Topic:  Can a divorced person join the Catholic Church?

Source of this posting: Moderator response

Date originally posted: October 14, 2003

Moderator who originally posted this source: Father Phillip

Question:   My friend told me that the Catholic Church is against Welfare programs for the poor and The Catholic Church does not let any divorced people into a Catholic Church? What is the teaching on these questions? thank you please email me back the info.

Answer: 

Thanks for your questions to CatholicQandA.org.

If you understood your friend correctly and if I'm understanding you correctly, I would have to say that your friend was wrong on both counts.

The Catholic Church -- thanks to the wisdom of the Popes since Leo XIII in the 1890s -- has a long tradition of social justice teaching which is decidedly supportive of the poor, the dispossessed, and the marginalized. In fact, we are told that we must make "a preferential option" in favor of the poor. That is to say, when everything else is more or less "equal" we, as Catholics, are required to help the poor at every opportunity.

While virtually any "blanket" statement, that is an "always" or "never" formulation, is dangerous because exceptions can almost always be found, I think we could say that the Catholic Church has consistently been on the side of support for programs which give assistance and aid to poor persons in our society. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops frequently speaks out on issues of this type. Check out their official website for more information about their statements on these kinds of issues: http://www.usccb.org/

The Catholic Church certainly does allow divorced people into any Catholic Church! Our Church welcomes ALL people at all times!

Now, to be sure, the Catholic Church sees divorce as a tragedy which negatively effects many people. And our Church is not in favor of divorce -- based on the teaching of Jesus Himself in the Scriptures.

When a Catholic person divorces and remarries without doing all that the Church asks of that person in terms of decrees of nullity and marriage preparation, etc., while the person is still welcome in the Church, that person is not free to receive the Sacraments of Eucharist or Reconciliation. But the person is, indeed, welcomed though not to full Eucharistic participation. However, if a divorced Catholic does not remarry that divorced person may, in virtually all cases, receive the Sacraments.

Thanks for your interest in our faith!

Blessings,
Father Phillip