Marriage is in the news a lot these days. First off, there is the case of the clerk in Kentucky who is refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Second, there is the Holy Father who has just recently promoted new norms that will, it is hoped, speed the process of annulments up, and make them more affordable, and thus, more people would be encouraged to go through the process so their status in the Church can be normalized.
I honestly am torn in both of these cases. I do not know if the clerk is doing the right thing or not. My initial thought is that she should just resign her job, seeing now she has become the satire of many on the other side of the debate. They are pointing out that she has been married several times herself. The caricatures and character assassination has been tough to watch. I was wondering if she was taking the best path for herself and the pro-marriage movement. My ultimate reasoning, though, was that Christians may have to exit government roles entirely at some point in the future considering how the mechanisms of government seem to be going these days, and we might as well start doing that now.
However, over the past few days, I have grown more sympathetic to her cause. Here is my thought: she was elected to do a job, the people of her state elected her to this role, and those same people of her state did not approve same-sex marriage. Based on that, she has a right to feel she is doing her job. If the people who elected her feel she is not doing her job, they should hold a special election to get rid of her, or proceed with other legal means. Another reason I am growing more agreeable to her method is that there is a place in society for civil disobedience. Both the case for racial and gender equality in our country did include some civil disobedience which led to unjust laws being changed. If those people had a right to protest unjust laws, so does she.
So, there are several reasons for her, and several reasons against her, why this path is the right one to choose. Ultimately, I think a faithful Catholic could make either choice in her shoes. I pray her decision bears fruit.
On the other issue, it seems like the Holy Father wants to do everything in his power to open the doors to the life of the Church to people who are not active in the Church, the many fallen away Catholics, people who feel disconnected to the Church. Among those disconnected are people who are divorced and perhaps remarried, and feel they are cut off from the Church. This redoing of of the annulment process is an effort to get some of them back in. I cannot argue with that. Therefore, I do think it is a good thing the Holy Father did.
However, I am not as joyful or exuberant about it as some in the Church seem to be. I think the Holy Father could have held off and let the Synod Fathers discuss this matter when they meet in October, and give him their input before implementing this decision. However, it seems he wanted to take this matter off the table from the upcoming Synod, and that is his right to do so. I trust he prayed before making this decision.
I hope and pray though that this does not lead to an idea that marriage is something less than sacred that can be exited and re-started easily. I pray that anyone who begins to take advantage of these easier annulment procedures, and the population at large, really understands the sacredness of marriage, and is not led to think otherwise by this week's news.
I think deeper reform beyond this is needed to achieve real improvement in the life of marriage in the Church. We need more in-depth preaching of philosophy and theology, which includes natural law, which will help root the teaching of marriage in philosophical and theological language that will inspire many (including those already married, those wanting to be married, and those who have been married and are starting over) to a deeper understanding and living out of the marriage covenant. We need reform of the liturgy that will make the Catholic liturgy attractive to many as something that transcends time and space, that really emphasizes the sacrificial act of love that Christ made for His Bride, the Church, the love that all married couples are called to emulate. While the Holy Father has decided we need to make it easier to get an annulment, I feel perhaps we should make it "harder" to get married in the first place. We should expect more from couples who approach the priest for marriage. We should expect them not to be living together, to be attending Mass and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation frequently. We should partner them with tenured married couples who have lived their vows for many years. We need to celebrate anniversary Masses as parish communities. There are other things we can do, but you get the idea. This opening of the annulment process is a small step, that on its own, will achieve little if it is not combined with better catechesis and evangelization on the truth of marriage.
Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
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