When marriage comes apart – to divorce or not to divorce? (3)

I would like to draw the readers’ attention to the opinion by Kevin F. Dingli (March 3).

Dr Dingli, a lawyer, points out some very important points regarding the legal issues connecting a possible future divorce law to an existing concordat between the Vatican and the Maltese government regarding Catholic marriages recognised by the state.

I have asked myself questions related to this issue at the onset of the divorce debate.

I continue to see the point that Catholic marriages contracted in church and, therefore, governed by canon law and only recognised by the government as a valid marriage, do not have any loophole through which they can apply for divorce according to the concordat should divorce be introduced. This means that, should a divorce law come into force, there has to be a dissolution of the concordat and ensure the Church and the state are completely independent of each another where future marriages are concerned.

The difference between the pre-divorce and post-divorce era would be this for a Catholic couple: while so far Catholic couples deciding to tie the knot in church are bound by canon law and their marriage is accepted as valid by the government, the post-divorce Catholic couple will, in order to enter into a valid marriage, have to tie the knot before a civil servant according to the Marriage Act enacted by the state with an appendix to include the divorce law application and through which they will in the future be able to apply for divorce while also, if so wishing, tying their bond in Christ on the altar, binding themselves that they will never apply for divorce.

If, after a time, one of the spouses decides to still apply for divorce on account of his/her civil marriage and on getting it marries someone else, I think it will only be fair for the Church to free the Catholic adhering spouse from the spouse who, by so doing (enters into a second marriage after divorce), would be separating himself/herself from Christ and giving him/her the pauline privilege of a second marriage.