Maronite patriarch deplores conversions for sake of divorce
January 04, 2017
In an address to judges of ecclesiastical courts, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church deplored the conversion of Lebanese Maronites to other Christian communities or to Islam in order to obtain a divorce.
In Lebanon, divorce is primarily a matter of religious rather than civil law.
Lamenting the breaking of the sacred bond of marriage, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Raï said that such conversions are a “painful plague” rather than a matter of authentic religious freedom or freedom of conscience.
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Jan. 05, 2017 9:42 AM ET USA
"In Lebanon, divorce is primarily a matter of religious rather than civil law." We would be better off in the U.S. if marriage were primarily a matter of religious rather than civil law. We might then be less likely to be forced to endure the recent aberrations that cause so much pain and division. As far as civil law is concerned, marriages and children could be registered for tax purposes. The government could help protect parents' rights to the religious school of their choice.
