Pope: Marriage is not an absolute right

[somone]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110122/ap_on_re_eu/eu_vatican_marriage

Pope: Marriage is not an absolute right
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI told priests Saturday to do a better job counseling would-be spouses to ensure their marriages last and said no one has an absolute right to a wedding. Benedict made the comments in his annual speech to the Roman Rota, the Vatican tribunal that decides marriage annulments. An annulment is the process by which the church effectively declares that a marriage never took place.

Benedict acknowledged that the problems that would allow for a marriage to be annulled cannot always be identified beforehand. But he said better pre-marriage counseling, which the Catholic Church requires of the faithful, could help avoid a "vicious circle" of invalid marriages. He said the right to a church wedding requires that the bride and groom intend to celebrate and live the marriage truthfully and authentically. "No one can make a claim to the right to a nuptial ceremony," he said.

Benedict has used his annual speech to the Rota to impress on its members the indissolubility of marriage and that they should avoid the temptation of granting annulments on a whim. Last year, he urged the tribunal to work harder to encourage couples to stay together and not confuse "pastoral charity" with the need to uphold church law.

On Saturday, Benedict said priests had an important pastoral job to discern whether would-be spouses are prepared and able to enter into a valid marriage. "The church and society at large place too much importance on the good of marriage and the family founded on it to not make a profound commitment to it pastorally," Benedict said. The Vatican's concern about marriage annulments is largely directed at the United States, which in 2006 had more annulment cases launched than the rest of the world combined.

[midnight]

1. Thank God America has separation of church and state....

[rko_24550]

7. +100000

[patrice]

2. Me: Dictating what is and what is not an absolute right is not an absolute right. nt

[NaturalHigh]

6. Actually, according to church law, it is his right...

to determine who is allowed to be married in a Catholic ceremony. This has no bearing on who is married in a civil ceremony.

[patrice]

8. Absolute = Universal, "church law" = Relative.

[Tesha]

11. "Catholic" of course *DOES* mean "universal".

They believe have the one, the universal truth.

As if.

Tesha

[patrice]

15. Yes I know, I'm a fallen Catholic. I still believe much of the dogma, but I think I have become more

universal than the Catholic Church really is. Not absolutely universal, just more so than those who put their blessings on the Invasion & Occupation of Iraq. I know that doesn't include the Pope, but then, we were always taught that the people are the church and I'm just not standing with anyone who is a fetus freak at the expense of REAL babies anywhere, including the American poor!

[NaturalHigh]

3. Well, I have to agree that a church does not have an obligation to perform a marriage ceremony.

That doesn't change the way that civil marriage licenses are given.

[Angry Dragon]

4. And if you want an annulment from the church it will

cost you money.
And if you were not married in the catholic church they do not recognize it anyway

He sure is saying a lot of idiot things lately
Is he going senile??

[MineralMan]

5. Who cares what an old unmarried guy in Rome thinks?

Seriously. If you're not a Roman Catholic, what he thinks and says is totally irrelevant. It's irrelevant for most Catholics, too, these days.

[cali]

9. Oky dokey, dopey popy.

[walldude]

10. Well thank god being an Asshole is.

Or the Pope would be looking for a gig.

[undeterred]

12. The concept of annulment has always seemed bizarre to me.

Can we annul the Bush presidency please? Just say it was never consummated? Based on deception? A perverted Supreme Court decision?

[Book Lover]

13. The current pope, in this context, is talking about Catholics only

Jesus people, I loathe the out-of-touch buffoon as much as the next gal, but let's not put words in his mouth, OK?

[Boojatta]

14. Maybe "Here Comes the Bride" will be phased out and replaced with Beethoven's 6th (Pastoral)

"The church and society at large place too much importance on the good of marriage and the family founded on it to not make a profound commitment to it pastorally," Benedict said.