---
title: "What does the Church teach about divorce, remarriage, and annulment?"
url: "https://seekabove.com/answers/what-does-the-church-teach-about-divorce-and-remarriage"
description: "The Church believes a valid sacramental marriage is a lifelong bond that no human power can dissolve, so it does not recognise the “remarriage” of someone still bound to a living spouse. But the Chur…"
published: "2026-06-06"
updated: "2026-06-10"
category: "Family and Vocation"
scripture: ["Matthew 19:6", "Mark 10:11-12", "Matthew 19:8-9", "1 Corinthians 7:10-11", "Malachi 2:16"]
catechism: "CCC 1614–1615, 1629, 1640, 1644, 1646, 1649–1651, 2382–2384, 2386"
---

# What does the Church teach about divorce, remarriage, and annulment?

## Short answer

The Church believes a valid sacramental marriage is a lifelong bond that no human
power can dissolve, so it does not recognise the "remarriage" of someone still bound
to a living spouse. But the Church distinguishes this from civil divorce (sometimes
necessary for protection or practical reasons) and from an **annulment**, which is
not "Catholic divorce" but a finding that a true marriage bond never actually existed
in the first place. Throughout, the Church loves the divorced, who remain full
members of the Church.

## Full explanation

This teaching is among the hardest the Church holds, because it touches people in
real pain. It helps to take it in three careful steps.

**1. Marriage is meant to be permanent.** Jesus is unusually direct here. Asked about
divorce, he points back to creation — "what God has joined together, let no one
separate" — and calls remarriage after divorce a kind of adultery. He treats the
permission for divorce in the Old Law as a concession to human "hardness of heart,"
not God's real intention. So the Church teaches that a valid, consummated sacramental
marriage creates a bond that lasts until death; it isn't a contract you can dissolve
when it gets hard, but a covenant that mirrors God's unbreakable faithfulness.

**2. Civil divorce is not the same as breaking the bond.** The Church recognises that
sometimes spouses must separate, and that civil divorce can be tolerated — even
necessary — to secure legal protection, custody, safety, or finances, especially
where there is abuse or abandonment. Separating from a dangerous or unfaithful spouse
is not a sin. What the Church says is that a civil decree cannot dissolve a real
marriage bond before God; the *legal* status changes, the *covenant* doesn't.

**3. Annulment is not "Catholic divorce."** This is the most misunderstood part. A
declaration of nullity (annulment) does not end a marriage; it is the Church's
finding, after careful investigation, that what looked like a marriage was missing
something essential from the very beginning needed to make it a *valid* bond — for
example, that one party never truly consented, was incapable of the commitment,
married under grave pressure, or excluded fidelity, permanence, or openness to
children. If those essentials were absent at the start, a binding marriage never
actually came into being, however real the wedding and the love felt. An annulment is
a statement about the past, not a dissolving of the present.

Then there's the painful situation of those who **divorce and civilly remarry**
without an annulment. The Church doesn't shun them — they are *not* excommunicated,
they belong to the Church, and they're urged to keep praying, attending Mass, raising
their children in faith, and growing close to God. Because the first bond is still
held to exist, the Church asks them to refrain from receiving
Communion while in a new union; recent teaching (Pope Francis's *Amoris Laetitia*)
emphasises careful, case-by-case **accompaniment** by a priest, helping each person
honestly discern their situation before God. The constant note is that these brothers
and sisters are loved and wanted, never written off.

## Why this matters

In a culture where commitments are easily abandoned, the Church's witness to
permanence says something countercultural and hopeful: that love can be forever, that
a spouse and children can count on a bond that won't quietly dissolve. At the same
time, the teaching is meant to be carried with tenderness, not used as a club. People
in broken marriages are often already suffering; the Church's job is to hold up the
beauty of lifelong love *and* to walk with those whose marriages have shattered.

## Common misunderstanding

The biggest misunderstanding is that an annulment is just a Catholic version of
divorce that dissolves a real marriage. It doesn't; it's a finding that a valid
marriage bond was never present from the start. Another is that divorced Catholics are
kicked out of the Church or automatically in mortal sin. They are not — divorce alone
is no barrier to the sacraments, and the divorced remain full members of the Church;
the questions about Communion concern remarriage while a prior bond is held to exist.

## Scripture connections

- **Matthew 19:6** — "what God has joined together, let no one separate," the
  foundation of permanence.
- **Mark 10:11-12** — Jesus calls remarriage after divorce adultery, applying it to
  both husband and wife.
- **Matthew 19:8-9** — divorce was permitted for "hardness of heart," but "from the
  beginning it was not so."
- **1 Corinthians 7:10-11** — Paul: a wife should not separate, "but if she does… she
  should remain unmarried or be reconciled."
- **Malachi 2:16** — God's expressed displeasure with divorce, reflecting his heart
  for faithful covenant.

## Church teaching references

- CCC 1614, 1615, 1629, 1640, 1644, 1646, 1649, 1650, 1651, 2382, 2383, 2384, 2386
- The Code of Canon Law governs the declaration of nullity; Pope Francis's *Amoris
  Laetitia* (2016) emphasises pastoral accompaniment of the divorced and remarried.

## Reflection question

Whether or not divorce has touched your own life, who do you know carrying the wound
of a broken marriage — and how could you offer them genuine support rather than
judgement or avoidance?