"Love, Don't Judge": Divorced Catholics Look to Pope Francis for Acceptance
Unable to fully participate in the church, many Catholics have drifted away from the fold. The Vatican is paying close attention.
By Cathy Rainone
Updated at 9:34 AM EDT on Monday, Jun 1, 2015
When Alicja Bator, a devout Catholic who once considered becoming a nun, was going through a divorce, she felt profound loss, as if someone close to her had died. She met her ex-husband when she was 18 and got married at 24 in a New Jersey church. Seven years and three children later, she filed for divorce.
“It’s extremely draining and it created a huge guilt in my heart and soul,” said Bator, 37. “I was married before God and to have it fall apart was very difficult."
Bator is one of 11 million U.S. Catholics to have divorced, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. The divorce rate of U.S. adults is 36 percent, higher than the 28 percent rate among Catholics.
The Catholic Church, however, doesn't recognize divorce, because it considers marriage permanent. Millions of Catholics in the U.S. who remarried outside the church without first obtaining an annulment — a declaration by the church that their marriage was never valid — are banned from receiving Holy Communion, one of the most important rituals of their faith. Considered adulterers by the church, and feeling like outcasts, many have drifted away from the fold, often attending Protestant churches, instead, where they can receive Communion. The Vatican is paying close attention to their plight: Pope Francis last year revived the debate on how the church could integrate the divorced and civilly remarried in the life of the church.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/catholic-church-pope-francis-divorce-annulment-vatican-synod-304300331.html
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