EHE, EHESCHEIDUNG UND WIEDEREHE IN DER ORTHODOXEN KIRCHE
MARRIAGE, DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

Summary/Abstract: Man, entirely, can only be understood as “together”. From this “together”, part of man, family was born, as the first and unchangeable expression of communion. The family is grounded on Pentecost, namely through the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, that is why it can be also named as “the little Church Pentecost”. We confess that the Church is One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic, but when we state these we do not only refer to the Great Church but also to the Little Church. The Orthodox Church teaches that the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is a Sacrament not to be dissolved, its indissolubility is not static, belonging to the past and that would constraint up to asphyxia, but dynamic, vivid, a target that attracts and that is to be reached through spiritual fight sustained by the grace given in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Divorce is a sin and a tragedy. It exists, it cannot be denied and it cannot be interdicted either. Through divorce, indissolubility is not cancelled, but only abandoned. The Orthodox Church does not accept divorce as it does not accept sin, but only allows, tolerates or recognizes divorce, as undeniable painful reality. According to the principle of iconomy, the Church has chosen between two unwanted situations: either to reject the divorced spouses, as having missed Salvation, or reintegrate them in the Church by tolerating, allowing a new marriage. Between the two, the Church has chosen the smallest evil, namely, tolerating the divorced to remarry.

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