Christian Teachings on Marriage and Divorce
Christian Teachings on Marriage and Divorce
• Marriage and divorce are purely religious subjects that lie at the heart of doctrine. Christianity relies in these matters on the teaching of the Gospel. Marriage is a holy sacrament of the Church and is not performed except by one of the priestly fathers, after ensuring that there is no canonical impediment.
• The one seeking marriage is one of three: either a virgin (that is, has not been previously married), a widower, or a divorced person. The divorced person presents his case to the Clerical Council to rule on his matter. A priest may not marry him without the approval of the Clerical Council, which represents the approval of the religious authority, according to the teaching of the Holy Gospel.
• The teachings of the Gospel stipulate that there is no divorce except for the cause of adultery. This was stated by the mouth of the Lord Christ Himself in the Gospel of Matthew (5:32), in the Gospel of Matthew (19:9), in the Gospel of Mark (10:11), and in the Gospel of Luke (16:18). However, the marriage bond may be dissolved if one of the two parties changes his religion.
• The dissolution of the marriage bond may also occur for another reason other than divorce, namely (annulment of marriage). Among the causes of annulment are the existence of an impediment due to kinship or lineage. Also among what invalidates marriage is that it is conducted under coercion and without consent, or through deception in a fundamental matter, or due to a psychological illness or an organic disease existing before marriage and not after it (such as impotence or insanity).
• Among the teachings of Christianity is the unity of marriage. We published a book more than forty years ago on the law of monogamy in Christianity.
• With regard to (second marriage), Christianity does not prohibit it absolutely. A widower may marry for a second time after the death of the other party, and likewise a widow. Also, a woman who has been granted annulment due to the husband’s impotence, that is, his sexual incapacity, may marry for a second time. Likewise, the innocent party in a divorce may marry, unlike the guilty party, for whom the Church does not permit a second marriage. It does not permit this for divorced persons who are at fault.
• Marriage is an act that belongs exclusively to the clergy and to no one else. This is what is stated in the Holy Gospel: “What God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matt 19:6). Therefore, we do not permit a marriage unless we are certain that God is the One who brings the two parties of marriage together according to His teaching in His Holy Gospel. No one can compel us to act contrary to the teaching of the Gospel, for this is what our consciences do not accept.
• This is what we have stated with complete clarity, and what the Holy Synod has decided unanimously, and what the priestly fathers have declared with their signatures, and what has been published in newspapers and the media. Its summary is that we respect the law, but we do not accept what is against our doctrine and against the teaching of the Holy Gospel.
We also do not accept the 1938 Regulations whose articles, regarding the causes of divorce, stipulate matters other than what the Gospel has commanded, and we have corrected this two years ago.
• We thank the state for forming a committee to examine personal status matters for Christians. We thank His Excellency the President and we thank His Excellency the Minister of Justice.
We look forward to good by the help of God.
In this regard, His Holiness the Pope met with a large number of legal counselors and lawyers and discussed with them the next step that the Church will take until the unified law on personal status for Christians is issued. God willing, we will announce what has been reached in this matter.
We all pray that God will intervene in this matter as He has accustomed us to intervene before.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III published in Al-Keraza Magazine – Thirty-Eighth Year – Issues 17, 18 – dated 25 June 2010
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