Can Catholics divorce and remarry?

When a man and a woman exchange valid marriage vows, the Catholic Church teaches that God himself joins them: 'what God has joined together, let no man put asunder' (Matthew 19:6). This is not a disciplinary rule the Church invented — it is the permanent shape of the covenant that spouses enter when they marry. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it directly: 'Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement until further notice' (CCC 1646). Because marriage is indissoluble by its very nature, no civil court — and no earthly authority — has the power to dissolve a valid sacramental marriage. As the Catechism states, between the baptized 'a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death' (CCC 2382). The bond endures until the death of one spouse.

What, then, does a civil divorce actually do? The Church recognises that civil divorce can sometimes be a practical necessity. If obtaining a civil divorce is 'the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense' (CCC 2383). In other words, getting a civil divorce to handle housing, finances, or child custody is not automatically sinful. What the civil divorce does not do is end the marriage in God's eyes. The spouses 'do not cease to be husband and wife before God and so are not free to contract a new union' (CCC 1649). A separated Catholic remains married until the Church determines otherwise or until a spouse dies.

This is precisely where the declaration of nullity — commonly called an annulment — comes in. An annulment is not a Catholic divorce. It is a formal Church ruling that, after careful investigation, a valid marriage never actually existed in the first place, because something essential was missing at the time of the wedding: genuine consent freely given, the capacity to marry, or the proper intention to enter a permanent and faithful union open to children. If a marriage tribunal issues a decree of nullity, the parties are free to marry in the Church. This process can take time and requires honesty and patience, but it is available to any Catholic in good faith.

When a Catholic remarries after a civil divorce without a declaration of nullity, the Church considers that second union irregular, because the first marriage is presumed still valid. Those in this situation face a particular difficulty regarding Holy Communion. CCC 1650 explains that those who are divorced and remarried civilly 'find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God's law' and so 'cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists.' This is not a punishment or a permanent banishment — it flows from the Church's understanding of what the Eucharist is: a sign of full communion with Christ and the Church. Receiving Communion while knowingly in a state contrary to Church teaching would contradict that sign. The Catechism notes that reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance, and a return to Communion, can be opened to those who repent and are committed to living the second union in complete continence (CCC 1650). The Church also notes compassionately that an innocent spouse who was unjustly abandoned 'has not contravened the moral law' and bears no guilt for the breakdown (CCC 2386).

Far from abandoning divorced and remarried Catholics, the Church calls on priests and the entire community to surround them with care. CCC 1651 urges that such persons 'do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate as baptized persons.' They are encouraged to attend Mass, pray, serve the poor, raise their children in the faith, and practice penance. Many find that living out their situation with honesty, prayer, and pastoral support becomes its own form of witness. Anyone navigating this terrain is encouraged to speak openly with a faithful priest, who can help discern what steps — including a possible annulment process — may be open to them. You can find a Catholic parish near you to begin that conversation, or explore the sacraments of confession and the lives of the saints who faced their own impossible circumstances with grace.