The 40th Anniversary of “No-Fault” Divorce
The 40th Anniversary of “No-Fault” Divorce Catholic Exchange
A very sad day for the US, for marriage, and for many many many families....
According to Michael Reagan, his father considered the signing of this bill to be the worst mistake he'd made while in elected office.
Judy tells the story of one of the person's really behind this bill, and the outcome for his family.
This law is NOT about mutual agreement-- it is forced, unilateral divorce, and leaves the Respondent with NO due process. It has its roots in Communist Russia's 'post card divorce'. IMHO, it is also unconstitutional because of the lack of due process for the Respondent, and other reasons.
It is evil, destructive, and rewards adultery, among other things.
It then goes on to destroy even more in the Catholic family by US Tribunals that use the fact that a divorce was granted to complete the evil by finding ways to declare the first marriage to be Null, using grounds that almost guaranteee that ANY marriage is not valid.
(Judges have no real choice in the matter. Divorce is a foregone conclusion as long as the Petitioner does not rescind the papers. Only custody and financial decisions are made in the courts. Having a Civil Divorce granted does NOT mean that marriage is NULL!!)
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"Divorce tears marriage apart. It desolates both husband and wife. It leaves the children not only in tears but also in misery. We do not deny that there can be serious disagreement between husband and wife, but divorce is not the solution. When husband and wife have a disagreement, they should reflect, pray, sit together and discuss. Accept fault where you are wrong, ask for pardon, or consult a priest or other spiritual adviser, but do not divorce."
~~Francis Cardinal Arinze
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posted by WI Catholic @ 9/05/2009 12:14:00 PM
2 Comments:
Pope Benedict XVI gave a speech to the Members of the Roman Rota on January 29, 2009, denouncing the abuses of automatic annulments and the widespread pessimism this creates about marriage. His comments echo earlier concerns raised by Pope John Paul II. Unfortunately, North American bishops (Canada included) will continue to wilfully ignore concerns raised by the Vicar of Christ and nothing but nothing will happen to correct these abuses at the diocesan level. Much of the institutional Church now supports and encourages divorce.
I understand the de jure difference between a divorce and a declaration that there was never a sacramental marriage. However, when almost every Catholic who gets a divorce and applies for an annulment is granted one, then I think it is safe to call it a de facto Catholic divorce. The sharp rise in annulments from a few hundred per year in the 1960s to close to 60,000 per year by the 1990s is not solely the result of living in a secular pro-divorce and pro-abortion culture. The pro-divorce culture has infected and metastasized within the Catholic hierarchy, diocesan tribunals and seeped into the spiritual direction given by priests who counsel divorce and annulments.
Most of the annulments are given for lack of discretion or judgment and rely on “experts” to provide psychological evidence that one or both of the spouses was not psychologically able to understand or live up to their marital obligations. The marriage tribunals defer to the psychological experts in the same manner the church deferred to the psychological experts when they were unable to hold pedophile priests accountable for the crimes because of psychological reasons. In a similar fashion, the experts employed by the marriage tribunals will always find that one or both spouses were not self-actualized individuals capable of making a lifelong obligation. Besides, most experts don’t believe in sin so it is inconceivable to them that somebody could “sinfully” choose to terminate a valid marriage to an imperfect but loving partner. Annulments are just as scandalous as the pedophile abuse scandal.
Tribunals actively promote annulments by advertising them as "healing" in diocesan newspapers, deny respondent's procedural rights on a wide scale basis, require the respondents to keep their silence so nobody will know what has been done to them, and grant annulments to virtually every petitioner who asks. The practical effect of all this has been to transform annulments into de facto Catholic Divorces. These abuses are very well documented in Robert Vasoli's "What God Has Joined Together; The Annulment Crisis in American Catholicism" and powerfully described in Sheila Kennedy's " Shattered Faith: A Woman's Struggle to Stop the Catholic Church from Annuling Her Marriage".
Yours truly,
Victim of Wife-Induced Family Abortion
Well said! If I could stand and cheer here so that it could be heard, I would, and the words "BRAVO! BRAVO!" would be echoing...
God bless!
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