I'm very disappointed in reading this from the Vatican. My mother was divorced and remarried for around 15 years before finally deciding to pursue the annulment process. She had become far more of a devout Catholic by this time then she was when first divorced (although she did care enough that she continued going to mass most of the time even though she was forbidden to receive the sacraments). When she finally received the annulment papers in the mail, she was overjoyed and quickly made arrangements to get married again in the Church. She is now so happy to be able to participate again in the sacramental life of her Church after having been denied for so many years because her first marriage didn't work out.
Now the Pope of Rome wants to make it harder for millions of Catholics to get an annulment and thus return to participation in the RC sacraments every Sunday. How sad that the RCC will not under any circumstances permitt a divorce in the first place. Thank God that Orthodoxy, although always striving to preserve the dignity of marriage, allows for the option of divorce. Thank God to belong to a Church which tolerates human nature and understands the weakness of the flesh.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5294 Granting easy access to marriage annulments is an offense against both justice and charity, said Pope Benedict XVI on January 29.
The Pope’s message has a particular resonance in the US, whose Catholic Church tribunals account for more than half of the world’s annulment decrees. Pope Benedict, like Pope John Paul II before him, has repeatedly argued for a more vigorous defense of the marital bond.
