Post by Pacelli on Aug 12, 2022 11:57:16 GMT -5
In recent times, I keep hearing horrible stories from Catholics that I know and about others that I do not know about spouses who separate from each other, sometimes permanently. I will be posting sources on this is the recourse section, as I have done previously, in regards to divorce, but it seems that some have come to believe that a separation from a spouse is permitted, so long as one does not remarry.
There is only one case in which a spouse can remain permanently separated, and that is in the case of adultery. When a spouse, husband or wife, betrays God and and their marriage vows and commits an act of adultery, the innocent party does not need to accept the guilty spouse back, and can remain in a permanent state of separation.
All other reasons for separation, such as abuse/mistreatment, hatred of one spouse to another, heresy, etc., are all causes for only a temporary separation, which is contingent on the amendment of the guilty spouse. The innocent spouse is required to accept the guilty spouse back if the guilty party has amended his life and has corrected the problem for the separation.
Fwiw, it seems to me that the main cause of these separations is that either one or both spouses is not taking their Faith seriously any longer, and is not seeking to amend their lives and their faults, and has come to believe that sins against justice or charity committed against their spouse is somehow permissible. Such a view is wildly misguided, but it is not usually well thought out as emotions are often very high in such situations, leading to many sins, some even possibly mortal sins.
There are so many evils involved when spouses consent to such emotions and as the arguments get worse, more and more sins abound, and the arguments become more and more regular and more reflexive to so many situations. Such marriages are a disfigured mess and a grave violation of the vows taken by the spouses who before God took a vow to love each other. Catholics who engage in such evil practices seriously jeopardize their eternal salvation, as our judgement before God will include the keeping of our public vows.
One last point, so many Catholics can easily see how a monk violates his vows if he starts to keep a stash of money or willfully disobeyed his superior, and will easily grasp how grave that is for him to violate his monastic vows, but in marriages, so many forget the vows they have taken, and in their mind think it is ok to not honor their vows made before God and which are binding on both spouses to keep.
There is only one case in which a spouse can remain permanently separated, and that is in the case of adultery. When a spouse, husband or wife, betrays God and and their marriage vows and commits an act of adultery, the innocent party does not need to accept the guilty spouse back, and can remain in a permanent state of separation.
All other reasons for separation, such as abuse/mistreatment, hatred of one spouse to another, heresy, etc., are all causes for only a temporary separation, which is contingent on the amendment of the guilty spouse. The innocent spouse is required to accept the guilty spouse back if the guilty party has amended his life and has corrected the problem for the separation.
Fwiw, it seems to me that the main cause of these separations is that either one or both spouses is not taking their Faith seriously any longer, and is not seeking to amend their lives and their faults, and has come to believe that sins against justice or charity committed against their spouse is somehow permissible. Such a view is wildly misguided, but it is not usually well thought out as emotions are often very high in such situations, leading to many sins, some even possibly mortal sins.
There are so many evils involved when spouses consent to such emotions and as the arguments get worse, more and more sins abound, and the arguments become more and more regular and more reflexive to so many situations. Such marriages are a disfigured mess and a grave violation of the vows taken by the spouses who before God took a vow to love each other. Catholics who engage in such evil practices seriously jeopardize their eternal salvation, as our judgement before God will include the keeping of our public vows.
One last point, so many Catholics can easily see how a monk violates his vows if he starts to keep a stash of money or willfully disobeyed his superior, and will easily grasp how grave that is for him to violate his monastic vows, but in marriages, so many forget the vows they have taken, and in their mind think it is ok to not honor their vows made before God and which are binding on both spouses to keep.