“Express Divorce”

"Express Divorce": Spain's No-Fault Divorce

by Judy Parejko and Michele Gauthier
07/09/05

A Spanish archbishop recently decried the "controlled demolition of marriage from within by the laws reforming the Civil Code"” He also warned that, "The state has no right to demolish marriage from within." He’s right, of course, but, sad to say, it’s already been done in the US.


When Archbishop Agustin Garcia-Gasco of Valencia, Spain, made the above statements, he was voicing exasperation at the country’s move to "express divorce," which is just another name for the system put in place in this country more than thirty years ago --"no-fault" divorce.


Meanwhile, bishops in the US have announced a Pastoral Marriage Initiative that will "sponsor focus groups to solicit input from persons concerned about marriage issues." According to the office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Marriage and Family, "The centerpiece of the Initiative will be a pastoral letter on marriage, emphasizing the bishops’ teaching and their responsibilities as pastors."


The United States is well ahead of Spain. Our own system of "express divorce" demolishes Catholic marriages with the same mechanical indifference as other marriages -- in spite of the sacramental nature of Catholic marriage.


But when bishops in this country were surveyed and asked for their priorities regarding marriage, the list included "sacramentality of marriage, commitment within marriage, marriage preparation and education, marital spirituality, and marriage as a vocation." Apparently, concern over "express divorce" did not make the list.


In a previous article we told the story of an Ohio man who begged the Church to step in and protect his marriage from the ravages of the civil system, which by now has inflicted numerous affronts as a result of the divorce his wife initiated. And even though she is now showing signs of wanting to reconcile, the civil authorities continue to inflict damage. Over the past two years, he’s had his driver’s license suspended, is being threatened with jail, and is struggling with the onset of multiple sclerosis -- no doubt accelerated by the stress of all he’s faced.


We would like to pose the following question: Why are US bishops sponsoring focus groups while marriage is being bludgeoned to death by a system bent more on gaining control over people’s lives than lifting couples out of their conflicts by sending them to some kind of "marriage hospital" -- where they might find the help they need to repair their "injuries"?


And what about the other vows that are taken at the time of marriage -- the promise to live by the rules of the Church, which includes canon law, that is supposed to protect families from civil intrusion of this kind? Pope Leo XIII maintained (in Arcanum) that the Church never relinquished authority over Christian marriage.


A note from the Spanish Bishops’ Conference states:

[M]arriage has lost "its own note of legal stability" and is "reduced to a shallow contract that either of the parties may rescind in virtue of his or her mere will"....

[B]y leaving in practice the continuity of the conjugal pact to the discretion of individual liberty, they also leave the marriage bond unprotected and open the legal path to the violation of the rights of the other spouse and of the children."


Here in the United States, we have a 30-year history that reveals the devastating fallout from violating the rights of the other spouse and the children.


Spain is on the verge of joining us in what was previously labeled a "Silent Revolution" by Herbert Jacob, who was a political science professor at Northwestern University. Silent Revolution is the title of his insightful book about how the transformation of US divorce laws came in "under the radar." In the case of Spain, the difference is that at least one bishop is paying attention and will not let this change happen silently.


© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange


Judy Parejko is the author of Stolen Vows (www.stolenvows.com) and Michele Gauthier is the founder of Defending Holy Matrimony (www.defendingholymatrimony.org).