Personal Status
Abandoning the faith is a reason for separating the spouses, as agreed upon by the texts of the Holy Bible.
A decision to this effect was issued by the Holy Synod, considering the marriage dissolved from the date of changing the religion.
There are reasons in which marriage is dissolved due to (nullity), not due to divorce.
Abandoning Christianity dissolves the marital bond:
Which is more dangerous: that a person leaves his wife, or that he leaves his religion, thus separating from the Lord Christ and from the entire Church, from the whole community of believers?!
He who abandons his religion resembles the branch that was cut off from the vine (John 15). He no longer has any connection with the vine, nor with any branch in it.
Just as Christianity does not approve of a marriage between a Christian and a non-Christian, it also does not approve of a marriage between an Orthodox Christian and a non-Orthodox Christian. The continuation of such a marriage no longer conforms to Christian law.
There is one exceptional case in which the continuation of such a marriage was permitted:
The case of two non-Christians, one of whom comes to believe in Christianity, and if he keeps his spouse, he may also draw him/her to Christianity. In this case, it is permissible for the marriage to continue. Nevertheless, he is not obligated to do so; if he wishes to separate, he has the right to do so.
Concerning this matter, the Scripture says:
“But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases… For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?” (1 Cor 7:15–16).
Therefore, the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church decided the separation of the marriage from the date one of the spouses changes his religion:
A decision to this effect was issued by the Holy Synod on 9/3/1906 AD, during the era and under the presidency of His Holiness Pope Cyril V. This decision stipulates that the marriage contract performed in the Coptic Church is considered annulled and dissolved from the date the spouse embraces another religion, according to the provisions of Christian law.
The Christian law regarding divorce agrees with what is mentioned in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel concerning abandoning the faith.
Reasons for the Nullity of Marriage:
The nullity of marriage is different from divorce and from legal dissolution.
Nullity of marriage means considering that the marriage did not take place at all, that it is illegal and unrecognized, due to reasons that prevent it.
For example, if a marriage is contracted with a prohibited degree of kinship, such prohibited kinship nullifies the marriage. If a person marries while still bound by a previous marriage that has not yet been dissolved, then this second marriage is considered null, and in the view of religion it is regarded as adultery.
Among the reasons that call for the nullity of marriage are:
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That one of the parties has an impediment preventing sexual relations, such as impotence, castration, or hermaphroditism.
Often in such cases the wife remains a virgin, or her virginity is broken in an unnatural manner. -
That the marriage took place without consent and approval, by any form of coercion.
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If one of the parties was insane before marriage, such that he did not know what he was doing; here the element of consent and approval is invalidated.
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If the marriage was conducted through deceit.
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If one of the spouses is still bound by another marriage.
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If one of the spouses was divorced due to adultery.
If any of these reasons is proven, the marriage is ruled null.
Invalid Divorce
Every divorce for a reason other than adultery is an invalid divorce, and every marriage following it is an invalid marriage and a sinful relationship, no matter how a distorted conscience may attempt to justify its situation with formalities that contradict the texts of the Holy Bible.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Sixth Year – Issue Thirty-Two – 8/8/1975 AD.
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