Separation of Spouses

In a recent post I spoke of the challenges faced in New Zealand society by the break down of marriage and family life and the role of parishes as serving a monastic function in crystallizing and fostering community in this post-modern era. Such a strategy recognizes that Catholics live with the tension in their daily life as, on occasions, their marriages and relationships become unsustainable even while they are called to turn the other cheek and live "till death us do part." Nobody is asked to live the impossible. The 1983 Code of Canon Law makes provision for this possibility:

Canon 1153 §1. If either of the spouses causes grave mental or physical danger to the other spouse or to the offspring or otherwise renders common life too difficult, that spouse gives the other a legitimate cause for leaving, either by decree of the local ordinary or even on his or her own authority if there is danger in delay.

Catholics can leave their abusive or dangerous spouses in good conscience. The Tribunal of the Catholic Church is also there to assist in obtaining the truth about the status of a marriage and identifying the circumstances for breakdown. 

The challenge in front of us is how to pastorally meet the needs of people who are struggling with relationship difficulties or are trying to make sense of the breakdown in relationship. The preaching and example of Pope Francis tells us to act with mercy. This means that taking people seriously and walking with them in their journey is essential to living out our Christian vocation. Our actions need to correspond to our words otherwise we will hear the reproaches of Saint James: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them: 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,' and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." (James 2: 14-17)

There are no easy answers, as with the rest of the contemporary breakdown in religion and community, nevertheless we need to be open to the Holy Spirit and ready to deploy our gifts when the occasion demands it.