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Church of England studies relaxation of rules on remarriage


From ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)
Date 01 Feb 2000 08:48:14

For more information contact:
Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
kmccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-022

Church of England studies relaxation of rules on remarriage

by Kathryn McCormick

     (ENS) Amid a blaze of criticism and praise, a working group 
of the Church of England's general synod has released a draft 
report loosening the church's strict rules governing remarriage 
of divorced persons.

     The January 25 report, seen as an acknowledgement of the 
reality of failed marriages in today's society--England has the 
second-highest divorce rate in Europe--affirms marriage but 
provides specific circumstances under which those whose first 
marriages ended in divorce might wed again.

     While traditionalists in the church attacked the report as a 
new assault on the institution of marriage, Bishop Mark  Santer 
of Birmingham welcomed it as "principled and pastorally 
realistic." He added, "The question of remarriage of those who 
have previously been married has been widely discussed throughout 
the church for at least 20 years. This report in effect codifies 
what has already become practice in many parishes."

     The document will be debated by and voted on in the General 
Synod.

     Since the 17th century, the church refused to marry persons 
whose previous partners were still living, a stance seen with 
some irony, given the marital history of King Henry VIII, who 
launched the church in part as a way to secure a divorce from his 
first wife, Katherine of Aragon. In 1981, the General Synod 
resolved that certain persons could remarry while their former 
spouses were living. 

Bishops' marriage statement

     Late last year, the church's House of Bishops, acknowledging 
the growing pressures among churchgoers to remarry, issued a 
statement reflecting on marriage, the relationship so long held 
by the church as a lifelong commitment, and pointing the way 
toward the acceptability of remarriage.

     Under the proposed new laws, divorced persons may remarry if 
they meet at least twice with their parish clergy,  who must seek 
the advice of the bishop; if each person has looked honestly at 
his or her first marriage, fully disclosing to the prospective 
partner the background that led to the divorce; if the children 
and spouse from the previous marriage are provided for; if the 
couple's new relationship was not responsible for the end of the 
previous marriage; and if neither the bride nor the groom has 
been divorced more than once.

     In many ways, these new rules match those already expressed 
in the canons of the Episcopal Church.

     At first, the church refused to remarry persons whose former 
spouses were living, official policy in 1804 and codified in the 
canons in 1868. In 1973, after years of sermons, papers, debate 
and resolutions, the canons were changed to allow remarriage of 
divorced persons under certain exceptions.

     The exceptions demand that a person seeking remarriage 
satisfy the clergy that the prior marriage has been dissolved by 
a civil court, that clergy make it clear that "concern must be 
shown for the well-being of the former spouse and of any children 
of the prior marriage," and that clergy consult with the bishop 
and obtain the bishop's consent.

     In both churches, clergy may decline to perform any marriage 
ceremony.

     Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt of Winchester, who headed the 
working group that produced the British report, said, "If these 
proposals win acceptance, the church will not simply marry anyone 
who turns up and asks to be married.

     "In many situations there are strong pastoral reasons why a 
local church will want to help people make a new start. With some 
people, however, it is clear that their past marriage has not 
been left behind, that its obligations have not been honored. 
Some people, in asking the church to help them to make a second 
marriage, are asking us to approve of behavior of which we cannot 
approve," he said.

--Kathryn McCormick is associate director of the Episcopal 
Church's Office of News and Information.


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