ATTITUDE TO DIVORCE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 28, 12 November 1949, Page 5

ATTITUDE TO DIVORCE

STATEMENT BY THE POPE

LONG-TERM CAMPAIGN

{N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright)

(Rec. 10.45 am.) ROME, Nov. 11. Unofficial Vatican observers to-day claimed to see part of a

long-term campaign in the call made by the Pope this week to Catholic judges throughout the world not to grant divoVce decrees.

They said that the Pope’s decree, in which he outlined the whole moral basis on which a Catholic judge should apply the law, appeared to be linked to other recent Vatican ordinances. They cited these as: Firstly, a decree, issued earlier this year by the Holy Office, excommunicating Communists; secondly, the explicit ban on artificial insemination; and thirdly, the “papal exhortation” made yesterday for the “crusade of prayer” protection of holy places in Palestine. 4

In this, the Pope sent a message to Roman Catholic bishops, throughout the world, ' expressing apprehension over the future of holy places in Palestine, and appealed to Christians to pray for a just solution of the problem of holy placeeThe Pope’s mandate to Catholic judges not to grant divorce decrees occurred, almost incidentally, in one sentence of a 4000-word speech, which the Pope read to several hundred Italian jurists who were attending a conference in Rome and who had an audience with the Pope at Castel Gandolfo.

Four Cardinal Points

As is the . usual practice in the Vatican, a revised authoritative version of the Pope’s speech was printed in full next day in the Vatican newspaper “Osservatore Romano.” The Pope laid down four cardinal points for the guidance of Catholic judges. These are, firstly, a Catholic judge cannot throw the responsibility of his decision on the law—that he is co-responsible with the legislature for the effects of the law; secondly, no judge may ever oblige anyone to do anything intrinsically / immoral: thirdly, a judge cannot recognise or approve of an unjust law, which could not necessarily be equivalent to approving it—sometimes a judge may apply an unjust law to “avbid a greater evil.” - The Pope then added : “In particular, a Catholic judge, except for reasons of greatest importance, cannot pronounce a divorce decree for a marriage which is valid in the eyes of God and of the Church.” • Vatican commentators later said that this means in effect that in countries practising British and American systems of law, Catholic judges should avoid presiding over -divorce” courts, and. should not pronounce divorce deCreeS# - They added, however, that there "might be special cases which would absolve a judge from this in order to avoid a greater evil. They said that the whole question was to some

extent one of conscience—a matter to

be settled in each case by the indi- ' vidual, in accordance with the proclaimed teachings of ,the Catholic Church. They said the Pope was the ultimate authority of the Catholic Church and that statements by him, such as that on* divorce, were definitely mandatory, unless their application would result in great hard not specifically seen by the Pope.