YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the CatholicChurch Lesson 424
Ave Maria series
What is adultery? Is divorce the appropriate response?
Adultery is committed when two people, at least one of whom is married to someone else, have sexual relations. Adultery is the fundamental betrayal of love, the violation of a covenant that was made in God’s sight, and an injustice to one’s neighbor. Jesus himself explicitly declared the indissolubility of marriage: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark10:9). Citing the original will of the Creator, Jesus abolished the toleration of divorce in the Old Covenant. [2353, 2364-2365, 2382-2384]
Sculpture of Saint John Chrysostom (349-407) in Saint Patrick Cathedral, New York City, NY. ….. 424
The encouraging promise of this message of Jesus is, “as children of your heavenly Father you are capable of lifelong love.” Nevertheless, it is not easy to remain faithful to one’s spouse for a lifetime. We must not condemn people whose marriages fail. Nevertheless, Christians who irresponsibly bring about divorce incur guilt. They sin against God’s love, which is visible in marriage. They sin against the abandoned spouse and against abandoned children. Of course the faithful partner in a marriage that has become unbearable can move out of shared living accommodations. In some serious circumstances, it may be necessary to go through a civil divorce. In well-founded cases the Church can examine the validity of the marriage in an annulment proceeding. 269
“Fidelity is absolute anywhere…or else it does not exist.” Karl Jaspers (1883-1969, German philosopher)
“The root of the crisis of marriage and family lies in a false notion of freedom.” St. John Paul II (1920-2005)
“A ratified and consummated marriage between baptized persons cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death.” Codex Iuris Canonici(Code of Cannon Law of the Catholic Church)
[2353, 2364-2365, 2382-2384]
Offenses against chastity
2353 Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally ordered to the good of spouses and the generation and education of children. Moreover, it is a grave scandal when there is corruption of the young. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
Conjugal fidelity
2364 The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent." (Gaudium et Spes 48 § 1.)147 Both give themselves definitively and totally to one another. They are no longer two; from now on they form one flesh. The covenant they freely contracted imposes on the spouses the obligation to preserve it as unique and indissoluble. (Compare Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1056.)148 "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." (Mark 10:9; compare Matthew 19:1-12; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11.)149–CCC
2365 Fidelity expresses constancy in keeping one's given word. God is faithful. The Sacrament of Matrimony enables man and woman to enter into Christ's fidelity for his Church. Through conjugal chastity, they bear witness to this mystery before the world. --CCC
St. John Chrysostom suggests that young husbands should say to their wives: I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being separated in the life reserved for us. . . . I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you. (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Ephes. 20,8:Patrologia Graeca 62,146-147.) 150--CCC
Divorce
2382 The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble. (Compare Matthew 5:31-32; Mt 19:3-9; Mark 10:9; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:10-ll.)174 He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law. (Compare Matthew 19:7-9.)175 –CCC
Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death." (Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1141.)176–CCC
2383 The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. (CompareCodex Iuris Canonici, cann. 1151-1155.)177--CCC
If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense. --CCC
2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery: --CCC
If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another's husband to herself. (St. Basil, Moralia 73,1:Patrologia Graeca 31,849-852)178–CCC
Saint John Chrysostom
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