A Pastoral Letter on the Indissolubility of Marriage

Dear Sons and Daughters in Christ,

I write to you as a bishop of the Catholic Church, bound by sacred duty to guard the Deposit of Faith and to speak the truth entrusted to me by Christ Himself through His Church. Silence in the face of error is not charity. Ambiguity where souls are at stake is not mercy. The present confusion surrounding marriage demands clarity, not compromise.

Marriage today is not merely wounded by the world. It is weakened by false pastoral practice, doctrinal silence, and a tragic loss of confidence in what Christ Himself has taught. What the Church professes with her lips is often denied in practice, and the faithful are left confused, discouraged, and wounded.

Marriage is a Divine Institution, Not a Human Contract

Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke plainly and definitively: “… What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6). These are not symbolic words. They are not an idea. They are not conditioned upon happiness, compatibility, emotional fulfillment, or personal growth. They are a command of Christ.

Marriage is not created by the spouses alone, nor is it a private arrangement subject to revision. It is effected by God through the valid exchange of matrimonial consent. When a man and a woman freely give and receive one another according to the order established by God, a real and objective bond comes into existence – a bond that does not depend on feelings, circumstances, or later developments.

What the Church Teaches About Marriage

The Catholic Church teaches that marriage, by its very nature, is a lifelong and exclusive covenant between one man and one woman, ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. This teaching does not originate in ecclesiastical policy or cultural custom, but in the natural law established by God and confirmed by divine revelation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring” (CCC 1601).

The Catechism further teaches: “From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian marriage the spouses are strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and the dignity of their state by a special sacrament” (CCC 1638).

This bond is not provisional. It does not depend upon emotional satisfaction or personal fulfillment. By its very nature, it is perpetual and exclusive.

Marriage and the Sacrament

Christ our Lord did not abolish the natural reality of marriage. He confirmed it and, between the baptized, established it as a sacrament of the New Covenant.

The Catechism teaches: “This covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament” (CCC 1601).

And again: “Thus the marriage bond has been established by God himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved” (CCC 1640).

For this reason, a valid and consummated marriage between baptized persons is indissoluble in an absolute sense. No human authority – civil or ecclesiastical – has the power to dissolve what God Himself has joined.

The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Grace It Confers

The Sacrament of Matrimony is not incidental to Christian marriage. It matters profoundly. When two baptized persons enter marriage according to the law of the Church, Christ Himself acts sacramentally, conferring a grace proper to this vocation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “By reason of their state in life and of their order, Christian spouses have their own special gifts in the People of God” (CCC 1631).

And again: “Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to ‘be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,’ and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love” (CCC 1642).

These are not poetic sentiments. They describe a real and operative sacramental grace. Those who marry in the Church do not rely on human strength alone. They are given divine assistance to live fidelity, permanence, and self-sacrifice – even when such fidelity is costly.

To disregard the sacrament, to treat it as merely symbolic, or to speak as though it adds nothing essential to marriage, is to deny the very means Christ has given to sustain spouses in their vocation. The failure of many marriages today is not proof that the sacrament is ineffective, but evidence that its grace is too often neglected, misunderstood, or resisted.

The Error of Our Time: Treating Marriage as Revocable

We must speak honestly. In many places today, Catholics are being led – explicitly or implicitly – to believe that marriage is permanent only until it becomes difficult. This is not Catholic teaching. This is not the Gospel. And this is not mercy.

Suffering does not invalidate a sacrament. Difficulty does not undo a bond. The Cross has never been evidence that God was absent.

The Church has always taught, and repeatedly reaffirmed through her Supreme Pontiffs, that marriage is perpetual and indissoluble by its very nature, and that no human authority has the power to dissolve a valid marriage bond.

Pope Leo XIII, in Arcanum Divinae Sapientiae, stated: “Hence it is clear that among Christians every true marriage is, in itself and by itself, a sacrament; and that nothing can be further from the truth than to say that the sacrament is a certain added ornament, or outward endowment, which can be separated and torn away from the contract at the caprice of man.”

And Pope Pius XI, in Casti Connubii, stated “In the sacrament {of matrimony … } it is provided that the marriage bond should not be broken, and that a husband or wife, if separated, should not be joined with another, even for the sake of offspring.”

Yet today, many spouses are told to “move on,” as though perseverance were naïve and fidelity unrealistic. This language does not come from Christ. It comes from a culture that fears sacrifice and denies the redemptive power of suffering.

Annulments and the Crisis of Understanding

An annulment does not end a marriage. It is a declaration that a valid marriage never existed due to a defect present at the time of consent.

When annulments are treated as routine remedies for marital breakdown, the faithful are taught – whether intentionally or not – that marriage is provisional. This mentality undermines confidence in the sacraments and weakens the conscience of the Church.

The tribunal exists to serve the truth, not to provide an escape from the Cross.

A Word to Clergy

To my brother priests and deacons, I speak with urgency and charity. You are not called to offer the counsel of the world, but the truth of Christ. To encourage dissolution where Christ commands fidelity is not compassion; it is abandonment.

Pope Pius X reminded shepherds that their first duty is to teach the truth and refute error. Do not fear being called rigid. Fear instead standing before Christ having softened His words.

To the Faithful Who Persevere

To those carrying heavy marital crosses, know this: your fidelity matters. Your perseverance is not foolish. Your suffering, united to Christ, is redemptive.

It must also be stated clearly that the Church has never taught that a spouse must remain in situations of abuse, grave harm, or serious danger. Violence, coercion, and the violation of human dignity are grave sins, and no man may appeal to the indissolubility of marriage to excuse them. In such circumstances, separation may be not only permitted but morally and prudentially necessary for the protection of life and soul. Such separation does not deny the marriage bond, nor does it dissolve it. Rather, it acknowledges the tragic reality of sin while upholding the truth that the bond itself remains. The Church must never confuse fidelity with endurance of abuse, nor the Cross of Christ with the tolerance of grave injustice.

Conclusion

Marriage is not failing because Christ’s teaching is too hard. Marriage is failing because we no longer believe Christ meant what He said. The remedy is not innovation, but conversion. Not silence, but truth. Not accommodation, but fidelity.

With paternal solicitude, I entrust all married couples, and especially those carrying heavy crosses, to the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth. May St. Joseph guard husbands in fidelity and courage. May the Blessed Virgin Mary strengthen wives in perseverance and hope. May Christ, the faithful Bridegroom of the Church, restore clarity, courage, and conviction to His people.

And may Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland

Bishop Emeritus