Too Many Divorces In N.Z. is View of Presbyterian Assembly

Grey River Argus, 14 November 1949, Page 7

Too Many Divorces In N.Z. is View of Presbyterian Assembly

Abuse of Law Is Alleged P.A. TIMARU, Nov. 13 The alleged abuse of the provision of the Divorce Act w'hich allows a divorce to be secured through noncompliance with an order of a Supreme Court Judge for the restitution of conjugal rights led the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church on Saturday to agree to ask the In-ter-Church Council on Public Affairs to urge the Government to delete this provision from the act. Th e speakers were critical of the conjugal rights clause of the act. They said that a declaration _ that one party in a matrimonial dispute had refused to return to the other was not, in itself, a proof that the marriage had been irretrievably “destroyed.” At times, indeed, it led to perjury. The long-established attitude of the church, however, that it did make room for divorces, under conditions, was reaffirmed. The Assembly declared that it h?ld that divorce was permissable after proof had been given that the union was destroyed, the Assembly recognising that, in some cases, persons who entering into marriage failed to achieve union, so that the marriage became a mere legal fiction. “We are convinced that the most effective way to lessen the number of broken marriages is to ensure that adequate training for the vocation of marriage is provided for all young persons,” said Rev. Mr Malcolm Wilson, of Timaru, who presented an interim report of a special committee on divorce. He urged the Ministers to support and make use of marriage guidance council?. He said; “Divorce at the present time, has assumed serious proportions in this country, and the very institution of marriage is menaced in modern society. In my judgment it is better for children to lose their parents by death than by divorce. This is ah opinion which has been borne out by long experience in parish w'ork, aiid it does, at least, indicate the seriousness of divorce, and its effect on family life.” Discussing the abuse of the Divorce and Matrimonial Cruses Act, he sa’d that, in every application for a divorce, a full and true reason for the destruction of the marriage should be-required to be given. Otherwise, divorce became an easy means whereby selfish and irresponsible persons escaped the discinline and responsibilities of marriage. Rev. J. A. Thomson, First Church, Invercargill, was elected ModeratorDesignate' at Saturday’s session of the Assembly. It was decided that the 1950 Assembly should be held in St David’s Church. Auckland, starting on' November 8. The Moder-ator-Designate, a former car builder at the Hillside Workshops. Dunedui, entered the church as a home missionary, and served in World War I in a medical corps. His first call w’as to Clevedon, and then to Kaikohe and Remuera. He w'as a chaplain in the recent war.