Expert: Charlie B - 5/16/2011

Question
Dear Charlie


I am paul writing from the island of malta in the middle of the mediterranean.  This month in Malta we are having a referendum about the yes or no for the introduction of divorce.  I am at a loss as what to vote.  What does the bible say?  What does Jesus Christ think about divorce?  Is it a sin for a roman catholic to vote in favour of divorce?  Is it true that divorce ruins families?  How did other countries fare with divorce?  Any other additional information is greatly appreciated.  Can you recommend me a book dealing with all aspects of divorce?  Are there any interesting sites where I can know all the pros and cons of divorce?

Sincerely hoping to hear from you soon I thank you in advance.

Regards.






Paul Fava
Malta

Answer
Paul,
Thanks for your question.  I'm very familiar with Malta whose Catholic heritage is long and deeply accepted among Malta people.  

Yes, I would say that it would be a sin to vote in favor of divorce but that's your local priest decision -- what would he say?

What the Bible says about divorce is what guides the Catechism of the Catholic Church & what it says about divorce:
Divorce

2382 The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble.174 He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law.175

Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death."176

2383 The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law.177

If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense.

2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:

   If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another's husband to herself.178

2385 Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.

2386 It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage.179

Other offenses against the dignity of marriage ... see the link at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a6.htm for the above content and more on marriage & divorce.

See this response and video from CatholicsComeHome.org (a great site, and affilitated with www.lightousecatholicmedia.org, another great site --> go to online store, search annulments for inexpensive audios (US$3.00))

It doesn't matter what other countries say about divorce.  Country's governments are not the law of the earth, the Bible is and Jesus' words referenced above.  Municipalities never should be comparing themselves to another municipalities, but to the Vatican and the Catholic Church in all of her sweetness (laws, Old & New Testament are like honey on the lips).  :-)

I've been married 25 years in July ... to the same woman.  Divorce wrecks havoc (and helps the Devil, in my opinion) on the world:  see http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/new_study_reveals_spiritual_effects_of_di... and there's also a book recommendation there, all in one site.  To learn more about what good books exist, search Amazon.com or see:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_20?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-...

Are you planning on marrying or already marrying, and if so, plan to have children?   Then treat marriage as the convenant it was always meant to be, rather than a contract (which HenryVIII changed four centuries ago when it had been a convenant since 300AD, and everybody thinks is just a legal contract now... and thus, can be broken.  Hey, it's a commitment -- life-long.  Vote with your heart and not your head.
God bless,
Charlie

PS -- evaluations and feedback are welcomed and appreciated.