Question: Why is the Catholic Church so stubborn in refusing to revise its stance against divorce, and not allowing couples in failed marriages to remarry?
Answer: The Catholic Church’s Stance is “stubborn” simply because it is biblical.
St Paul gives us a good lead in Ephesians 5:21-33. He quotes Genesis 2:24: “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.” St Paul adds: “This mystery has many implications, but I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church.”
In other words, a married couple’s union is more than sexual. Their being “one body” is a powerful, mysterious symbol of Christ’s union with his Church.
The same symbolism appears often in the Old Testament where the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Hosea describe God as the faithful bridegroom and husband of his people Israel. Jesus also referred to himself as the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15). Chapters 19 and 21 of the Book of Revelation tell of the wedding of the Lamb, that is, Christ himself, wedded to his faithful people.
Quoting Genesis, Jesus commented: “So then, what God has united, man must not divide” (Matthew 19:6). He rejected divorce, saying it was not like that from the beginning, and that a man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery.
For the Catholic Church, a marriage is not merely a legal contract but also a sacrament when solemnised validly by baptised spouses. The couple’s lifelong commitment to each other is a sign of Christ’s absolute commitment to them. This is why the Church ensures that prospective marriage partners are given a course of instructions to appreciate the serious nature of what they intend to do.
Marriage is a vocation not only for the spouses but also for society, for it is in a stable marriage that children are born, educated and find a place in their community.
The Church has a detailed canonical procedure to examine claims of a “failed marriage” with a view to possibly annulling it as invalid on proven legal grounds. But the Church has no power to dissolve a valid marriage.
But that does not mean that such Catholics who are divorced and remarried are separated from the Church.
In Amoris Laetitia (2016), Pope Francis acknowledged the complex, varied circumstances people may face and urges priests to accompany individuals pastorally, helping them to discern, with conscience formation and prayer, how to live faithfully according to the Gospel.
While reaffirming the Church’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, Francis said that discernment may, in certain cases, lead to a person’s responsible access to the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, after careful pastoral accompaniment, without imposing a one-size-fits-all solution.
Answered by Michael Shackleton
Published in the May 2026 issue of The Southern Cross Magazine
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