CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Southland Times, Issue 25306, 8 June 1935, Page 5

CHURCH OF ENGLAND

ATTITUDE TOWARDS DIVORCE. 'GROUNDS SHOULD BE LIMITED. (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) London, June 6. “Marriage is for life, and although provision for dissolving the legal bond is inevitable, there cannot be the right to a second marriage in the Church within the lifetime of a former member,” says the majority report of the joint committee of the Convocations of York and Canterbury after four years’ discussion. The report emphasizes that the grounds for dissolving marriage ought to be severely limited in secular legislation, and protests against the possibility of arranging divorce by inferred misconduct. The report expresses the opinion that additional causes of the nullity of marriage should include certain abnormalities and diseases and the concealment of hereditary mental and physical disorder. The Convocation of Canterbury accepted the report by 18 votes to 1, Bishop Barnes dissenting. He and others submitted; a minority report, declaring that they were not convinced that one whose first marriage was blighted should be condemned to celibacy. NULLITY OF MARRIAGE ARCHBISHOP AVERILL’S VIEWS. (Per United Press Association.) Auckland, June 7, “The important part of the report to my mind is the passage relating to the nullity of marriage,” said Archbishop Averill when asked to express his views upon the cabled summary of the report of the Committee of Convocations of Canterbury and York on marriage and divorce. “I am very strongly of the opinion that the State should enlarge the grounds on which marriage can be declared null,” the Archbishop continued. “What I have in mind particularly are cases in which one party has knowingly deceived the other before marriage by cbncealing vitally important facts which, if disclosed, would have caused the marriage to be abandoned. Such change in law undoubtedly would prevent a great deal of misery which now leads to the divorce Court. It seems to me that the church would be quite justified in concurring in the annulment of such marriages by the civil Courts and in regarding them as no marriages at all in the sight of God. If this came about, it would no doubt be necessary for the church to set up some tribunal to inquire and report before the re-marriage of the innocent party in the church was authorized. Possibly the principle might be extended by granting dispensations for the re-marriage of innocent divorced persons who had obtained divorces on grounds which would justify a decree of nullity. However, I do not think that this should be done unless some x general legislation on such lines had been adopted by the whole church."