The head of the Catholic Church says that divorce can be morally necessary in certain situations.
“There are cases in which separation is inevitable. Sometimes it can become even morally necessary, precisely when it comes to subtracting the weaker spouse, or small children, from more serious injuries caused by arrogance and violence, by humiliation and exploitation, and by indifference,” the pope said according to the New York Post.
The Pope has been focusing on family issues as he prepares for an October synod (or meeting of bishops) to talk about the family. One of the issues that will be discussed is divorced Catholics who remarry without going through the church process.
One of the points of contention is expected to revolve around giving communion to divorcees. Currently they are banned from communion because the church says marrying another person is a sin.
The Pope also appeared to be reaching out to those in situations where a spouse or parent is abusive.
“Around us we find several families in so-called irregular — I don’t like this word — situations, and we pose ourselves many questions. How can we help them? How can we support them? How can we support them so that children do not become hostages of their father or mother?” the pope said.
A new study and book is challenging long-held myths that half of all marriages end in divorce and that the divorce rate in the church is the same or higher than outside the church.
The book outlines an eight-year study that shows despite summations and claims of media outlets, the divorce rate in America have never actually topped 50%. The study shows that according to 2009 U.S. Census Data, the percentage of women still married to their first spouse on average is 71 percent across all age groups. The number of those married to a second husband is 65 percent on average.
Researcher Shaunti Feldhahn says the total percentage of American women who have been divorced, including all marriages, is just 30.8%.
Feldhahn also notes that according to statistics, there are many women not married to their first spouse who lost a spouse to death and not divorce. Many reports do not make the distinction between a re-married woman being divorced versus widowed.
The study also showed the highest rates of divorce were in the age groups over 35, contradicting a societal myth that young couples are quickly marrying and divorcing. The largest percentage of divorces was in the 50 to 59 age group.
In the case of Christians, the study showed that couples who attend church on a regular basis have a significantly lower divorce rate than Christians who rarely attend church or non-Christians. A joint study between Feldhahn and Barna showed the divorce rate of people who attended church the previous week was 27% and as much as 50% lower than people who do not attend church.
