Why is the Church so Tough on Divorce?

by Michael Shackleton · October 20, 2015

The Catholic Church seems to be the only church, if not the only religion, that stubbornly refuses to allow a married couple to obtain a divorce and so end the marriage in the hope of finding a better future union. If so many others can see nothing wrong with divorce, why is the Church so inflexible? Sylvia

Let�s begin with the book of Genesis: �Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh� (2:24).

When the Pharisees asked Jesus if it was lawful to divorce one�s wife for any cause, he quoted this same text, adding: �What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder� (Mt 19:6).

This is the basis of the Church�s strong stand against divorce. Marriage is a mutual giving and taking of a man and a woman in such an intimate union that they become �one flesh�. This union is not merely a sexual cohabitation but a symbol of the mysterious and enduring love that God shares with his people.

You find evidence of this love in Isaiah 54:5 where God is presented as the husband of the people of God. Also in Hosea 1-3 where God denounces his people for being as unfaithful to him as the prophet�s unfaithful wife.

In the New Testament Jesus Christ is manifested as the bridegroom of his people, for example in John 3:29 and Matthew 9:15.

What does all this imply? It implies that God loves his people so much that he has �married� them and he is faithful to them and desires that they be faithful to him.

So, when a couple exchange their marriage vows and enter their commitment to live in �one flesh�, they become a real symbol of the unbreakable bond that Christ has forged with his people.

And marriage, like the other sacraments, is not only a sign of union but also an effective sign, that is, it brings about what it signifies. The couple sacramentally share in the firm love that binds Christ and his Church to each other. Each spouse mediates to the other the grace of God poured out into the Church.

And so Paul, quoting again from Genesis 2:24, tells us that this �one flesh� is a great mystery �in reference to Christ and his Church� (Ephesians 5:32).

When a validly married Catholic attempts a divorce and remarries, the Church has to point out that this new partnership cannot symbolise the loving union that Christ has with his Church. This is not meant to be a judgment against anyone�s conscience, but the Church must stick to the teaching it has received from Christ.