8 Worrisome Myths About Divorce And Annulments Most Catholics Don’t Realize Are Bogus

1.    Catholics Who Get Divorced Are Ex-Communicated

False. Anyone whose marriage is civilly ended by a state-issued divorce decree is in no way ex-communicated. It is true that Christ taught divorce was not what God had intended from the start, but he also stated the actual sin was in the remarriage of the divorced spouse, who therefore commits adultery (unless the first marriage was invalid).

If you are a spouse who deliberately broke up your marriage and abandoned your family to pursue another relationship, then you really need to talk to a priest because that is considered a grave sin. But it’s not an ex-communicable offense. Abandoned spouses, especially, need to know that being civilly divorced does not make you a “bad Catholic.” You are welcome and encouraged to attend mass and parish events and remain an important part of the parish community.

The real grounds for ex-communication for a Catholic who knowingly commits one of these grave offenses are:

–    Having an abortion or assisting someone in procuring an abortion
–    apostasy
–    heresy
–    schism (CIC 1364:1)
–    violating the sacred species (CIC 1367)
–    physically attacking the pope (CIC 1370:1)
–    sacramentally absolving an accomplice in a sexual sin (CIC 1378:1)
–    consecrating a bishop without authorization (CIC 1382)
–    directly violating the seal of confession (1388:1).