Catholic Marriage Petition
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+ Catholic Marriage Petition +
To the Bishops of the United States
Defend the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony Against No-Fault Divorce
Dear Bishops,
We come to you as Catholics from all walks of life. We are very
grateful for your recent efforts in defending marriage as
"a union between one man and one woman." But, we humbly
plead with you, as our Shepherds, to defend marriage from
No-Fault "Forced" Divorce, which has taken an enormous toll on marriage.
Three thousand divorces are granted every day in this country,
and of these, up to eighty percent are forced upon one of the spouses.
Most people believe that No-Fault Divorce means "by mutual consent"
- but in the greater majority of cases it means one spouse forces a
divorce against the will of the other spouse.
Most wedding vows are exchanged within a religious ceremony,
in which the bride and groom promise to be married according
to the rules of their church. But, when problems arise and one
spouse files for divorce, civil authorities take control over their lives,
the lives of their children, and all of their financial assets.
The Church never relinquished authority over Her marriages.
Instead, civil authorities seized control when state governments
enacted No-Fault Divorce laws.In his encyclical entitled, Arcanum,
Pope Leo XIII asserts, "Neither . . . can it be shown . . . that power
over the marriages of Christians has ever lawfully been handed over
to the rulers of the State." Further, ". . . in Christian marriage
the contract is inseparable from the sacrament."More recently,
Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II reminds us that, "Marriage is
indissoluble." He also urges, "Among initiatives should be those
that aim at obtaining the public recognition of indissoluble marriage
in the civil juridical order."
We send you this URGENT APPEAL to begin an initiative, as
Our Holy Father urges us to do. The sacrament of Holy Matrimony
is being openly desecrated on a daily basis by civil authorities.
Please reclaim authority over Catholic marriage and stop this desecration.
posted by WI Catholic @ 12/08/2004 08:38:00 PM
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