Changes

The United Church of Christ states[http://www.accsd.org/UCC.html] that "Divorced and remarried persons are welcome to participate fully in the life of the church."<ref>Ibid. Steig</ref>  

The United Church of Christ states[http://www.accsd.org/UCC.html] that "Divorced and remarried persons are welcome to participate fully in the life of the church."<ref>Ibid. Steig</ref>  

In ancient time Roman [[Catholics]] could possibly obtain divorces for either of the two traditional reasons,<ref>Dissolution and annulment of marriage by the Catholic Church, by Eileen F. Stuart, p. 82</ref> Later Canon law does not admit divorce. [[Catholic Church|The Catholic Church]] has a process of [[annulment]] based on the non-fulfilment of any of the religious marriage requirements, such as individual freedom or a previous unmarried state. In addition, various other conditions are recognized as possible grounds for annulment. Technically, an annulment is not a divorce but a declaration that a valid marriage never took place. Common grounds for annulment include "lack of due discretion" in choosing a spouse, "defective consent", meaning deceit by one of the parties, "psychic incapacity" to fulfill marital obligations, "defect of form", referring to a marriage that was not performed in the Catholic Church, and "prior bond", meaning one of the partners was married to someone else at the time of the wedding.<ref>John T. Catoir, J.C.D., "Understanding Annulments," St. Anthony Messenger, 1998; http://www.twopaths.com/faq_marriage.htm</ref>. In the 2004 Presidential election season many devout Catholics were scandalized by Senator [[John Kerry]], now married to his second wife, taking [[Communion|Holy Communion]] without having obtained an annulment. Some charge the Catholicism with engaging in deception by using annulments to circumvent its prohibition on divorce,<ref>Catholic Divorce: The Deception of Annulments, Pierre Hegy, Joseph Martos (Editors)</ref> while it is pointed out that the Bible considered people married even when married under conditions which might quality as grounds for annulments.<ref>[http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/papalpresumption.html Papal Presumption]</ref>   

In ancient time Roman [[Catholics]] could possibly obtain divorces for either of the two traditional reasons,<ref>Dissolution and annulment of marriage by the Catholic Church, by Eileen F. Stuart, p. 82</ref> Later Canon law does not admit divorce. [[Catholic Church|The Catholic Church]] has a process of [[annulment]] based on the non-fulfilment of any of the religious marriage requirements, such as individual freedom or a previous unmarried state. In addition, various other conditions are recognized as possible grounds for annulment. Technically, an annulment is not a divorce but a declaration that a valid marriage never took place. Current available statistics show 53,885 annulments were granted to Catholics in the United States<ref>Vatican's 2004 Statistical Yearbook of the Church</ref> and 638,705 from 1984 to 705, the large majority being for "defective consent", meaning deceit by one of the parties.<ref>What God has joined together, pp. 25,26, by Robert H. Vasoli</ref>  Other common grounds for annulment include "lack of due discretion" in choosing a spouse, "psychic incapacity" to fulfill marital obligations, "defect of form", referring to a marriage that was not performed in the Catholic Church, and "prior bond", meaning one of the partners was married to someone else at the time of the wedding.<ref>John T. Catoir, J.C.D., "Understanding Annulments," St. Anthony Messenger, 1998; http://www.twopaths.com/faq_marriage.htm</ref>.  

 

In the 2004 Presidential election season many devout Catholics were scandalized by Senator [[John Kerry]], now married to his second wife, taking [[Communion|Holy Communion]] without having obtained an annulment. Some charge the Catholicism with engaging in deception by using annulments to circumvent its prohibition on divorce,<ref>Catholic Divorce: The Deception of Annulments, Pierre Hegy, Joseph Martos (Editors)</ref> while it is pointed out that the Bible considered people married even when joined under conditions which might quality as grounds for annulments.<ref>[http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/papalpresumption.html Papal Presumption]</ref>   

   

   

The current catechism states,   

The current catechism states,   

The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion.<ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church, (c) 1994, 1997; #1665</ref>

The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion.<ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church, (c) 1994, 1997; #1665</ref>

== Secular view ==

== Secular view ==