Why Can't Divorced Catholics Remarry?

The Short Answer

The Church teaches that a valid, consummated sacramental marriage lasts until death, because Christ Himself said so: “What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Mark 10:9). A civil divorce can end the legal contract, but it cannot end the marriage itself. So a divorced Catholic whose first marriage was valid is not free to marry again while the first spouse is alive. But divorced Catholics are not excluded from the Church, and if a marriage was never valid in the first place, the Church can declare it null, leaving both parties free to marry.

Many people find this hard to accept. Marriages break down through no fault of one partner, and it seems cruel to tell someone abandoned or abused that they may never marry again. Those situations are real and painful, and the Church’s answer has to take them seriously.

What the Church Does and Does Not Claim

The Church does not claim:

• That divorced Catholics are excommunicated. They remain members of the Church, and a divorced person who has not remarried may receive Communion like anyone else.
• That spouses must stay together in every circumstance. Separation can be legitimate, and sometimes necessary, for example where there is abuse, and civil divorce may be tolerated to secure legal protections (CCC 2383).
• That an annulment is a “Catholic divorce.” It is a finding that a valid marriage never existed, not the ending of one that did.
• That children of a marriage later declared null are illegitimate. They are not.

The Church does claim that “if the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God’s law,” and that the Church must still help them “so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church” (CCC 1650–1651).

Why Catholics Believe It

Jesus’ own words

When the Pharisees asked Jesus whether divorce was lawful, He went back to creation: “from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’” (Mark 10:6–8). Moses had allowed divorce “for your hardness of heart,” but “from the beginning it was not so” (Matthew 19:8). And Jesus was clear: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mark 10:11–12).

His disciples found this hard too: “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry” (Matthew 19:10). St Paul repeats it as a command “not I but the Lord”: a wife who separates should “remain single or else be reconciled to her husband” (1 Corinthians 7:10–11).

Marriage is a covenant, not a contract

A contract can be ended by agreement. A covenant is a gift of persons. In a sacramental marriage, husband and wife give themselves to each other for life, and their union becomes a sign of Christ’s unbreakable love for the Church (Ephesians 5:31–32). Because the sign rests on Christ’s faithfulness, not on the couple’s feelings, it cannot be undone when feelings change.

What an annulment is

For a marriage to be valid, certain things must be present at the time of the wedding: both parties free to marry, real consent freely given, the capacity to understand and take on what marriage is, and the right form. If one of these was missing, there was never a valid marriage, however sincere the couple and however many years they lived together. A Church tribunal examines the evidence and, if it finds the marriage was invalid from the start, declares it null. In 2015 Pope Francis simplified the process to make it quicker and more accessible (Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus).

Common Objections

”Doesn’t Jesus allow divorce for adultery?”

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says that whoever divorces his wife, “except for unchastity,” and marries another commits adultery (Matthew 19:9). The Greek word, porneia, is not the usual word for adultery. The Catholic tradition has generally understood it to refer to unions that were unlawful from the start, such as marriages within forbidden degrees of kinship, which were never true marriages. In Mark and Luke the teaching has no exception at all.

”It’s cruel to punish someone who was abandoned.”

The Church does not see the innocent party as guilty, and does not punish them. A person who was abandoned and has not remarried is in full communion with the Church. The teaching does not say they did wrong; it says the marriage bond, which they did not choose to break, still exists. That is hard, and the Church owes such people real compassion and support.

”Annulments are just Catholic divorce for those who can work the system.”

A declaration of nullity does not end a marriage; it recognises that one never existed. Not every application succeeds. The Church can certainly be criticised when tribunals are careless, but the principle is sound: some ceremonies do not create valid marriages, and justice requires that this be recognised.

”What about divorced and remarried Catholics who want to be part of the Church?”

They are part of the Church, and are encouraged to attend Mass, pray, raise their children in the faith and take part in parish life (CCC 1651). Pope Francis, in Amoris Laetitia (2016), asked pastors to accompany such couples, to help them discern their situation, and to integrate them more fully into the life of the Church. How that teaching applies to receiving Communion has been widely discussed, and pastors are asked to follow the guidance of their bishops.

In Summary

The Church teaches that a valid sacramental marriage cannot be dissolved by divorce, because Jesus said that what God has joined, no one may separate. Divorced Catholics remain members of the Church, separation can be necessary, and where a marriage was never valid the Church can declare it null. The teaching is demanding, but it rests on the faithfulness of Christ, who never abandons His Church, and whose faithfulness married love is meant to show.

See also Why Does the Church Teach That Marriage Is Between a Man and a Woman? and Why Does the Church Oppose Contraception?

This article follows the method St Robert Bellarmine used in his Controversies*: state the question fairly, clear away misunderstandings, make the case, then answer each objection. Bellarmine’s treatise on marriage defends its indissolubility against the Reformers who allowed divorce. See How We Answer Objections.*

Sources

• Scripture: Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Press). Malachi 2:16; Matthew 5:32, 19:3–12; Mark 10:2–12; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11; Ephesians 5:31–32.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 1625–1629, 1638–1651, 2382–2386. usccb.org
• St John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio (1981), 83–84.
• Pope Francis, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus (2015); Amoris Laetitia (2016), ch. 8.
• St Robert Bellarmine, De Controversiis: De Matrimonio.