Why is re-marriage a sin from the Catholic perspective ? Do you agree or disagree ?

Question

Can anyone tell me why re-marriage is considered a sin from the Catholic perspective ?

And if you have time I would be interested to know whether you agree or disagree and on what grounds.

Answer 1

The Catholic Church believes that God does not recognize civil divorces.

Jesus said, "Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." (Mark 10:9)

However there may be hope of a declaration of nullity.

The term "annulment" is a misnomer because the Church does not undo or erase a marriage bond.

Rather the Church issues a declaration of nullity when it discovers that the parties were not truly joined by God and hence a full spiritual sacramental marriage as understood by the Church was not present.

Then the parties are free to marry for the first time.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Because many traditional Catholic priests and other Protestant ministers take marriage vows very seriously. When a person gets married in a church, it's more than just a legal ceremony. The couple is being joined together with vows.

The Bible shares scriptures about what you say is binding (the verse about let your yes mean yes and your no mean no). What that means is that when you make a commitment before God, it is binding. God does not take marriage lightly and for that reason many of the churches do not either. That's why many ministers will say in a marriage ceremony that marriage is not to be taken lightly.

As my father explained this, God looks upon a divorce more like what we consider a legal separation. The only time that the Bible speaks that a divorce is acceptable is in the case of adultery. Other than that, a divorce is only granted out of the hardness of a person's heart.

Now, the other issue - remarriage is a different situation altogether in the Bible. There are specific scriptures (sorry I don't have my Bible here, but if you check Biblegateway.com, you can search keywords for the scriptures). According to the Bible, if a person remarries while their former spouse is alive, it's considered adultery.

So, this is why it's so important to choose your partner very wisely. I think that too often we marry because we want to marry, instead of asking ourselves, SHOULD we marry this person. In other words, is this the right choice for my life's partner when you look at all of the important issues.

Now, you ask, do I agree? It's not up to me to make the decision here. I know many people who have remarried after a divorce, and I think that there is forgiveness, but whether it's right or wrong. I'll leave that up to God to decide.

Answer 3

This is an interesting question. I was raised Catholic and was married in the Catholic church. According to the church doctrines we studied as we prepared for marriage, a marriage is supposed to be the union of two souls forever. Figuratively, the Bible describes it as two people "cleaving" to one another, meaning they join together, sorta like a Siamese twin. Divorce, then, would be like ripping your Siamese twin off from you...it cannot happen. This idea is a little more old school and Catholic churches nowadays are more open to the fact that some marriages become abusive or adulterous and do grant annullments based on extenuating circumstances like that. Hence, if you divorce in a civil court and don't get it anulled by the Church as well, when you remarry, you are technically commiting bigamy because in the eyes of the church, you are still married to the other person. Only when the church annuls your marriage, and not the State, are you officially divorced and you CAN remarry without it being a sin.

Answer 4

In addition to what has been posted, there is also an annulment due to lack of form. I was raised Catholic, turned atheist, and then 25 years later, I came back Home.

I was married and divorced during that time. Since I never severed my ties with the Church, my marriage outside the Church is considered invalid. I am in the middle of an annulment for lack of form, and it's a one page form (plus witness affidavits). No cost.

My BF is going through an annulment - yes, it's a long and tedious process. Costs are set by the diocese. His will cost $175. The cost is underwritten by the diocese.

We Catholics believe that marriage is a sacrament, and is an eternal bond.

After going to an all day seminar on what you need to know to progress through the process, I have to say I understand and agree with their position.

There are many reasons why Catholics are not truly prepared for and fully understanding of marriage (in the eyes of the Church). With the level of ignorance in the US, I have read that sacramental marriages are less common than potentially invalid ones.

Answer 5

It isn't.

the Roman Catholic believes that the Bible does not allow divorce on any grounds. Valid marriages are indissoluble. However, if it can be proven that a valid marriage had never taken place, then an annulment is obtained. Remarriage is often allowed after an annulment.

Anyone (Catholic or Non-Catholic) who was previously married and who wants to remarry in the Catholic church should discuss the circumstances of their former marriage with a priest to determine if an annulment or nullification of the previous marriage is necessary.

The Church views marriage as a covenant for life that cannot be severed. However, some marriages are entered into without the necessary maturity or full knowledge and ability to keep such a permanent commitment, or without full free will because of external pressures. Therefore, a person has the right to ask the Church to examine a previous marriage to see if it was less than what the church views as a valid marriage, a freely chosen commitment between two mature, knowledgeable and capable adults to enter a covenant of love, for life, with priority to spouse and children.

A Catholic annulment is a declaration from a diocesan Tribunal that the marriage bond was less than such a covenant for life because it was lacking something necessary from the very beginning. One or both parties may have entered the marriage with good will, but lacked the openness, honesty, maturity, fully free choice, right motivation, emotional stability, or capacity to establish a community of life and love with another person. If an annulment is granted, then both parties are free to remarry in the Church, however, for pastoral reasons, counseling may be required prior to marriage in order to prevent the parties involved from repeating mistakes. The legitimacy of the children is NOT affected in any way. There was an assumption of marriage at the time; therefore the standing of children is never affected by an annulment

Answer 6

Re-marriage is not a sin if you get an annulment from the Church, which is a tedious and (I hear) costly proposition. The Church's position on this, as on most anything touching on human sexuality, is absurd. There are very few species in which the female is sexually receptive at times except when in heat; all such (which, of course, includes humans) have in common that the young take a long time and a lot of effort to raise, and sex as a tool to keep the family unit together has obvious evolutionary value. In this light, the Church's teaching that sex is just for reproduction is absurd.

Answer 7

In the Catholic church the religious bonds of marriage outweigh the legalities. Even though a couple is legally divorced, from the perspective of the church they are still married in the eyes of God. That being said, remarriage in the Catholic church would constitue adultry since you can only EVER be married to one person as far as they are concerned.

While I personally do not agree with their stance on divorce, I DO agree with their idea that religious law is more binding than any secular law and personally think that if something is done within a religious context, then ONLY the governing body of that particular religion can determine what, if any alterations to it can or should be made. IF the church says they are still married, then as long as they follow that religion, they are married regardless of what any secular authority claims.

Answer 8

Read Mathew 19:9

Answer 9

Hello,

I went through this in the Catholic church and married a divorced Catholic there.

I have to say that Spiritro is dead on with his assessment.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 10

I'm assuming you mean after divorce? The Bible says if you put away your spouse for anything but adultery, then remarry it is adultery, so that is why they probably think its a sin. I personally feel unless your spouse is abusive or continually cheats on you, you need to work it out as your vows state until death do you part.