do so.

If he is in prison for a crime he should be liberated. His crime was a mistake, just as is the unhappy marriage. The dark prison cell does not permit him to enjoy life. If he has enlisted in the army and finds life disagreeable he should desert the colors for the same reason. For he is a follower of Epicurus. He seeks only his own individual pleasure. He cares not for the common weal.

Divorce is the destroyer of nations. It is a sure mark of social decay. Christianity can never recognize divorce. For fifteen centuries after Christ divorce was unknown amongst Christian peoples. During all those ages the faithful never dreamed of declaring divorce lawful. They might as easily have abrogated the sixth commandment.

The Catholic Church has taught since the days of the Apostles that marriage is indissoluble. This doctrine she must and will continue to teach unto the end of time. "To them that are married," says the Apostle, "not I, but the Lord commandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband, and if she depart, that she remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not the husband put away his wife."

In another place he says: "For the woman that hath a husband whilst her husband liveth is bound to the law. But if her husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband. Therefore, whilst her husband liveth she shall be called an adulteress if she be with another man." (Epistle to the Corinthians vii, 10,11; Epistle to the Romans vii, 2,3.)

Christ Himself in emphatic terms declares that marriage is indissoluble: "And it hath been said: Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, maketh her commit adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery." (St. Matthew v, 31,32)

Here Christ grants that a separation may take place because of fornication. Yet He does not intend to intimate that the marriage bond is broken. For He adds: "He that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery." Now this could not be true unless the bond of matrimony still remained.

The Pharisees thought to ensnare Christ on the question of divorce. "And the Pharisees coming to him asked him: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. But he answering, saith to them: What did Moses command you? Who said: Moses permitted to write a bill of divorce, and to put her away. To whom Jesus answering said: Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you that precept. "But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife. And they two shall be in one flesh. Wherefore, now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder."

"In the house again his disciples asked him concerning the same thing. And he said to them: Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." (St. Mark X, 2-12)

St. Luke also records the clear words of Christ against divorce. "Everyone that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery." (St. Luke XVI, 18)

The Church sometimes permits married persons to live apart. Catholics who think they have a sufficient cause for separation must submit their case to the ecclesiastical authority. Every decision in this matter must come from the bishop of the diocese in which the parties live.

They are generally permitted to live apart only for a time. They are always bound to be reconciled when it is possible. Even though they are permitted to remain apart permanently, they are still husband and wife until death.

This privilege of separation is sometimes granted to those who wish to take Holy Orders or enter Religion. In this case certain conditions are laid down for the benefit of the other party. The other party must consent to the separation. There must also be assurance that the other party will be able to lead a continent life.

Marriage that has not been consummated may be dissolved if one of the parties makes a Solemn Profession in some Religious Order. The other party is then free to contract another marriage. The parties have been properly married, but they have not become "one flesh."

Two months are granted after marriage in which to deliberate. During this time they are not bound to enter into conjugal relations. Either of them may enter Religion even though the other objects. The bond of a nonconsummated marriage is not broken when one party enters a novitiate. It is dissolved only when the Solemn Religious Profession is made. The Pope also can dissolve a nonconsummated marriage.

The marriage of unbaptized persons may be dissolved under certain conditions, when one party is converted to the Faith. This dissolution of marriage is called the "Pauline Privilege." "If any brother hath a wife that believeth not," says St. Paul, "and she consent to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And if any woman hath a husband that believeth not, and he consent to dwell with her, let her not put away her husband.....But if the unbeliever depart, let him depart. For a brother or sister is not under servitude in such cases."

Marriage can be dissolved by the Pauline Privilege. This supposes that one party has been converted to the Faith. The other refuses to grant the free exercise of the Christian religion.

The Pauline Privilege can not be used when the converted party leaves the other party. Nor can it ever be used without a "papal dispensation". The party that has been baptized must also ask the other party to live with him. This is called the interpellation. The "Pope" may dispense from this requirement when he sees fit.

The bond of marriage, however, is not dissolved when the dispensation is granted. It is dissolved only when the baptized party contracts another marriage. Should the other party be converted in the meantime they are then bound to live together. A party who has been granted the Pauline Privilege may contract marriage even with another unbaptized person. This, of course, implies the proper dispensation.

If a polygamist is converted he may retain one of his wives. Should one of the number be converted with him, she may continue as his wife. If none is converted, he may retain the one whom he first took as his wife. His marriage with this one would be considered valid. They need not renew their consent. He may, however, choose another to be his lawful wife. In this case they should renew their consent before the priest and two witnesses.

Those who procure a civil divorce and contract another marriage are excommunicated by the Church. This second marriage is not valid. In the words of Christ such persons are living in adultery.

"What is that law laid down by St. Paul?" asks St. John Chrysostom. "The woman," he says, "is bound to the law. By no means should she enter other nuptials with another. Behold, with how much care the words are chosen! For he did not say: let her live with the man as long as he lives. He said: the woman is bound to the law as long as her husband lives. Even if she gives him a "bill of divorce," even if she leaves his house, even if she goes to another man, she is bound to the law and she is an adulteress....Do not tell me of civil laws that grant divorces and separate husband and wives. For on the day of judgment God will not judge thee according to these laws, but according to the laws which He Himself made." (Sermon, m. 51, 218)

St. Jerome explains the same law: "The Apostle rejected all pretexts and declared that if a woman married another during the lifetime of her husband, she is an adulteress.....Even though her husband should be an adulterer, a Sodomist, though he be covered with crimes and abandoned by his wife because of his depravity, he is to be considered her husband and she can not be married to another." (Epistola 55 ad Amand., n.3)

Dogmatic Series, Book IV, Indissolubility of Marriage by Roderick MacEachen, Copyright, 1915; Nihil Obstat: William Hall, Censor Deputatus; Imprimatur: P.J. Donahue, D.D., Bishop of Wheeling.