The absolute prohibition of divorce from the marriage bond, with the right to marry another, rests on the express words of Jesus Christ and His Apostle St. Paul (Trent., Sess. xxiv. can. 7)
The words of Our Lord are:
"What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder...And He saith to them: Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." (Mark 10: 9-12).
"Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery; and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery" (Luke 16:18).
St. Paul, commenting on these words, says:
"But to them that are married, not I, but the Lord commandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband. And if she depart, that she remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband." (1 Cor. 7:10,11 ).
"A woman is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth, but if her husband die, she is at liberty; let her marry to whom she will, only in the Lord" (
ibid. 39)
"For the woman that hath an husband, whilst her husband liveth is bound to the law. But if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. Therefore, whilst her husband liveth, she shall be called an adulteress, if she be with another man; but if her husband be dead, she is delivered from the law of her husband, so that she is not an adulteress if she be with another man" (Rom. 7:2, 3).
Words could not more clearly express the absolute prohibition of divorce with right to marry again. Nothing but death can dissolve the marriage bond, which Jesus Christ now restores to its primitive unity and indissolubility, abrogating for ever the Mosaic bill of divorce. To remarry during the lifetime of wife or husband is clearly termed adultery by Christ and St. Paul.
There are two other texts in St. Matthew's gospel which are frequently cited as granting the right of divorce in case of adultery, but an honest study of these passages will prove that Our Lord does not contradict His clear teaching elsewhere.
"But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, maketh her to commit adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery" (Matt. 5:32). It is clear from these words that no exception is made, for: (1st) Our Lord is not speaking of a man putting away his wife
to marry another, which He expressly forbade as a violation of the sixth commandment, in Mark 10:11:
"Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery"; and in Luke 16:18:
"Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery."
(2nd) He clearly indicates that the marriage tie is indissoluble, for otherwise how could he call the remarriage of the repudiated woman adultery?
"He that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery" (Matt. 5: 32).
The other alleged exception is Matt. 19:9:
"And I say to you that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away committeth adultery."
The argument of the defenders of divorce is: Whoever puts away his wife, except for adultery, and remarries, is an adulterer. Therefore, whoever "puts away his wife" for adultery, and remarries, is not an adulterer. The Catholic answers: Why can't the conditional clause refer to the words that precede rather than to those that follow it? Everyone must admit that it is at least doubtful whether the exception for adultery refers to the right of separation only or the right to remarry. The Catholic settles the doubt by having recourse to the other clear passages of St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul, and concludes with them that a man cannot remarry during the lifetime of his wife without becoming an adulterer.
The sense of Matt. 19:9, then, is: Whosoever shall put away his wife, which shall not be lawful except for fornication, and shall marry another, etc. That this is not a forced interpretation is clear from the context. Our Lord is restoring marriage to its primitive purity ("in the beginning it was not so,"
ibid. 8) He is abrogating the Mosaic bill of divorce, and elevating marriage to the dignity of a Christian sacrament, which no human authority can nullity.
"What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." It is law of Scripture interpretation that an obscure text should always be explained in the light of clear and explicit passages. All doubt on the matter is settled for the Catholic by the divine, infallible witness of the Church of God
(Trent., Sess. xxiv. can. 7), which voices the constant tradition of the Church, and declares the text in question to refer only to separation from bed and board.
We know that often in particular cases this law is hard in its application (in the Catholic Church, for adultery, cruelty, and the like, separation from bed and board is granted, without, however, the liberty of marrying again.) It is indeed hard to say to a young person who has contracted an unhappy marriage, that they can never marry again as long as their spouse is alive. When Our Lord told His disciples that they could not divorce their wives anymore (the Mosaic Law tolerated it - see Deut. 24:1), they replied: "If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry." (Matt. 19:10).
But such is the law of Christ.
As for Henry VIII of England, he was an unchaste schismatic that wanted to be like adulterous potentates in the East where "Orthodox" Bishops frequently approved adultery and mortal sins, according to the matrimonial whims of the Czars/Emperors. When he petitioned the Supreme Pontiff to grant him a divorce from his lawful wife, Pope Clement VII replied: "Non possums: I have no authority to set aside Divine Law." In contrast, the "Orthodox" bishops claim power to override the express law of God on the basis of
oikonomia, i.e. Talmudic situation ethics).