Didn't it all really begin with the ready acceptance of divorce?

As per Hillary White of LifeSiteNews,

"a brief glance at history will show that the frenzy of sexual disorderliness that so characterises our times did not start in the 20^th century at all. The first legal steps in creating the destruction we see today was the loosening of the divorce laws in the 19^th century....

"Pope Leo XIII, one of the towering figures of Catholic history, published the encyclical 'Arcanum divinae sapientia' (The Mystery of Divine Wisdom) on marriage in 1880....

"Paragraph 29 can perhaps give us a hint about the origin of the social catastrophe we currently find ourselves in. Leo clearly equates the protection of the family with the protection both of women and children and of the state. He writes, 'Truly, it is hardly possible to describe how great are the evils that flow from divorce'....

"Divorce, he said, supplies 'deplorable inducements to unfaithfulness' and harms the education and training of children, allows the 'breaking up of homes' and sows 'seeds of dissension' in families. With divorce, '“the dignity of womanhood is lessened and brought low, and women run the risk of being deserted after having ministered to the pleasures of men'.

"Because 'nothing has such power to lay waste families and destroy the mainstay of kingdoms as the corruption of morals,' divorce is 'in the highest degree hostile to the prosperity of families and States'....

"Given our current struggles with hyper-secularisation, it is interesting to note also that  Leo firmly attributed the attacks on marriage as a way of asserting the ultimate authority of the secular state against that of the Church....





“'Not only, in strict truth, was marriage instituted for the propagation of the human race, but also that the lives of husbands and wives might be made better and happier,' Leo XIII wrote in 1880. From such unions, he said, 'the State may rightly expect a race of citizens animated by a good spirit and filled with reverence and love for God, recognizing it their duty to obey those who rule justly and lawfully, to love all, and to injure no one'"

SOCIETY ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO RECOGNIZE THE SANCTITY AND INDISSOLUBILITY OF MARRIAGE!

To a very large and tragic extent, we long ago - in practice - succumbed to

• treating marriage as though it were NOT indissoluble,
• separating the unitive and procreative dimensions of the marital act, and
• looking the other way from couples living in sin.

Our de facto acceptance of contraception, divorce/remarriage, and cohabitation set the table for Pennsylvania's surrender on the civil definition of "marriage."

By the way, aren't Catholic spouses - even with just cause - supposed to obtain the bishop's approval to separate?

In 2009, Mary's Advocates asked the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts "whether it was correct for the Church in America to continue ignoring Canons 1151-1155 and 1692 from the Code of Canon Law....Essentially, they say that before a husband or wife heads to the divorce court, they first need to head to their bishop. It's then up to the bishop to say whether a legitimate cause for separation exists" (Should couples get bishop's permission to separate?, Our Sunday Visitor, 5/13/09).  While I am unclear as to whether a response was received, it appears that - in practice - we have the cart before the horse.  In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, people are told that

• "Divorce is a reality for all people, even for Roman Catholics. The Catholic Church respects the validity of all marriages, not just Catholic marriages. There are divorced persons who seek to remarry in the Catholic Church. In such cases, the Church will consider the divorced marriage to see if someone entered the marriage with an understanding, ability or intention contrary to the Church’s teaching on marriage. This process, called a Declaration of Nullity, enables people to marry in the Catholic Church and enables Catholics to participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church.
• "Before anyone can initiate a Process for a Declaration of Nullity, civil divorce for the marriage in question must be obtained and finalized. This completed civil document demonstrates for the Church that the marriage in fact has been definitively broken and is unable to be reconciled."

 

"How to start an annulment"!!!

What about reconciliation? 

As per Rev. Charles Zmudzinski, C.P.M., J.C.L., "[A]s a priest who has some pastoral experience with spouses in difficult marriages and some experience working in a marriage Tribunal, I do know that it is easy for a pastor or Tribunal official to succumb to a mindset that emphasizes the subjective happiness of the spouse who wants out of a marriage over and above the objective value of marriage for society and the Church and forget there is another spouse and in many cases children whose rights might be violated by resorting to the divorce-annulment option too quickly."  I am NOT a canon lawyer, but I have read each of the addresses to the Roman Rota by Saint Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis, as well as Dignitas Connubii.  Especially with the relatively miniscule attention to marriage preparation and NFP instruction, I struggle to understand how advertising the possibility of annulments is in any way in keeping with authentic respect for marriage

If it were a good idea to have and to advertise annulment information sessions, why aren't there similar sessions on laicization and dispensation from religious vows?  Is there a subtle disrespect for the Sacrament of Marriage?   

The Vatican's Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage: presenting Catholic teaching in an unapologetic manner with  obvious belief that the Church has Good News for couples! 

If priests, deacons, and pastoral workers truly believe this Good News, they will refuse to shy away from presenting any "uncomfortable" truths. about marriage/family.  "The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is reminding the faithful that the indissolubility of marriage is a dogma of the Church....With regard to the possibility of allowing spouses to 'start life over again' as the love between two persons 'can die,' he responded, 'these theories are radically mistaken'" (Cardinal Mueller Stresses Need to Correct Misunderstanding of Church's Teachings on Marriage, Family, 8/7/14).