Dear Merv,
Thanks for your question.
Your friend is correct. The Church,
as well as Christ Himself, teaches
against divorce and remarriage. Here
are the Scripture verses:
31 "It was also said, ‘Whoever
divorces his wife must give her
a bill of divorce.' 32 But
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless
the marriage is unlawful) causes
her to commit adultery, and
whoever marries a divorced woman
commits adultery.
Matthew 5:31-32 |
1 When Jesus finished these words,
he left Galilee and went to the
district of Judea across the Jordan. 2 Great crowds followed him, and
he cured them there. 3 Some Pharisees
approached him, and tested him,
saying, "Is it lawful for
a man to divorce his wife for
any cause whatever?" 4 He
said in reply, "Have you not
read that from the beginning the
Creator ‘made them male
and female' 5 and said, ‘For
this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh'? 6 So
they are no longer two, but one
flesh. Therefore, what God has
joined together, no human being
must separate." 7 They said
to him, "Then why did Moses
command that the man give the
woman a bill of divorce and dismiss
(her)?" 8 He said to them, "Because
of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your
wives, but from the beginning
it was not so. 9 I
say to you, whoever divorces his
wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery." 10 (His) disciples said to him, "If
that is the case of a man with
his wife, it is better not to
marry." 11 He answered, "Not
all can accept (this) word, but
only those to whom that is granted. 12 Some are incapable of marriage
because they were born so; some,
because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced
marriage for the sake of the kingdom
of heaven. Whoever can accept
this ought to accept it."
Matthew 19:1-12 |
2 The Pharisees approached and
asked, "Is it lawful for
a husband to divorce his wife?" They
were testing him. 3 He said to
them in reply, "What did
Moses command you?" 4 They
replied, "Moses permitted
him to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her." 5 But Jesus
told them, "Because of the
hardness of your hearts he wrote
you this commandment. 6 But from
the beginning of creation, ‘God
made them male and female. 7 For
this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother (and be
joined to his wife), 8 and the
two shall become one flesh.' So
they are no longer two but one
flesh. 9 Therefore what God has
joined together, no human being
must separate." 10 In the house the disciples
again questioned him about this. 11 He said to them, "Whoever
divorces his wife and marries
another commits adultery against
her; 12 and if she divorces her
husband and marries another, she
commits adultery."
Mark 2:2-12 |
10 To the married, however, I
give this instruction (not I,
but the Lord): a wife should not
separate from her husband 11 —and
if she does separate she must
either remain single or become
reconciled to her husband—
and a husband should not divorce
his wife. 12 To the rest I say
(not the Lord): if any brother
has a wife who is an unbeliever,
and she is willing to go on living
with him, he should not divorce
her; 13 and if any woman has a
husband who is an unbeliever,
and he is willing to go on living
with her, she should not divorce
her husband. 14 For the unbelieving
husband is made holy through his
wife, and the unbelieving wife
is made holy through the brother.
Otherwise your children would
be unclean, whereas in fact they
are holy. 15 If the unbeliever
separates, however, let him separate.
The brother or sister is not bound
in such cases; God has called
you to peace. 16 For how do you
know, wife, whether you will save
your husband; or how do you know,
husband, whether you will save your wife?
1 Corinthians 7:10-16 |
Notice Our Divine Lord says himself:
(unless the marriage
is unlawful; see Matthew 19:1-12 above).
The question at
hand Merv is:
- Were your previous
marriages valid in the Eyes of Christ
and His Church?
If either one of
the marriage was valid, in the Eyes
of the Church and Christ, you are
still married.
- How does the Church determine whether a marriage actually happened
or was valid?
This is the purpose of a Church tribunal.
The Archdiocese of Boston has written
an excellent piece on this issue:
I feel for your situation Merv. I
recommend you seek out a Catholic
priest who follows the Holy Father and Church's Magisterium for appropriate
counsel. I hate to admit it but we
do have some bad examples of
priests; choose a good one.
If you wish to go deeper, consider buying a cheap copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to learn everything we believe as Catholics.
I also recommend you pray the Rosary daily, asking for Our Lady's help.
Find a Catholic parish nearby
and find a time where you can spend
a few minutes in the Church to pray.
As Catholics,
we believe that being obedient to
the Church is being obedient to Christ
Himself.
You said:
- How does the Catholic Church decide what to take literally from the Old Testament, and what not to take literally?
Our Divine Savior chose St. Peter
and his successors to guide the Church
in all areas of Faith and Morals.
How we interpret the Scriptures is
one of those areas. For that reason,
Catholics look to St. Peter on questions
of Scripture interpretation and understanding.
Not every verse in the Bible has
a Vatican interpretation; there are
only a few passages which must be
understood a certain way, based on
the Magisterium of the Church and
Oral Tradition which has been handed
down by the Apostles.
In Matthew 16:13-19, Our Blessed Lord says the
gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church; it's not the Pope's Church.
The Pope is just there to safeguard
and protect Our Blessed Lord's Teachings.
This is why all Jesus' Teachings,
going back to 33 A.D., can only be found today in One Church — the Catholic Church.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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