divorce

Lack of Catechesis I have had some very interesting phone calls recently concerning marriage. One person asked me to write about annulment as there is a perception in some quarters that it is just a form of Catholic divorce. Another person has asked me to write about consent, or rather the lack of it, and the important need for priests to make sure that the proper consent is there, before a marriage takes place. Many years ago, this second person … Read More

The Confused & Confusing Cardinal A recent headline in an Irish weekly newspaper stated “Children must be priority when marriages fail – top cardinal”. The article then went on to state “One of the Pope’s closest advisers on the family has insisted that when dealing with marital breakdown, the Church must put the needs of children ahead of a simplistic application of rules.” I have to say that I find this problematic, but first I also want to look at … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, August 2016   Divorce Issue Still being used as a Trap Today, we go back to the book of Genesis, to the beginning. When the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus on the question of marriage and divorce, he pointed them back to the beginning. It is interesting to note that this very same question, nowadays framed in the benign, and seemingly caring terms of re-admitting the divorced and remarried to Holy Communion, is … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, December 2015 Modern Ireland’s Pharisaism Modern Ireland, has lost sight of God’s primary purpose for marriage and has become Pharisaical in putting God to the test with legalised divorce, legalised contraception, legalised ‘same-sex’ relationships which are falsely called marriages, legalised adoption of children into ‘same-sex households contrary to the best interests of those children and contrary to all the ‘fluff and burble’ of our politicians about cherishing and protecting all children, legalised murder … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, April 2015 The Prophet is Derided in his own Country Whilst these articles deal in the main with the Catholic understanding of marriage and what has gone wrong with marriage in this country, it is impossible to deal with this subject without every so often, taking a look around at the prevailing climate of the times. In my last article I mentioned that God always sends prophetic voices amongst His people. However, more … Read More

Marriage – A Gift from God Marriage is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to mankind. It is a sublime vocation ordered to love and crowned with the beauty and glory of children. It is the foundation stone, designated by God, on which society must be built. Yet today, in the western world in particular, marriage is in grave difficulty. The number of couples divorcing or separating is on the increase. The number of young people who … Read More