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Summary
- Jesus called remarriage after divorce adultery (Mark 10:11–12; Luke 16:18); Matthew’s Gospel adds the exception “except for sexual immorality” (Matthew 5:32; 19:9).
- The Catholic Church holds that a valid, consummated marriage between baptized people ends only at death (canon 1141). A divorced Catholic can usually marry again in church only after a declaration of nullity or the death of the first spouse.
- Catholics who remarry civilly remain members of the Church but, under the Catechism, may not receive Communion while the situation lasts (Catechism 1650). In 2016 Pope Francis endorsed a reading of Amoris Laetitia that allows access to the sacraments in limited cases after discernment.
- The Orthodox Church permits a second and, rarely, a third marriage after a church divorce, with a penitential rite.
- Protestant positions range from no remarriage while a former spouse lives to remarriage after adultery or desertion (Westminster Confession 24.5–6) and wider grounds such as abuse and neglect.
- Paul allows a separated wife to “be reconciled to her husband” (1 Corinthians 7:11); the law of Moses forbade taking back a divorced wife who had married another man (Deuteronomy 24:4).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Matthew 5:32; 19:3–9; Mark 10:11–12; 1 Corinthians 7:10–15, 39; Deuteronomy 24:4). References: Luke 16:18; Romans 7:2–3; Exodus 21:10–11; Leviticus 18:6–18.
- New American Bible Revised Edition, Matthew 5:32 and 19:9, with the note on Matthew 5:31–32. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1628–1629, 1650–1651 and 2382–2386. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
- Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 1141–1143 and 1152. https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann998-1165_en.html
- Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia (19 March 2016), paragraphs 243, 296–298 and 305 with note 351. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia.html
- “What Pope Francis said about Communion for the divorced-and-remarried,” Catholic News Agency, 13 September 2016. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/34544/what-pope-francis-said-about-communion-for-the-divorced-and-remarried
- Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Fiducia Supplicans (18 December 2023), paragraphs 31 and 38. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20231218_fiducia-supplicans_en.html
- Orthodox Church in America, “Divorce and Remarriage,” Questions and Answers. https://www.oca.org/questions/sacramentmarriage/divorce-and-remarriage
- Russian Orthodox Church, The Basis of the Social Concept (2000), section X.3. https://old.mospat.ru/en/documents/social-concepts/kh/
- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 24, “Of Marriage and Divorce,” in the text of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. https://opc.org/wcf.html
- Church of England, “Marriage in Church after Divorce,” House of Bishops advice following the General Synod resolution of 2002. https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/marriage-in-church-after-divorce.pdf
- Church of England, “Marriage after divorce.” https://www.churchofengland.org/life-events/your-church-wedding/just-engaged/marriage-after-divorce
- John Piper, “Divorce & Remarriage: A Position Paper,” Desiring God, 21 July 1986. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/divorce-and-remarriage-a-position-paper
- David Instone-Brewer, “What God Has Joined,” Christianity Today, October 2007. https://www.christianitytoday.com/2007/10/what-god-has-joined/
- David Instone-Brewer, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002).
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