Could someone please answer a serious question? I am not at all

[grannylib]

trying to offend any Catholics here, but as a Lutheran, I am really confused about something.
If Terri Schiavo's parents are Catholic (as I understand it, that's a big part of their objections to removing the feeding tube and to having her body cremated) why is it acceptable for them to be urging Michael to divorce her? Is divorce no longer considered a mortal sin in the RCC? Or is it only the party that is seeking the divorce who pays the penalty?
Thanks very much to anyone who can help explain this to me.

[ewagner]

1. At this point

I don't think Cannon Law has anything to do with the controversy at all. It's all about who wins and who loses....

I'm not so sure that their religion was really an issue....ever.

[Lucky Luciano]

2. I am not a catholic,

but I must assume they consider a divorce to save her life the lesser of two evils.

[lisa58]

3. They just want what they want...

their hearts are broken and they find it difficult to let go. Even if Michael gave them custody the courts have already ordered the feeding tube removed - there is nothing the parents can do about it without the courts sanctioning their intentions. It's all very sad - but as Catholics they should believe in the afterlife and that should give them some peace.

[alittlelark]

4. I was raised Catholic. There is NO explaination.

Divorce is FORBIDDEN.

Interesting point!:thumbsup:

[koopie57]

5. in our church

you could divorce so long as you didn't remarry (have sex), but if you did remarry then you could no longer receive communion. Lots of loopholes. But I no longer think these parents have any logic left in the narrowing confines of their brains. Even I am starting to think that what is happening now is for extra income and narcissistic needs.

[rurallib]

9. Divorce forbidden but annulment is ok

John Kerry as an example. Used to be that annulment could only happen if the marriage had not been consumated but that is no longer true. Annulment now OK if one partner was 'never fully in the marriage'. Kerry's wife had some sever mental problems IIRC.
Also, a Catholic can be civilly divorced (in the eyes of the state, which would then release Michael as the one making the decisions) but in the eyes of the church are still "married". That is cannot marry anyone else on pain of excommunication.
Seems like annulment often can be had for a price. I had a friend who was scalped by the church for an annulment.

[alittlelark]

10. An ex-Mother in Law of mine got an innulment from FIL

she went back to the Phillipines to get it, and it cost a pretty penny.

[intheflow]

6. A nun told me once...

When I was in an abusive marriage that the Catholic church didn't say that anyone had to be a doormat. Basically, if one person is abusing another, they have already caused a break in the marriage contract between two people and God. This is why the church will issue annulments so that divorced people can re-marry.

I'm not Catholic, but my husband was. And that's just what one nun told me, FWIW.

[Sinistrous]

7. The Roman Catholic Church sends a mixed message on the

permanence of marriage.

The hard-line rule is stated in Canon 1141 of The Code of Canon Law:
"A marriage which is ratified and consummated cannot be dissolved by any human power or by any cause other than death." So, according to the Church, divorce is not a mortal sin, it is simply impossible. That is why a person who is divorced (in the sense of civil law) cannot be remarried in the church.

HOWEVER, the Church also plays the "Annulment" game, which is a very complex and foggy procedure by which a marriage is declared null (i.e. a "real" marriage never occurred). A person whose prior union has been annulled can remarry in the Church.

Please note: The above is a gross oversimplification of a very complex issue.

[grannylib]

8. Thanks very much to all for explaining! That is just something that I

obviously never understood well to begin with, and it's befuddled me all through this whole sad affair.

[Kat45]

11. I don't think her parents are Catholic; I think they're Jewish.

I'd guess that Michael is Catholic (Schiavo sounds like an Italian name), and Terri probably decided to become Catholic when she married him. Her parents' last name is Schindler.