The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-08-21
THE cHuRcH's DIVORCE LAW.

OUTSIDE the cnuFC0 are puzzled, WHG1
they see two persons, who have been
living together in the relation of hus-
band and wife, permitted by ecclesi-
astical authority not only to separate,
but even to remarry. There is really
no cause for mystitication, writes ].
Harding Fisher, s. j., in America
Usually the Church does nothing more
wonderful than to pronounce judicial
ly on a matter Of fact What ordinar-
lily happens in perpIexing marriage
cases is this: the validity of mar
riage is called into question; testimony
for and against it is laid before the
Church; witnesses are examined; EVIL
dence is sifted; and the conclusion is
reached that at the time of the mar
riage, some impediment acted as bar
TO the validity OF the matrimonial con-
tract. Then the Church declares that
what seemed to be a marriage was in
reality no marriage at all. Clearly in
so doing she is not granting divorce.
Divorce means the severance of the
marriage bond, which is quite differ
ent thing from declaring that the bond,
Notwithstanding appearances, never
existed. Divorce in the case of valid,
consummated Christian marriage, the
Church can not grant. The most she
can do in such a case, and only the
gravest reasons will move her so to
act, is to give permission for husband
and wife to live apart; and if neces-
sary to secure before the courts a legal
separation; but in neither instance has
she any thought of dissolving the bond
of a consummated Christian marriage.
This she knows must endure until
death.
Thus the general attitude of the
Church toward marriage is clearly de-
fined. Her very name is synonymous
with uncompromising defense of the
marriage bond. She has always stood
out not only for it's unity, but also for
it's indissolubility; and she has con-
sistently extended her doctrine not
only to Catholics, but to the whole
human race. Basing her position both
on reason and on revelation, she has
maintained, in spite of the fiercest op-
position, and in face of great losses,
both temporal and spiritual, that mar
riage, whether it be contracted in the
Church or outside of it, before a
priest, a minister, magistrate, or
without witnesses of any kind, proVid-
ed it be a true marriage, creates a
bond that no merely human power can
undo.
1t would be mistake, however, to
think that the Church is of the opin-
ion that the dissolving of the mar
riage bond is an absolute impossibility.
From the fact that no merely human
power can grant a divorce, it does
not follow that God can not grant it.
There is a broad distinction between
holding that no mere man, even though
he be regularly constituted judge,
has authority to put asunder what
God has joined together, and assert
ing that God Himself can not undo
the bond that He Himself has tied
Nothing is further from the mind of
the Church than to say that God can
not make exceptions to His general
prohibition against divorce, even
though His general prohibition is
ture, and by the Church. He who
made the law may also make excep
tions to it. His rights take prece-
dence over all other rights. Who will
dare gainsay Him, if He, the Lord
and Master of ALL chooses to determine
that under certain conditions, bond
of marriage, hitherto binding before
oh cir MI ~
exist? Certainly not the Church, fol-
her commission is to teach Christ's
doctrine.
Has God made any exceptions in the
matter of divorce? The teaching OF
unaided reason does not show any ex
ception, but revelation does. Marriages
may be divided into Christian mar
riages, in which one or both persons
have been baptized, and non-Christian
marriages, in which neither person has
been baptized. In the case of Chris.
tian marriages, no divorce may be oh.
tanned if the marriage has been con
summated; but if it has been ratified
but not consummated, under certain
circumstances a divorce or dissolution
va lLLC LACi5C bOhu, may bC
In the case of on-Christian marriages
no divorce is possible, as long as both
husband and wife remain unbaptized;
should both become Christians, they
participate in the same privileges as
other Christians; should only one oil
they become a Christian, the Pauline
privilege may come into play that is
under certain well-defined conditions 8
new marriage may be contracted, ant
the former bond dissolved, even though
the marriage has been consummatet
both before and after the baptism. Il
is the Pauline privilege that the pres
ent article is meant to explain.
The Pauline privilege, so-called be
cause it was first promulgated, al
least in writing, by Saint Paul, an6
there is some reason TO believe that tt
him alone of all the Apostles was il
directly revealed by God. is recorded
and described in the seventh chapter
of the First Epistle to the Corinthians:
If any brother hath wife that be
lieveth not, and she consent to dwell
with him, let him not put her away
And if any woman hath husband
that believeth not, and he consent tx
dwell with her, let her not put away
her husband But if the unbelievel
denart LET him dapart FIR a hrothni