THE POPE ON DIVORCE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 371, 28 May 1880, Page 19

THE POPE ON DIVORCE.

(From the Niewar7t Daily Advertiser, a Protestant paper.) The Roman Church has been exceedingly fortunate in the last two dignitaries which have occupied the Papal chair. The general differences between the Catholic and Protestant Churches may be irreconcilable, yet there are many of the utterances of the Popes that it would be well for all men to follow. Leo XIII. has done or said very little in regard to the temporalities of the Church ; he is resigned to, if not satisfied, with the present position, but he has issued a number of encyclical letters which show profound thought, and an earnest sense of duty. Perhaps, after all, the Roman Church may come to look upon the loss o£ the earthly kingdom as a Providential blessing. The Popes, deprived of a throne, can devote themselves wholly to the discharge of their spiritual functions and the care of souls. In a world in which, mainly through the carelessness and mismanagement of Protestants, the marriage ceremony has come to be looked upon almost with contempt, the last letter from Rome on that subject should be received with universal respect by all good men. It is calculated to make the honest thoughtful, and it should have the effect to modify legislation and to improve the tone of the Church and of society. It is not among the possibilities that within Catholic boundaries a man of forty-five could be married to a girl of twelve, as was reported but a few weeks ago, or that Chicago divorces can be procured. The one high stand taken by the Pope in this letter is that marriage is a sacrament of the Church and not a mere civil contract. He says to the clergy that they are to remember that " marriage was originally instituted, not by human will, but by the authority and command > of God, and under the condition that one man be wedded to one woman," and he denies that any man has power to dissolve a marriage ratified between Christians. In some of the Protestant Churches the same doctrine is maintained ; and that the words of the ceremony confirm it, yet practice and precept do not go together, and divorces are so common as to be reported under a standing heading with the marriages and deaths. Pope Leo further sets forth that when married partners cannot live together that they may live apart, but there the duty of the Church does not cease. In his own words, '■ she seeks to mollify the hardships of separation, nor ever ceases to apply her mediating task, nor ever despairs of reconciling them as man and wife." Of course the Pope is strongly opposed to mixed marriages — Catholics with Protestants — and while there may be exceptional circumstances, he has the wisdom of experience on his side ; and the more deeply implanted the religious faith, the greater the difficulties that will arise. The " twain become one flesh " is not merely a symbol of words ; there is no such thing as " unity in diversity." The message of the Supreme Pontiff is not merely to be looked upon as a religious essay. It reaches more than one-half of the entire world as an authoritative command. It comes with the stamp of infallibility ; it moulds the purposes of men and women of all degrees, from the peasant to the Prince. Cling as we may to the right of private judgment, it cannot but be acknowledged that it is a good thing when people are governed arbitrarily, to have them governed wisely. Nothing can be more destructive of morality than to have the Church pull one way and the civil law another ; to have a priest say, " Whom God joineth together let no man put asunder," and then permit a legal shyster in New York through a judge in Oregon to annul the tie whenever it becomes a freak of fancy or passion on the part of either. The weakness of law in this matter is a disgrace to the country and its judiciary, and the loose practices that have grown up under it are little less than criminal. Pope Leo XIII. is to be honored for his manly and timely utterances, and Christianity under all names and forms owes him its gratitude.