What are the Divorce rules for RCs?

Question

For RCs in India, what is/are the :
a) Rules to obtain divorce (with or without mutual consent )

b) weightage given to the decisions of the Church and the court, if different, i.e, one grants divorce and the other does not? Whose decision will be considered final and binding, and is it possible to re-appeal?

Thanks guys, for your answers so far. Does the same apply for Indian RCs as well? Is the procedure the same worldwide, or does each country's law make a difference as well ?

Answer 1

Let me first tell you that Indian Christians both RC & protestants are covered by the Indian Divorce Act for the purpose of Divorce, this Act was first enacted by British in 1869 & it remained unchanged till a major amendment was brought about in 2001 by then Indian Government in this by introducing more conditions/grounds for divorce which were required for the century old enactment, according to this new amendment this Act came in par with other Indian Divorce Laws applicable to other communities such as Hindus who are covered by the Hindu Marriage Act,1955 etc. The introduction of section 10A in the Act was regarding Divorce by Mutual consent , other grounds for divorce in section 10 of the new Act are :- (i) has committed adultery; or

(ii) has ceased to be Christian by conversion to another religion; or

(iii) has been incurably of unsound mind for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or

(iv) has, for a period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy; or

(v) has, for a period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition, been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form; or

(vi) has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by those persons who would naturally have heard of the respondent if the respondent had been alive; or

(vii) has wilfully refused to consummate the marriage and the marriage has not therefore been consummated; or

(viii) has failed to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights for a period of two years or upwards after the passing of the decree against the respondent; or

(ix) has deserted the petitioner for at least two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or

(x) has treated the petitioner with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner that it would be harmful or injurious for the petitioner to live with the respondent.

(2) A wife may also present a petition for the dissolution of her marriage on the ground that the husband has, since the solemnization of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy and bestiality".
Now the Indian Christians can take breath of relief as they get more grounds for divorce which was denied to then by the old enactment.

Answer 2

The Roman Catholic Church does not grant divorces and will not recognise a divorce granted by the state. Having said that, they have no legal right to interfere but will refuse to marry a divorced person in church.
Don't know anything about divorce laws in India but the legal system is the only system with the power to grant a divorce. Legally a marriage is a contract and the courts will set conditions for that contract to be ended. You are then free to enter into another contract if you so wish.

Answer 3

by RC you mean Roman Catholic?

officially, the Catholic church does not recognize divorce. You can get a divorce in the court, and it is legally recognized, but the church will not recognize it.

For the church, you will need an annullment. This can be with or without mutual consent. You will speak with a priest, and they will review your case to decide if an annullment is justified. If so, the church considers your marriage to have never happened.

But the court divorce is the most important. that will affect things like legal status, taxes and inheritance.

Answer 4

I believe we can touch the canonical law of the church & it's first bidding in the law of God & the people.

Roman Catholics are very particular on that issue so it's hard to file a divorce in RC rather than in civil it's easy once the grounds are proven.

Answer 5

personal law of each religion is given constitutional rights to practice ,implementing the law is by the courts and being an authorised body of the govt the court may over rule the church as criminal can be involved