The very first point raised was the same ridiculous argument originally made by Dr Andre Camilleri of the anti-divorce movement, which attracted a bombardment of critical attacks in newspapers, on radios, TV and the Internet. “If battered wives are granted the right to remarry, so too will their abusive husbands!” Whoever wrote those ’12 points’ (was it the anti-divorce movement, the Curia or who?) expects battered wives to be condemned to matrimonial slavery for life!
Another ‘point’ said: “Catholics who vote against divorce are not imposing their values. They have a right to vote according to what they think is best for society.” First. Is keeping two persons chained together for life against their will “the best for society”?! Second. Those whose marriage irretrievably breaks down are part of society too. Voting ‘No’ could result in denying those people the right to a new “life”, as otherwise they would either have to live a life of loneliness on their own, or cohabit.
Another argument says: “The Church allows priests to leave the priesthood and get married because celibacy is a Church law, not a law of God like the indissolubility of marriage.” Still, when a priest leaves the priesthood after having promised to keep the vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience and to serve only God, he would have broken those promises when he, not only leaves the priesthood but also gets married and has children! But “common” married people who may end up battered by their spouse, are expected “to remain faithful to their promise”, as a priest told me during a TV debate I had with him! This priest also said that priests who leave the priesthood, even if they get married and have children, “still remain priests”!!! What a blatant cover-up!
“Divorce weakens the marriage bond, leading to fewer people getting married,” was another lame argument. But so do gambling, drugs, married women having to go out to work, sky-high property prices, chatting on the internet etc… But we rarely hear anything about these real threats during Sunday Mass homilies or in pastoral letters!
Eddy Privitera
MOSTA