Mary’s Advocates Blog

For Catholics, approaching the civil forum for separation of spouses or divorce is only tolerable in limited circumstances. One consideration required by canon law is whether the State court will issue a decree that is contrary to divine law. I ask those who think State divorce courts arrange separation plans that are in accord with [...]

Jeff Morgan is a Texan who says "We need to abolish the Marxist practice of unilateral 'no-fault'  divorce and consign it to the dustbin of history." He recently spoke at an event for the Republicans of Texas and his video is title "The Evil of No-Fault Divorce and the Horrors of Family Court." Among other [...]

Help LeeAnne Abel help Us. Separated faithful spouses can have our perspective considered by priests who want to shepherd marriage-affirming parishes.  Watch LeeAnne Abel, founder of  RightlyOrdered.org, discuss her current survey. Her goal is to give priests resources so they can have marriage affirming parishes, minimize divorce, and support separated faithful. If you are a divorced [...]

Update: This blog was published at 12:46 pm Eastern time, and seven hour later, at 7:27 p.m., our $9.00 subscription was refunded and my comment on the substack was deleted. A woman with her licentiate in canon law, E. Magdalen Ross, published a substack article where she criticizes our website without identifying us. Her background is published […]

The ball is in Card. Fernández’ Court because on 23 September 2024, I asked his Dicastery (formerly known as the C.D.F.) to judge a statement written by Card. Coccopalmerio that I challenge as contrary or harmful to right faith and morals. My regular readers know I’ve found the Church has exclusive jurisdiction over marriage separation […]

We discuss the value of marriage even when spouses endure suffering; the divorce mentality that is pervasive among Catholics and the secular culture; simplistic responses given sometimes by clergy; the annulment scandal; the value that separated-faithful spouse have for their family and the Church.

Mary’s Advocates works to reduce unilateral no-fault divorce. Virtually every diocese in the United States requires a dissatisfied spouse to have a civil divorce prior to the diocese’  tribunal considering an annulment petition.  Join in asking the US bishops to drop this policy.

Author John Clark and I discussed separated faithful with two counselors at “Transfiguration Counseling” from a Catholic perspective — considering Catholic anthropology. While the entire conversation was edifying, my favorite part was their answer to my question, “What does healing look like when the wound keeps happening?”

We distinguish the law and tradition which uphold marriage from the current practice that undermines it. I was on Joe McClane’s show “A Catholic Take” that is broadcast by “The Station of the Cross.” Michael Hichborn was the substitute host and he’s one of the signers of our petition to “Ask Bishops to Drop Divorce Mandate.”

by Bai Macfarlane For the first time in centuries, innocent people are summoned to court - with no accusation of fault - and punished. Steven Baskerville, political science professor, explains the two biggest disasters caused by no-fault divorce. The first disaster was the destruction of the institution of the family. The less-publicized second disaster is [...]

By Bai Macfarlane A caller on Relevant Radio’s Drew Mariani Show asked a good question: “Why has the Church become the pimp for the state?” When Catholics go to the Church wanting to enter holy matrimony, Drew’s caller (Katie) noted how priests require them to first go to the state to arrange for a state […]

We discussed the benefits of conducting an annulment investigation prior to civil divorce in the most popular grounds for annulment, which is “grave lack of discretion of judgement.”   The Church should judge nullity case prior to divorce because the canon law judges are supposed to determine the parties’ obligations

We are asking the Cleveland Bishop to Choose between Cardinal Coccopalmerio and long-standing Church law.   I’m asking my bishop, The Most Rev. Edward Malesic, to judge the text contained in a short leaflet and either give his imprimatur or inform me of his reason for refusal. See Petition. Our leaflet says the following: We […]

It is amazing that so many marriage nullity tribunals define marraige with a bunch of highfalutin words about love, being best friends, and communion of love.  Hear Dr. Felix Menendez' clear explanation: "From the point of view of whether you are getting married, or not, whether you are in love, or not, is irrelevant. Your [...]

Dear Jason and Bob, I saw your June 7 discussion with a presenter who advocated for equal shared parenting in divorce.  Presently, no-fault divorce turns cases of separation into expensive battles over which parent will be the primary residential parent and which parent is relegated to every other weekend. Can I introduce your members to another means for strengthening marriage?

… under Viewpoint-Discrimination. On February 15th, the divorce defendant, Mark E. Dallmeyer, filed a claim that the Massachusetts no-fault divorce law is unconstitutional. See Motion to Dismiss. He’s inviting other divorce defendants to do the same.  In Massachusetts, six months after a plaintiff’s filing, the court can force a divorce on any defendant, simply because the plaintiff says that the marriage is “irretrievably broken”.

This week, I recorded a video that explains how the process is supposed to start and I explain how respondents can ask for their rights to be upheld if their tribunal started the case with no proper petition. 

Catholic, Matt Walsh, of Daily Wire, and producer of “What is A Woman” recently interviewed New York divorce lawyer, James Sexton.  Among other things, they discussed the meaning of marriage and pre-nuptial agreements. Find full interview on Matt Walsh HERE Sexton points out that the legal institution of marriage is politics; it is a set [...]

This is an open letter to diocesan personnel and clergy who wanted an update on a Respondent’s  marriage annulment situation. The identities of the parties and tribunals are omitted in this blog.  We’ll call the diocese where the husband petitioned the ”Local” tribunal, and the appellate tribunal the “Metropolitan.”  To whom it concerns: I was […]

by Bai Macfarlane Fr. Michael Duesterhaus says that some tribunals are playing loose and fast, abusing canon 1095.  The most common ground for annulment is canon 1095.2 which is based on the psychological incapacity to validly give marriage promises.  Recently, Human Life International, interviewed Fr. Duesterhaus, who has served for years as a procurator/advocate in [...]

Two aggrieved defendants in Catholic annulment of marriage cases are jointly petitioning to the public defender (Promoter of Justice) at the Supreme court of the Catholic Church (i.e., Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura).  They are reporting abuses by the same priest (who we’ll call Fr. John Doe) who directs the tribunals managing both defendants’ […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE About a year ago, a constitutional challenge against no-fault divorce sprouted in a county court in Massachusetts. Since then, the case has been appealed to the state supreme court. Contact Mark Dallmeyer at [email protected] Mark Dallmeyer submitted an 11-page “Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss” in February 2023 complaining that if the court granted [...]

by anonymous contributor. … Soon, another priest in our regular parish told him the same.  After all, they said, “everyone who applied for an annulment gets one.” … . I remember when it began. My dear husband had clearly changed and became cold and distant. I could see him distancing himself from me.  Eventually our […]

A recurring topic in Mary’s Advocates’ e-mail discussion group is the notion of essential properties of marriage because participants are often defendants in Catholic marriage nullity cases (a.k.a annulment).  When Catholics are given conflicting explanations for words like unity or good of the spouses, virtually every marriage is susceptible of being assumed invalid. Properly defining […]

Research Participants Needed The Impact of Moral Injury on Character Identity for Divorced Catholics: A Character Domain Perspective Are you 18 years of age or older and living in the United States? A baptized Catholic who has undergone a civil divorce? If you answered yes to each of the questions listed above, you may be [...]

Cardinal Müller on Communion to Adulterers: While the bishops are having their secret synod on synodality in Rome, Cardinal Müller is defending the doctrine of the faith in public. Müller just issued a public letter explaining why Pope Francis and the new head of the CDF have no authority to reverse the timeless teaching on Communion for divorced and remarried.

A new book is being released about attacks against marriage from both outside, and inside, the Church.  Author, John Clark, was a guest on EWTN. He told viewers that canon law requires every marriage to be presumed valid, unless, and until, proven otherwise. Clark says that tribunals are “proceeding the opposite way; … it’s sort of having a verdict in search of evidence.”

Pope & DDF (formerly Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith) This past summer, Card. Dominik Duka, for the Chech Bishop’s conference submitted dubia (questions) to the Pope about divorce and civilly remarried persons receiving communion. On 25 September, Pope Francis and Cardinal Victor Fernánde, the new head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of [...]

Several separated faithful, including myself, participated in video interviews. Excerpts are compiled in "Marriages Abandoned (short version)"

Has anyone else, like me, been miffed when tribunal personnel seem to whitewash the effect their affirmative nullity of marriage sentence will have on children? Diocesan websites figuratively pat children on the head and say, “you don’t need to feel bad; an annulment doesn’t make you an illegitimate child.”  Alexander Wolfe, an adult child of [...]

by Bai Macfarlane A Michigan lawyer, who is also a husband, and father of 12 children is defending his constitutional rights against Michigan’s family court that has repeatedly jailed him and has stripped him of his property and access to his children in their no-fault proceedings.  Defendant, Mr. Gerard Garno, “graduated Magna Cum Laude from […]

Postcard Campaign to Jailed Marriage Defendant Today is the Feast of Saints Thomas More and St. John Fisher. They died because they refused to accept the claim that rulers of the state have competence over Catholic marriage. A modern St. Thomas More, who is making a constitutional challenge, was recently jailed by the Family Court […]

Patrick Madrid took a call from a woman who was abandoned and knows her marriage is valid. The husband is now cohabiting with his adulterous partner and has entered a so-called second marriage.  The caller was questioning if she was sinning by her anger and correction of the “other woman.” Patrick Madrid says there is […]

I had to chuckle recently because I suspect that deceased Msgr. Cormac Burke is sending some guardian angels to help Mary’s Advocates (May he rest in eternal peace!). Msgr. Burke was a judge at the Roman Rota from 1987 to 1999, and when I started doing my research about the flood of annulments issued by […]

Two separated-faithful partnered to produce a poignant recording. Catherine from Georgia USA and Garrick in Australia created "If Screwtape Wrote on Marriage." A New Screwtape Letter about How to Tempt Someone Standing for Marriage “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis is a Christian classic which follows letters written by a senior demon named Screwtape to [...]

Bai Macfarlane of Mary's Advocates discusses the constitutional challenge against the Massachusetts no-fault divorce statute with guest, Matthew Johnston. Matthew is extremely knowledgable about the strategy used by the defendant, which focusses on the "illegality" of any legislation that enacts viewpoint-based statutes. The defendant challenging n0-fault divorce is Mark Dallmeyer and he invites other divorce [...]

Archbishop Joseph Naumann, in Kansas City, KS, says that children of divorce are victims of the sexual revolution who are ignored. There are ramifications —particularly in the family—when we don’t uphold the moral values that Jesus himself has given to us.  Naumann says he was raised during a time when moral confusion took root among [...]

… under Viewpoint-Discrimination. On February 15th, the divorce defendant, Mark E. Dallmeyer, filed a claim that the Massachusetts no-fault divorce law is unconstitutional. See Motion to Dismiss. He’s inviting other divorce defendants to do the same.  In Massachusetts, six months after a plaintiff’s filing, the court can force a divorce on any defendant, simply because the plaintiff says that the marriage is “irretrievably broken”.

Today, I’m sending a copy of my lengthy paper to the Supreme Tribunal of the Signatura and Cleveland’s Bishop Edward Malesic, J.C.L.  Cleveland grants annulments to virtually 100% of the petitioners, and I assert that some diocesan canonists spread the divorce mentality. Click to get full paper, “Is Review of Vigilance of Cleveland Tribunal Appropriate […]

One cannot use as proof of invalidity the assertion that the parties did not experience and end goal of marriage.  Rota Judge Comac Burke talks about this, for example, in The Bonum Coniugum and the Bonum Prolis; Ends or Properties of Marriage?  (The Jurist 49 (1989), 704-713). Msgr. Cormac Burke writes: “Canon 1055 of the […]

Open letter to Fr. Ripperger, Dear Fr. Ripperger, c/o St. Mary of Pine Bluff Catholic Church, Cross Plains WI Thank you for your clarity regarding no-fault divorce in your homily for the Feast of the Holy Family: You know historically divorce was strictly forbidden in the Church, so much so, that you were denied the [...]

By Guest Contributor, Mark F. Colorado Springs For decades now, I have been trying to reach the clergy and lay counselors by pointing out the Scriptures, Catechism, and Canon Law they ignore. But I think adult children of divorce could reach them like no other by sharing the reality of their trauma. EWTN host, Crystalina […]

I recently spoke in Manhattan as part of a series on the crisis in the Church and society and how sacred tradition responds. My talk was about marriage, separation, divorce and annulment, and I pointed out that both the state and the Church are in similar crises. Neither’s leadership is defending marriage and the average person doesn’t even know

Fr. David Nix, who is a hermit in the Archdiocese of Denver, gave the most sensible explanation of Mathew 19’s divorce exception that I have ever heard.  In his Patristic Bible study series, he produced an episode “VLX 117: Is It Lawful to Divorce?” He reads directly from the renowned 17th century Bible scholar, Fr. Cornelius a Lapide

Lately, I’ve been digging into a problem that separated faithful are experiencing at the Roman Rota.  … it seems the parties’ complaints are never reaching the judge because the Roman Rota is either trashing party’s complaint or appointing for the party a procurator to serve as the party’s alter ego who misrepresent the parties to the judges.

For those who are defending the validity of their marriage against the accusation that the Petitioner suffered a grave lack of discretion of judgement, I suggest you quote St. Thomas Aquinas. In a sentence issued in 1993, the appellate tribunal for the world (The Roman Rota) issued a sentence wherein they cautioned against those who […]

Separated Faithful joined for a retreat on June 4 &5 in which pre-recorded talks were given. All talks are in playlist on Mary's Advocates YouTube channel. 3. Fr. Elias Mary, Franciscans of the Immaculate "The Franciscans of the Immaculate were founded by the two Franciscan friars ...  after the example of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, [...]

In the trial of Johnny Depp v Amber Heard, his ex-wife Amber Heard accused Johnny of hitting her, sexually assaulting her, and engaging in repeated acts of physical violence.  In contrast, Johnny said he never hit her at all (or any woman) and none of those things ever happened.  Hence, ONE SIDE WAS LYING – both could not be telling the truth.  Who is the liar?

Separated Faithful joined for a retreat on June 4 &5 in which pre-recorded talks were given. 1. Dr. Christopher Malloy, Systematic Theology Professor at University of Dallas. Highlights noted by retreat attendees. 2. Fr. Gerald Murray is and ETWN personality and author of “Calming the Storm: Navigating the Crises Facing the Catholic Church and Society”

An article by canon lawyer Dr. Edward Peter was read on May 9th by Relevant Radio host Patrick Madrid.  While discussing prenuptial agreements, Peters says divorce carries no canonical consequences in terms of participating in the Sacraments.  However, he says married persons who divorce and attempt a second marriage (i.e., civil marriage or another religious affiliation) do have canonical consequences in terms of participating in the Sacraments.  Peters teaches canon law for the Archdiocese of Detroit, and I think he is cherry picking his canon law … 

A review of Consensual Incapacity to Marry, a doctoral dissertation by Catherine Godfrey-Howell. || by Sherelle Temaat: A priest who came to a parish that I had attended for twenty years began right away offering annulment advice to parishioners. I asked him if he knows what divorce/annulment/remarriage does to children. He became angry, saying, “It doesn’t have anything to do with them!” And he ordered me out of the confessional.

Fr. Gerard Murray, who earned his doctorate in canon law Gregorian University in Rome, says he found that 95% of the U.S. annulments appealed to the Roman Rota were overturned. In other words, when a defending respondent in a USA annulment case defends the validity of the marriage, some number of tribunals issue the annulment anyway.

by Bai Macfarlane Recently, a husband (who shall remain nameless) asked his diocese for of a judgment in a case of separation of spouses. He was trying to vindicate his rights as a married man with children after his wife abandoned the marriage.  After submitting his personalization of the template petition from Mary’s Advocates, Petitioner-husband […]

The St. Paul Center produced "Discussing Jesus' Strict Rule on Divorce" (full video HERE). In this two-minute excerpt, Dr. John Bergsma (professor of Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville) states the following: ... God makes that marriage bond between those two people. This is so obscured in modern culture by the frivolous use of divorce [...]

By Bai Macfarlane With the non-profit organization Mary’s Advocates, I work to reduce unilateral no-fault divorce and support those who are unjustly abandoned. This open letter is to Magdalen Ross, JCL, the Director of Canonical Affairs for the Diocese of Dallas who earned her JCL in canon law from Pontifical University of Holy Cross. Dear […]

Recall the police raid in 2017 at Vatican apartments during a drug fueled homosexual orgy hosted by a monsignor. The host was a canon lawyer who worked for Cardinal Coccopalmerio, who was president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts.  The Cardinal, himself, reportedly participated in the scandalous event and had recommended […]

Here is a question for priests: Why should Catholic priests participate in civil marriage ceremonies? by David R. Carlin, Professor of Philosophy and Sociology PDF version I suppose all Catholics would agree that it would be totally inappropriate for a Catholic priest presiding over a wedding to conclude the ceremony by saying: “You have just […]

by Bai Macfarlane In my work upholding marriage, I show abandoned spouse how to ask the Church to intervene when the other spouse sends the whole family to the no-fault divorce courts.  A few months ago, a husband contacted me who was surprised to find that his wife had left the marital home with their […]

What if the Beatitudes were written to encourage those standing for their marriage?
A) Blessed are the standers poor in spirit, for their marriage vow is bound in the kingdom of heaven. B) Blessed are the standers who mourn the loss of their spouse and family,

by Michigan Father. As Father’s Day approaches, it is good to reflect on the value of a father to a family. The statistical consensus regarding children with absent fathers is that they are, on average: Four times more likely to be raised in poverty. Ten times more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Two times […]

Sheryl Temaat and I discussed a recent book about decrees for invalidity of marriage, “Consensual Incapacity to Marry.” The book is an adaptation of the dissertation of the author, Catherine Godfrey-Howell, who earned her doctorate from Pontifical University of Holy Cross (Santa Croce, Rome). Cardinal Raymond Burke wrote the forward for the book.  When I [...]

by Austin Steo, Archdiocese of Washington (Standing since 2010) Around Easter of 2020, I was inspired to create a prayer chaplet for those of us who remain faithful to our marriage vow despite our spouses’ behavior and actions attempting to divide that sacred sacrament we continue to uphold. It’s simply called the Marriage Restoration Chaplet. […]

April 29, I was Drew Mariani’s guest on Relevant Radio talking about Texas House Bill HB3188  to overturn unilateral no-fault divorce.  Texas Representative Matt Krause has introduced several bills aimed at protecting children and spouses who have done nothing grave to justify permanent separation. Play our discussion HERE at the second half of the second hour […]

Thank you Bishop Athanasius Schneider for discussing the obligation to reconcile with one’s spouse even after one has been divorced and entered a so-called second marriage with someone else. Bishop Schneider joins regular meetings of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima. On April 15, Dr. Michael Sirilla presented questions to Bishop Schneider.  Around minute [...]

On March 6, 2021, I was the guest of Jessy Romero and Terry Barber. We talked about separated faithful, Church teaching on separation and divorce. I showed them the newly published canon law doctoral dissertation, with forward by Cardinal Raymond Burke, about the questionable presumptions canon lawyers started making in the 1960s-1980’s that set us [...]

LifeSite News published my opinion piece. Pope Francis ‘sounds like a no-fault divorce lawyer’ in speech to canon law experts. — Every year, the Pope gives an address to judges of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota to which any marriage annulment case could be appealed. This year, Pope Francis sounds like a no-fault divorce lawyer when he raises concerns about the defendant “who does not accept the declaration,” and says that children “should not be treated as a means of blackmail between divided parents.”

Deacon Tom Fox and his wife Dee, invited me to speak to their listeners about Separated Faithful. Their  podcast  “Catholic Vitamins” has been broadcast since 2009  and its been on Catholic Radio’s local shows for three years (KPIH FM 98.9, Payson AZ).

Nebraska Divorce Defendant, Mike Dycus, is standing on principle. Rather than cooperating with divorce, he's facing one month jail sentence. Over one year ago, many of our viewers watched the video Mike made the day the sheriffs kicked him out of his house Husband Video Recorded his own Eviction During my discussion with Mike Dycus we [...]

Fr. Dwight Longenecker describes a spouse who wickedly abandons marriage. “… what I’ve seen within marriage break-ups sometimes. The cold, calculated, planned cruelty, to someone who they vowed before God to love and cherish for the rest of their lives. The wickedness of it and the evil of it–which exists within our nice little suburbs–is […]

A Catholic father and husband, who is defending his marriage against takeover by Michigan family court, recently submitted a series of motions that could be imitated where defendants face similar no-fault grounds. … Mary’s Advocates obtained public records from Michigan family court and redacted identifying information. … He and his wife made Catholic marriage promises. Jim, in his November 30 motion, asked the Court to dismiss the case because both parties had submitted themselves to the authority of their Catholic diocese Tribunal is a case of separation.

Jennifer Roback Morse is the author of "The Sexual State" and founder of the Ruth Institute which publicizes the devastation resultant from the sexual revolution.  She understands the injustice of no-fault divorce. We discussed the civil state's destruction of marriage and the impossibility of a divorce defendant stopping a divorce. Jennifer appreciates Mary's Advocates' ability [...]

A divorce defendant has submitted an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court asserting that Pennsylvania’s no-fault divorce law is unconstitutional. The SCOTUS docketed the case on November 3. Pennsylvania Code §3301(d) provides a statutory cause of action granting divorces on an individualized basis, for any reason and for no reason at all. The law simply […]

I was interviewed on October 21 by David Gray. He is a convert to Catholicism by the way of Agnosticism and Protestantism. He is also a former Freemason. He currently is the President and Publisher of Saint Dominic's Media Inc. We talked about no-fault divorce, separated faithful, and the Church’s actual canon law. We spent [...]

He sets out a clear, timeless definition of marriage: “Marriage is the lifelong communion of a man and woman, established by their free consent, for the sake of the generation and education of children.”

We hope to get the attention of Cardinal Robert Sarah so he will intervene to defend decent Catholic spouses from no-fault divorce.  This may be difficult because, according to EWTN’s Rome correspondent, Edward Pentin, an orthodox Cardinal in charge of a dicastery might be forced to have personnel working under him who are reformists who [...]

They Didn’t End the Story in the Middle. In his Foreword, Philip Lawler says that the people who contributed their stories to Leila’s book have sacrificed their comfort and their pride to save their marriages for the sake of their spouses and their children. That is what people used to do. I know that some of my aunts and uncles did that.

On August 13, the Thomas More Society sent to the Nebraska Supreme Court a friend-of-the-court brief supporting a constitutional challenge against no-fault divorce. The Rev. Dr. Donald Paul Sullins surfaced as an ideal interested party to submit a brief in support of children against no-fault divorce. 

Stephen Baskerville is a prolific writer against unilateral no-fault divorce. He says the Church has vacated territory that is rightly theirs when they let the no-fault divorce industry take over marriages. The social costs of family breakdown and single parent homes is well known and conservatives will write about that. But conservatives won't do anything [...]

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Nebraska scheduled for oral arguments a challenge against the constitutionality of unilateral no-fault divorce.

University of Dallas writer, Richard Lenar shows that the devotion to Mary as Untier of Knots stems back to saving a marriage on the brink of divorce. A German nobleman, in the early 1600’s, was on the verge of divorce

Something is wrong with the many annulments being granted by Catholic tribunals in the United States. Mary’s Advocates is helping defendants drain the swamp. During the past several weeks, I’ve helped defendants in two different dioceses bring complaints to the Holy See exposing negligence which appears systemic in their tribunal.

Leila Miller just released her latest book which she says will bring hope to struggling marriages: “Impossible” Marriages Redeemed: They Didn’t End the Story in the Middle. The book’s introduction begins, “Catholics are against divorce in theory, but not in practice.”  Leila says, “being viscerally against saving marriage has become the default position in many Catholic circles.”

I’m concerned that readers are getting the impression that a baptized person must have an intention of “sacramentality” to validly marry.  Sacramentality has different meanings in different contexts. Sacramentality equals permanence in the context of validity of marriage. I don’t want our priests to be overburdened with a unnecessary requirement of judging whether each of the engaged parties has the adequate desire to live life as a fully authentic Catholic.

With all the activity surrounding the Coronavirus National Emergency, it has occurred to me that I am more prepared emotionally than I would have been prior to undergoing marital abandonment and forced no-fault divorce. … Here’s my list to practice “Jesus I Trust in You”

I was interviewed by Paul and Kris Ciaccia who host the “Angry Catholic” podcast.  We unabashedly discussed the problem of no-fault divorce among Catholics and the canonical norms that could be applied to prevent scandal and keep families together.  In conclusion, we discussed how the actual Church teaching supports marriage not rampant sure-thing annulments. Listen […]

South Dakota State Representative Tony Randolph, on January 29, 2020, introduced a House Bill to remove no-fault divorce. …. Unlike many states, a Plaintiff in South Dakota cannot force a divorce on a Defendant on the grounds of  irreconcilable differences, unless both parties agree, or the Defendant makes no appearance. … I suggest that pro-family South Dakota legislators consider another idea for a bill.

We are waiting for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to announce whether they accept, for hearing, a complaint arguing that unilateral no-fault divorce is unconstitutional. “The question here is a question of law, whether Section 3301(d) is or is not a regulatory law; whether it regulates conduct or whether it regulates viewpoint, which would be a constitutional violation; whether it serves a private or public interest, which implicates subject-matter jurisdiction”

Being committed to one’s vows after being abandoned by the other is being “a living mark of shame for the wandering spouse. You are calling them constantly to repent of the evil they have done to you” says David Gordon.

University of Dallas Theology Professor, Dr. Christopher Malloy discussed no-fault Divorce with Bai Macfarlane on the Guadalupe Radio Network on January 31, 2020.  Professor Malloy was in studio  hosted by Dave Palmer, Executive Director of the Network

His Dad would answer, “Don’t do it. It is immoral. You’ll go to hell.” It’s a terrible sin to leave one’s family unless there is some kind of extraordinary circumstance.

According to the article, an annulment petitioner would meet with the Tribunal’s licensed social worker, Mary Reade. “Meeting with Reade can give the petitioner the chance to work through the emotional pain.” However, there is no lawful role for a licensed social worker to help petitioners work through emotional pain and better understand themselves.

The fact is that the tempter—and never forget it—the tempter is counterlove. He is the missionary of hate and separation. He is a very patient missionary; he knows very well what he is undertaking for the benefit of his nefarious influence over the children, if he manages to whisper the two spouses into opposition, even subtle opposition.

In the Cleveland Diocese’ Cathedral parish bulletin this past Sunday, there was an item titled “Divorced and Catholic?”. The text is scandalous because it leads readers to conclude that every divorced persons is encouraged to receive the Sacraments regularly, even Holy Communion. . . . It appears that domestic relations lawyers and court appointees are teaching the faithful about divorce, instead of our Bishop and priests.

Canon Lawyer, Michelle McAloon, who is the Defender of the Bond in the Catholic Judicial Tribunal in the Diocese of Mobile Alabama, hosted Bai Macfarlane on her radio show.  Michelle said she loves Mary's Advocates' message because, in her role as Defender of the Bond, she is responsible for upholding the dignity of marriage.  She [...]

Attorney, Bob Sullivan, submitted his appeal argument challenging the constitutionality of Nebraska’s no-fault divorce statute. … Regarding marriage, for example, anyone (who is counting on his spouse to uphold her marriage promises) can ask the state to prove how it serves the state’s interest to deprive him of much of the marital property just because his wife wants to renege on her marriage promise.

Dr. Tim Gray, the President of the Augustine Institute, teaches that marriage undergoes ups and downs as does one's spiritual life. He draws the parallel between the stages of spirituality described by St. John of the Cross, and the stages of marriage.  Purchase full mp3 or CD audio "The Spirituality of Marriage" HERE. He most [...]

With the onset of no-fault divorce, the court system became the state’s mercenary that takes children and property away from a spouse who has done nothing grave to justify separation of spouses. Divorce is an unjust lifetime sentence that forever gives scandal to children. … It is as if the faithful are to believe that the only obligation of marriage that is relevant to Church teaching is whether a spouse attempts to enter into marriage with a new person without a decree of invalidity.

A psychologist at annulment tribunal told Leila Miller about problems in the process. “Tribunal psychologist: ‘I could conceivably make a case for any marriage being null’.” The psychologist concludes, “the nullity process, as it currently stands, is a bad response to the sin of divorce.” Using canon law, I magnify the light and show how psychologist’s concerns are well founded.

Both Relevant Radio’s Msgr. Swetland and ETWN’s Colin Donovan upheld marriage this week. Listen to 4 minute excerpt in which Msgr. Swetland encouraged a husband whose wife is having an affair. Colin Donovan made an important distinction after spending a couples minutes answering a question and clarifying that no annulment is required to receive the sacraments: there is guilty party in the break-up of a marriage.

Fr. Thomas Koys discussed divorce on his podcast by reading excerpts from the book “Primal Loss.” Children need their mother to live with their Dad and teach them about God’s plan for marriage and keeping one’s marriage promises. If a disillusioned wife in Fr. Koys’ area really had grounds for a 1095 §2 annulment, the counselors should be telling her to petition in the Illinois civil courts for a civil annulment.

A husband who was never accused of abuse or adultery video recorded his eviction from his home by the civil courts of Nebraska. He was evicted because his Catholic wife filed for no-fault divorce. We are pleading to Cardinal Sarah correct scandal caused by husband’s diocese.

It has been reported that the director of the appeal tribunal at the Holy See is a freemason, so, I’ve asked that he be investigated by the next highest authority. Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto (allegedly a freemason) was appointed as the Dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota in 2012. His office decides appeals from aggrieved parties in canon law cases at Catholic tribunals all over the world.

A Catholic member of the faithful filed a canon law complaint against his own Bishop to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota because of scandalous writings published by the diocese about marriage and divorce. … He’s asking for a judgment whether his Bishop is harming public morals, provoking disobedience, asserting something false, and failing in his duty to urge the observance of the law.

The post-Christian secular world has highjacked the word "marriage," so we need another word. On September 27, Deacon Omar Gutierrez spoke on DiscerningHearts.com about Marriage, the foundation of the family in the Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Church.  In modern culture, marriage has been reduced to simply a de facto union he says. Quoting [...]

The husband in Pennsylvania who is challenging the constitutionality of no-fault divorce is waiting for his wife’s appellate attorney to answer his most recent request. He’s asking a 9-judge panel in the Superior Court to review the earlier decision of a 3-judge appellate panel. Ryan and his wife have two young sons and in 2017 […]

I am asking you to discuss in the USCCB canon law committee the need for the faithful to have our shepherds teach that many divorce plaintiffs are committing an immoral grave offense against nature when they file for divorce. … Every wage earner who has been paying attention knows that marriage is a liability because the other spouse can invoke no-fault divorce to take the children and property

“The virtue of justice imposes on spouses the obligation to work hard to heal their marriage, to be loyal to their children’s need for a stable union, and to persevere in the vows they made to each other and to God.” Young children and teenagers “should be allowed the freedom to tell a parent, ‘If you loved me [or us], you would work to save the marriage and the family’.”

Professor William Daniel, JCD, Catholic University of America give Categories. By Bai Macfarlane Those who enter a Catholic marriage, among other things, agree to uphold obligations toward each other. One of those obligations is to “maintain the common conjugal life” which means to live together.  By default, every spouse has the right to benefit from […]

by Bai Macfarlane I've been corresponding with a Catholic husband in the Diocese of Lincoln Nebraska for many months who is seeking help from the Church in his marriage crisis.  Join my plea to the diocese Promoter of Justice, canon lawyer, Msgr. Mark Huber. Rather than the Church encouraging his wife to uphold her marriage [...]

The civil courts should never be empowered to take kids from decent Dad in the first place. This case illustrates that family courts cannot be allowed to decide the obligations of husband and wife toward each other and their children. …For anyone who married in a bible-believing church’s ceremony (including Catholics) an enormous part of marriage involves the right and responsibility to live with and raise one’s own children.  When a no-fault divorce Defendant is cited, those rights are all threatened.

Peter Hitchens, the author of “The Rage Against God” says the fundamental revolution that destroyed both the English and US societies was unilateral no-fault divorce. 

Members of the Catholic faithful connected with Mary’s Advocates are asking each of their bishops to “correct problematic statements published by the diocese.” The Tribunals of each diocese require anyone who wants to petition for a Church annulment to have a civil divorce first, but none of the dioceses require the implementation of the canon law that should be applied prior to civil divorce.

A Defendant in a marriage annulment case is appealing to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota accusing the local Tribunal of violating the Church’s own canon law so terribly, that the whole case should be thrown out.  No identifying or confidential information is revealed in the redacted version of her appeal published on Mary’s Advocates.

A challenge against the constitutionality of no-fault divorce is being made in the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Laws violate right of defense, religious liberties, and courts aren’t really judging the primary case, but are only being administrative.

I complained to the Bishop about Jack Anderson, (former Catholic priest) homosexual-married-Episcopalian, who is serving in Catholic Tribunal as a Defender of the Bond of marriage.

A 3-judge panel has been assigned in Pennsylvania’s Superior Court to decide an appeal challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s unilateral no-fault divorce statute:

10-part Video Series. No-fault divorce reformer, Jeff Morgan, sat down with Ryan Pankoe to discuss no-fault divorce and Ryan’s appeal challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s no-fault divorce statute.

You said the act of marital divorce– in and of itself–can be a grave sin. Unlike virtually all the Catholic leaders I know, you have taken seriously Catechism paragraphs 2384-2385.

Divorce is a form of suicide and suicide is a form of murder. . . . it violated the most serious oath, the most important promise you ever made in your life to the most important person in your life — so what made you into a liar and a cheater and a betrayer.

by Bai Macfarlane Roman Rota Judge, Msgr. Davide Salvatori gave a presentation at the canon law conference on August 7 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadelupe. His topic was  “The Bonum Coniugum in the Light of Rotal Jurisprudence, the Mind of the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law, and […]

I received from Bishop Sciacca, the Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Signatura, a rejection (on procedural grounds) of our appeal to the Signatura. The case centers indirectly on the controversy between me and Cardinal Coccopalmerio. It seems the Secretary of the Signatura and the group to which we appealed think a brochure I authored was judged in an administrative trial at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. However, no such trial ever occurred.

In my marriage work aimed at reducing no-fault divorce and supporting those who are unjustly abandoned, I am encouraged to know that the Marriage Disciples Program, developed by Greg and Julie Alexander, has a 99% success rate helping couples become great, happy, and holy. We discussed how anyone could get the Alexander House’ Marriage Disciples program going in their area by finding other couples to do what Greg and Julie started.

Patrick Madrid spoke to a caller about her husband who is cohabiting with another woman and the other woman’s children. “He is sinning. He can pretend that he’s not. We all have ways of rationalizing our own bad behavior.  All of us do. He’s in rationalization mode where he is convincing himself that it is […]

Renown Catechist and Catholic writer, Fr. John Hardon, knows there was an annulment crisis.  One of his students in New York, who was a civil lawyer, says that it is easier to get a Church annulment than a civil divorce. A canon lawyer working for a Tribunal in Michigan told Fr. Hardon that everyone who [...]

“The prelate-auditors of the Rota, sharing in common humanity, can fail in one or another decision to express concisely the consistent manner of judging at the Rota in a determinate matter, or even to abandon in some ways such a stable manner of judging.” (Cardinal Raymond Burke)   Mary’s Advocate’s recently obtained the video recording […]

In Nebraska, attorney Bob Sullivan is assisting a Catholic divorce defendant challenging the constitutionality of no-fault divorce in the District Court of Adams County. They are indirectly shining a spotlight on the unfair practice of Catholic marital abandoners.

A woman who is is separated and legally divorced ask Patrick Madrid about the scandal her husband is causing by bringing around his new girlfriend. Madrid recommended Mary’s Advocates as a resource for innocent Catholics who face no-fault divorce and suggests that Anna Maria confront her husband with the concern that he’s on his way to hell.

The Answer to Divorce Fr. Zachary of the Mother of God, a priest in the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, teaches how to heal from divorce.  The answer is not getting remarried, living as if one is not married, nor acting as if one is single again. He grew up in [...]

(Bishop Baron and Cardinal Raymond Burke) How do abandoned spouses stay and fight? In the past couple weeks, I’ve shared suggestions—based in canon law—with two different Catholics who were defending the validity of their marriage against accusations of invalidity.  These cases weigh heavily on my heart because the ones who contact Mary’s Advocates are those who were abandoned. Thereafter, they are berated when the tribunals …

Do your diocesan priests point couples in crisis to divorce and annulment or toward reconciling? Julie Alexander says it is an atrocity when Church administrators tell a spouse in crisis that “we can help you get your annulment,” rather than directing the couple to sources that a priest knows can bring healing.

On your recent EWTN Live show, listeners learned that no-fault divorce deconstructs the family and violates the protections in the U.S. Bill of Rights.  Would you please teach your audience that no-fault divorce also violates the protections in the Catholic teaching and the Code of Canon Law?

Mary’s Advocates’ friend, Jeff Morgan, organized Texas residents to give three-minute testimonies in today’s Texas House committee meeting on a proposed bill to eliminate unilateral no-fault divorce.  In Texas, if one spouse asks for a divorce, the court is obligated to force it on the other spouse and children, including the taking of property and [...]

Statements made by our clergy that unfortunately ratify the immoral practices of no-fault divorce proceedings. Please reconsider how you talk about civil courts. … From the perspective of an abandoned spouse, Catholic canon lawyers’ silence prior to and during divorce proceedings feels like the canon lawyers are tacitly condoning marriage breakup.

Kelly phoned Fr. Menezez on ETWN Open Line Tuesday. She and her husband have been separated since 2011 and she is resisting the pressure from outsiders who tell her to move on. Kelly does not want to ever be with any other man and neither she nor her husband filed for divorce. She’s praying for [...]

Max Dean Esmay, founder of “Red Pill Religion” interviewed me about Mary’s Advocates resources and we discussed the constitutional challenge made April 3rd against no-fault divorce in Nebraska. Max says, “Marriage, under Secular Law,has become an obviously illegal and unjust contract.”

A constitutional challenge is being made in a Pennsylvania appellate court against unilateral no-fault divorce by Ryan Pankoe, a husband and father of two young sons. .. The Judge’s opinion essentially said “this is how we do it” without addressing Ryan’s complaint that by doing “this,” the court is not exercising any judicial function.

Jeff Morgan, who is an avid proponent of reforming no-fault divorce, brought his camera and posted his 6-part interview series.

Have you ever read a publication from a Catholic source that said “The Church recognizes the State’s authority over the civil effects of marriage”?  This gives readers the impression that everything judged in the civil divorce courts is fair game for the government to oversee. However, this is incorrect. Prior to anyone with a Catholic […]

I could not leave unchallenged statements made by Rose Sweet in her article titled “The Attack on Annulments” published by  Catholic Answers in their March-April print magazine. … I ask Ryan, Staples, and Akin to reconsider their choice to have Rose Sweet defend the status quo annulment situation in the U.S. 

ETWN's host Johnnette Benkovic Williams discusses divorce, and said that canon law requires the bishop's permission prior to anyone filing for divorce. Johnnette hosted Leila Miller who published the book, "Primal Loss, The Now-adult Children of Divorce Speak."  Their 5-part video series, titled "Divorce and Children: The Truth of It All" is airing this week [...]

Representative Matt Krause, in Texas, introduced a bill to eliminate unilateral no-fault divorce. With no-fault divorce, the petitioning spouse can invoke the power of the state’s court to take children and property from the other spouse, even though the other spouse has done nothing grave justifying separation of spouses.  If Krause’ bill becomes law, only […]

A marriage coaching ministry was brought to Detroit by Matt and Mindy Dalton, founders of Marriage Missionaries. Their blog shows “The Archdiocese of Detroit has implemented a Marriage Coaching Ministry that utilizes strong married couples as coaches and mentors to help couples to improve their marriages.”

On Valentine’s day last week, after seeing my story “Pennsylvania Dad Makes Constitutional Challenge against No-fault Divorce,” Drew Mariani invited me to be his guest on Relevant Radio. We discussed the Pennsylvania Dad’s challenge in divorce court arguing that PA statues violate the state’s own constitution.

Is it fair for defendants’ rights to vary from court to court, and be based on handed-down policies from previous decades, subjectively determined by judges, under the oversight of no one? I telephone surveyed tribunals that issue many annulments and tallied answers from 17 that answered.

Mary’s Advocates’ friend helped us sponsor this ad in Nebraska newspaper, The Hastings Tribune. “Valentine’s Day Divorce. Reduce unilateral no-fault divorce. Support those unjustly abandoned.”

A Pennsylvania husband and father of two is schedule to appear in front of divorce Judge Michele Varricchio to discuss his challenge to the constitutionality of unilateral no-fault divorce. … He just presented a motion for the delay of any custody determinations until after his constitutional challenge is addressed. The request for delay was denied by the Judge who told him, “she’s there to just move cases through”

Can every dissatisfied spouse now get an annulment because she doesn’t experience, to her satisfaction, spiritual riches and communication from her spouse?

Satanic forces in modern society have been warring against the sacrament of marriage and the family for decades now. But what some people might not know is that many bishops and priests in the Catholic Church have been fighting in that war, mostly on the side of the enemy.

We want to have confidence that the Catholic Church would promote justice because justice is one of the four cardinal virtues. But instead, the Church in the Diocese of Lincoln appears to be condoning injustice by their silence and distorted teaching about divorce.

A Nebraska husband who has been married for 32 years is a divorce defendant that asked the Court to dismiss the whole case because he is asserting that Nebraska’s state laws are unconstitutional.

Could a sincere Catholic refuse to obey the divorce Court’s orders forcing him to leave the marital home, give his wife half their property, and pay her alimony and attorney fees, on the grounds that following orders would be complicit in the evil of divorce?

A caller on Catholic Relevant Radio asked Pat Madrid for his suggestion on what to do because the caller knows the basis for annulment used against the caller was incorrect. Staying quiet about something he knows to be false is bothering Mathew, and Madrid suggested that Mathew writing the tribunal might result in the diocesan tribunal saying “That changes everything.” 

On this broadcast, Mary’s Advocates founder Bai Macfarlane discusses the “True Marriage Proclamation Set” – a “pre-nuptual” agreement couples sign as a promise to give their marriage a fighting chance once the difficult days begin.

Even though no-fault divorce courts routinely order one party to violate his conscience and his deeply held religious beliefs, surprisingly, a canon law professor teaches that the civil courts have rightful authority to decide the man and wife’s obligations toward each other. The absurdities spewing from divorce judges are made obvious in the current case in Texas where a divorced Dad is being court ordered to pay for his son to be castrated.

One woman told listeners that she was compelled to call in and tell how she and her husband survived his infidelity. They kept praying, and forgiving, and now they are better than ever. She wanted to encourage everyone, “never give up.”

The diocesan response to a husband who sought pastoral intervention to uphold his marriage is heart wrenching. … The bishop’s Delegate essentially told wives that there is nothing wrong with the following: hating your husband, refusing to reconcile, reneging on your obligation to contribute your share of help around the house,

Integrating the concept of an express written agreement under the authority of state code or faith governance can be very effective.  A group called Mary’s Advocates is working to do just that through the True Marriage Proclamation. … Strengthening marriage with an express agreement is a great idea.

I’m concerned that a priest who thinks it is acceptable for himself to have sexual activity with boys/men is also going to think it is acceptable for a married person to have sexual activity with someone other than one’s spouse. Below are a handful of tribunal judges and officials of canon law in Church leadership that have been demonstrated to be immoral and impure.  These people are not qualified to judge anybody’s marriage case.

Mary’s Advocates Letter to Archbishop Cordileone, JCD. In your role on the USCCB’s Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, would you supplement the information I provided to the Committee for Religious Liberty?  From the response I received from Lawyer/Director of Religious Liberty and Associate General Counsel USCCB, I surmise that she is unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine and church polity relative to cases of separation of spouses.

Do diocesan personnel say that divorce courts decide the civil effects of marriage, and the Church decides about the Sacramental Bond? . . .Disastrous effects include children being taken away from Catholics who have done nothing grave justifying separation of spouses, and the same parents are being virtually robbed by divorce lawyers, no-fault divorce court-ordered property divisions, and support orders.

Forward this blog to bishops and asking USCCB to evaluate my request. See my letter to Bishop Rhoades of Fort Wayne/South Bend, where I asked His Excellency to judge the opinion of Dr. Edward Peters in the article, “Do Catholics Need Ecclesiastical Permission to Divorce?“ My concern centers on the principles used by civil divorce judges to decide obligations of parties toward each other, coupled with the fact that divorce lawyers charge tens of thousands of dollars to families.

Join us in writing to the USCCB. . . . Like the nurse that Archbishop Kurtz described, a defendant in no-fault divorce is given a choice he cannot accept: watch a divorce judge deprive him of his ability to practice his parental vocation and marital rights, or voluntarily assist in the permanent mutilation of his own family by signing a divorce agreement. With a parenting schedule and custody order, he and his children are deprived of their right to have everyday access to each other.

Bai Macfarlane, Director of Mary’s Advocates was interview live by Father Robert McTeigue, S.J., Ph. D. for his radio program, The Catholic Current. Of significance is someone of his caliber giving a pedestal to the voice of separated faithful who challenge the annulment abuses and the injustice of no-fault divorce.

He blames accusers for creating scandal. Vatican News information system reported that in his homily on September 11 “Pope Francis said it seems the ‘Great Accuser’ is attacking the bishops of the Catholic Church to create scandal.”  From the faithful’s perspective, he seems to have it backwards.

Msgr. Vito Pinto, the Dean of the Roman Rota, appealed to Pope Francis to keep a homosexual predator in his position performing some functions of the priesthood. According to the Rules of the Roman Rota, Msg. Vito Pinto is not allowed to be Dean of the Roman Rota anymore. His term ended over two years ago. Msg. Vito Pinto is listed as a member of the freemasons.

Telephone Survey finds Unlawful Practices. Covering over offenses with bogus annulments doesn’t help anybody. This whole mess swirls around the interests of the morally depraved to have their deviant sexual behaviors normalized. The Church is not defending marriage when diocese tribunals issue decrees of invalidity of marriage via unjust methods.

The purpose of this video is to explain what Mary’s Advocates is doing with the canon law on separation of spouses. We’re all about upholding marriage — especially reducing unilateral no-fault divorce. When people marry, they enter into a covenant contract and the essential elements of that contract include that they’re open to children, intend permanence, and  sexually fidelity.

My wife is trying to gain sympathy from others by lamenting that she’s a victim of domestic abuse. I want the truth to be known. She’ll moan that the situation is so grave that the court issued an order of protection that keeps me away from our children and her. … If my wife was sincerely interested in upholding her marriage promises, and she thought I was behaving abusively, she would do everything in her power to get me the right kind of help.

Ann asks Bai the 800 pound gorilla questions that other people won’t ask, such as, “What do you do if your bishop is a heretic and refuses to help defend your marriage?” and, “What does a faithful Catholic do if a cookie-cutter declaration of nullity is issued against their marriage which they are certain is false, and their marriage is valid?”

Monsignor Stuart Swetland fielded a question on June 14 from a caller who wanted him to point out that divorce need not be a sin. “The courts have really messed up marriage law in the United States. The so-called no-fault divorce laws are highly, highly, highly problematic, to say the least. I’m trying to be as diplomatic as I can here with my language.”

I was interviewed by Suzie Thomas, host of Our Community at the Light, 95.9 FM, in Stark County Ohio. If people don’t sign their marriage promises, the government agents assume that parties contract marriage according to the no-fault divorce marriage. Mary’s Advocate’s invites people to make more clear what they intend when they marry. They can [...]

At the School of Canon Law at Catholic University of America, those who have not had any formal training are participating in the “Institute on Matrimonial Tribunal Practice.” In my work trying to reduce unilateral no-fault divorce and support those who are unjustly abandoned, I’ve learned the perspective of separated faithful, who have no reason to believe their marriage is invalid, who participate as respondent/defendants in marriage nullity cases.

Dr. Keyes strongly criticized the leadership that is sowing confusion and he says we are obligated to cry out to them demanding that the confusion be cleared up. This resonates with me because, in my work with abandoned spouses, I meet grown men who were curled racked on the floor wailing at the pain of having their children stolen from them by no-fault divorce government agents at the request of a professed-catholic abandoning spouse.

Msgr. Swetland explains that you are obligated to be faithful to your wife and be a good husband regardless of what happens in the civil courts. Love is not an emotion. It is a choice. It is something we do. True love is wanting, working, and willing the true good of the other.  Because she is your wife, you have to go the extra ten miles. God wants to keep your marriage together.

Cardinal Raymond Burke very politely says that bishops have incompetent and unfair staff managing the tribunals.

Forcibly removing children from the natural every-day interaction with either parent is child abuse.  Most no-fault divorces are sought by women against men for soft reasons - like feeling emotionally distant, or falling out of love, etc. There is no abuse or danger in these marriages, but the no-fault divorce lawyers earn their income by [...]

My interviewed by AM 1160 Chicago-based radio program “Lawyers of Jesus” was broadcast May 9.  Host and lawyer, Whit Brisky with Mauck & Baker LLC, is a religious liberties expert who is working on a consulting basis in a Maryland case in which a husband is challenging the constitutionality of no-fault divorce.  We didn’t discuss the client’s case, […]

Separated faithful spouses from four different states met in Philadelphia this past weekend at the ”Day of Recollection and Conference on Matrimony: Rediscovering Its Truth.” Cardinal Raymond Burke spoke. The faithful have the duty to remind Church leaders of their errors.

Mary’s Advocates Canon Law case at “Supreme Court” in the Vatican: In summary, Mary’s Advocates is trying to get an imprimatur for a brochure containing Church teaching on divorce, but because Cardinal Coccopalmerio wrote an opinion contrary to centuries of Church teaching, our efforts are being thwarted.

Married love naturally pulls us out of ourselves, to make a more complete gift of ourselves to the other. Giving to the other when the other does not seem to wish to receive is a true Cross, … Some of us are called to imitate this love as it was lived in Gesthemane. It is still the love of Christ for His Church.

A caller who says she’s in an emotionally abusive marriage wanted to know “if she is required to stay in that marriage.” Father explains that, in some circumstances, a legal separation is justified. From Feb. 15, 2018. Find full program HERE Msgr. Stuart W. Swetland is the host of Relevant Radio’s program, “Go Ask Your […]

Church lets divorce lawyers determine if the civil forum is contrary to divine law. . . . Either, the divorce lawyers are ignorant about Catholic doctrine, natural law, divine law, and canon law; or the Bishop’s canon lawyer is ignorant about California divorce and civil separation practices.

A Maryland husband is challenging the constitutionality of unilateral no-fault divorce with the assistance of religious liberties expert lawyer, Whitman Brisky. … The Husband says, “According to the marriage agreement that my wife and I entered, if my wife abandons the marriage, I forfeit no rights.”

A very popular Ohio divorce lawyer’s resource has a chapter written by the Cleveland Diocese’ new Vicar General, Father Gary Yanus. He gives scandal by implying that all divorces are morally acceptable. He distorts the Catholic Code of Canon law leading readers to think the Church gave the government Court authority to decide issues that can only be decided by the Church.

Political Science Professor, Stephen Baskerville, says the divorce system is a vast legal underworld based in a political power grab, full of human rights violations. He figured the Church would care because the Church marries people, but was disappointed by the Church’s non-response.

Do the faithful know that two opposing teachings are coming out of our chanceries? … However, at least in Jennifer’s diocese, when someone is unhappy in their marriage for any reason whatsoever, the diocesan canon lawyer, or Judicial Vicar, will chastise the innocent party that wants to keep the family together … Case on Appeal to the Signatura.

For all those Catholics that find themselves in so-called second marriages, there needs to be justice and mercy. Moreover, for all those people left behind in the first marriages, there needs to be justice and mercy too. The genius of the Catholic Code of Canon law, is that it allows for both — IF IT IS FOLLOWED.

I said “Yes” before God, in the church, with my full consent and sound mind. No little piece of paper issued by a judge can change my mind. Or my heart. … Faithfulness brings with it the reward of peace. Faithfulness ignites joy. Faithfulness is a gift from God. I grow in faithfulness every day.

Edward Pentin’s sources say we have “a mass of priests willing to agree with contradictions in a very trendy and modern way (dialectically) juggling with concepts illogically, at will, perhaps with sentimentality.” I’m seeing this in the Cleveland Diocese Seminary.

A woman divorce defendant in New Jersey is shocked to learn that some canon law school must be teaching Catholic priests that the unilateral no-fault divorce routine is morally acceptable.

We need to make recognizing the indissolubility of marriage and the evil of divorce a prominent feature of our Catholic faith and identity, something along the line of the ways in which we are pro-life and in the ways in which we speak out against the recognition of same sex unions precisely because the gospel requires us to defend the dignity of the human person and to foster hope among ourselves and the world around us.

Teresa Tomeo points out that our society puts value in working on so many aspects of our lives, like our careers, health, saving money for remodeling of homes, and society doesn’t think people should work on their marriages.

Our Lady of Fatima sweetly frames our recent work to uphold marriage against unilateral no-fault divorce. On October 13, I made an appeal to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, after receiving three months of silence from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). My previous appeal to a Congregation was made […]

Don't let yourselves be limited by the "tyranny of the possible." Mary's Advocates is inviting lawyers, researches, and divorce defendants to critique and copy a (sample motion HERE) asking a judge to say, “case dismissed,” to the spouse wanting divorce. The motion (document) attempts to persuade the judge that unilateral no-fault divorce is unconstitutional for [...]

Adult child of divorce, Matthew Johnston, told me during our interview about the constitutional challenge his Mom is making against New York State’s no-fault divorce legislation. … his Mom submitted her written argument to the Third Department Appellate Court in Albany, New York on August 17, 2017.

“The annulment processes in the United State, honestly, have been abused for many years” (Bishop Morlino says). Mary’s Advocates just produced a video interview with a participant who asked to stay anonymous, who we will refer to as “Joe.” He is filing a complaint that his whole annulment case should be thrown out due to abuses of his rights.

If the courts uphold contracts in which parties agree to follow Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, and the Rules and Procedures of the American Arbitration Association, why don’t the courts uphold my husband’s and my contract to follow the rules of the Roman Code of Canon Law, which is simply the law of the country of the Holy See?

While interviewing Leila Miller, Patrick Coffin told listeners that the bishop’s permission is required prior civil divorce. Miller’s new book “Primal Loss, The Now-Adult Children of Divorce Speak” exposes the myths that children of divorce are resilient. see full interview, June 13, on Patrick Coffin show HERE Miller laments that there are Catholic therapists and [...]

The founder was the daughter of Nathanial Hawthorne who wrote “The Scarlet Letter.” Earlier, she had married a man with whom she had a troubled marriage. Rather than attempting to ‘end’ her marriage, she obtained an ecclesiastic decree of separation of spouses, not an annulment.

8:10 am Eastern, July 12. Bai Macfarlane wages a CRUSADE against “no-fault divorces” that leave morally upright parents broke and in legally broken families. Bai Macfarlane is doing something about it, hear her story and get in the game on The Mike Church Show.

Those abandoned by our spouses and separated from our children live every moment in an emotional martyrdom. . . .Today is my eldest daughter’s 16th birthday.  I hope she’s having a good day.  I wouldn’t know as it’s not my time with her today.  It’s been nearly a decade since my very catholic wife left and moved in with eldest daughter’s godfather. 

Tribunal keeps secret the fact that the petitioner is accusing himself of having had a serious mental problem. … A procurator has the authority to write a formal petition on behalf of a petitioner, without the petitioner ever reading it; so this is where the procurator could secretly accuse the petitioner of having had a serious mental problem.

Happy Fathers Day to all the men whose children have been wrongfully taken from them by unilateral no-fault divorce. Women leave marriages two to three times more than men, and Emerson Eggerichs shows what these woman think: “She will say he’s an unloving human being being and filled with narratives. She’ll feed totally justified, and [...]

When Catholics who read First Things start talking to Catholics who read the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, we can solve the problem of no-fault divorce.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are meeting in Indianapolis on June 14th and First Things online edition featured an article by J.D. Flynn, a canon lawyer working […]

Upholding Marriage Against Unilateral No-Fault divorce A divorce judge is scheduled on June 7, 2017, to hear a complaint from a wife’s attorney that her husband should be sanctioned, and pay a fine, for submitting his plea. Bringing in religious rationale based on the couple’s shared Catholic faith, the husband explained that the divorce should […]

Bai explains the recent controversy between herself and Ed Peters, who is a canon law professor in Detroit. With the summer wedding season coming up, Bai invites those marrying in any Christian ceremony to sign their wedding promises.

By: Bai Macfarlane This article first appeared on Pewsitter An appeal to the Holy See to resolve a controversy about church teaching on civil divorce was delivered to the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States in Washington DC yesterday morning, May 16, 2017. With the non-profit organization, Mary’s Advocates, Bai Macfarlane has been working for […]

The week leading up to Mother’s Day, I got a sweet reminder that God is watching out for me and Mary’s Advocates. Back in college at the University of Notre Dame, my later-to-be-husband and I were founding members of a Knights of Immaculata club. During that time, I started praying daily Rosaries and have never stopped. [...]

A canon lawyer, employed by a U.S. diocese, taught her audience including priests, that because no directives from the bishop have been issued about Amoris Laetitia, the priests should follow Buenos Aires and Malta. Mary’s Advocates is sharing the audio recording, though the person that made the recording said the diocese must be kept anonymous.

Al Kresta on Ave Maria radio, interviewed author and psychologist, Diane Medved, about her new book, “Don’t Divorce: Powerful Arguments for Saving your Marriage.” We now know that divorce is always a tragedy. It is never a happy thing, despite the fact that an individual that gets out of a marriage wants to think that it is the happy fresh start.

Choosing to Not Take Sides can be a Sin of Omission. In a discussion about marriage, have you heard someone refer to those who experience divorce? If I assaulted you, stole your keys, and drove away in your car containing your children, how would you like to be referred to as someone who experienced the loss of your keys?

A constitutional litigation expert is offering to help protect marriage from no-fault divorce in the United States. Shelby Sharpe, of Fort Worth, Texas, said he’d give his time as legal counsel pro-bono (free of charge) provided that the defendant covers the out-of-pocket costs of the legal proceedings. Sharpe recently described a constitutional problem with no-fault [...]

On April 12, the Texas legislature’s committee for Juvenile Justice & Family Issues voted in favor of ending unilateral no-fault divorce in cases when the Plaintiff could automatically be granted a divorce simply because he asked for one.

Discussion surrounded the injustice of unilateral no-fault divorce, and offered divorce defendants a support network. Mary’s Advocates’ practical resources were described: monthly phone conference calls; petition to Bishop to try to stop a breakup; and “True Marriage Proclamation Set” wherein parties assert their claim to have their marriage managed by those who respect the parties’ marriage promises. For those who are unjustly abandoned, Bai points out how we are called to respond to our offender when undergoing a grave injustice.

Book Summary, by Bai Macfarlane. One quarter of today’s young adults are children of divorce (66) and a book from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute examines anew the nature and meaning of marriage: Torn Asunder: Children, the Myth of the Good Divorce, and the Recovery of Origins. The book’s back cover blurb shows, “After decades [...]

Fr. Richard Simon, host of Relevant Radio’s Fr. Simon Says, unapologetically defends the Church’s teaching. Those who are divorced, even reluctantly divorced, should not enter second so-called marriages. . 6 minute except (starting at 34:45 in full show HERE) A caller asked Fr. Simon to explain the Church’s teaching on why the innocent spouse, after abandonment, would […]

Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora is a model of holiness lived even after happily-ever-after goes sour “In the eyes of the world, then as now, Elizabeth was a deluded, battered woman.” This Aletia article shows how an abandoned and abused wife remained faithful to her marriage and prayed, loving her husband, hoping for his conversion.  In […]

EWTN Great Britain News. by Bai Macfarlane. Much is being written about how the Church should accompany those in so-called second civil marriages. Bishops debate whether these Catholics should be able to receive Holy Communion, although almost nothing is being written about the pastoral accompaniment needed for those in marriage crisis, when the first marriages are breaking up.

Co-hosts, Bruce McGregor and Jen Brown, invited Bai to speak to their audience about “Upholding the Dignity of Marriage in Light of No-Fault Divorce.” Spirit Catholic Radio Network is the area’s only Catholic radio station heard across most of Nebraska, western Iowa and other parts of the Midwest. 18 minutes

National Catholic Radio host, Drew Mariani, and Bai Macfarlane talked about no-fault divorce with callers. “We’ve got great laws on the books in the Church and the Constitution has great principles about respecting contracts. Until those laws are implemented by the people who have confidence to do so, it is a mess.”

Fr. Check says that, in accord with natural justice, the aggrieving party is obligated to pay support. Separation should protect the aggrieved party from grave harm caused by the aggrieving party. Father recognizes that the civil forum, because of no-fault divorce, does not always protect the aggrieved party.

Limiting myself primarily to civil law, in a very conversational manner, I first explain the unique Ohio Laws that protect a reliable spouse and children from forced/unilateral no-fault divorce. Thereafter, I cover some constitutional problems with forced/no-fault divorce applicable to the whole country. Learn More in resources For Divorce Defendant (local Ohio).

Pope Francis teaches, “the Church must … care especially for those who feel excluded because of marital breakdown.” If the excluding is felt because priests and fellow-Catholics instruct a spouse causing a marital breakdown that he or she is responsible to reconcile and softened his or her hardened heart, is someone suggesting that the priests should stop the instruction?

Injustice in Divorce Court. A bizarre disregard for both Ohio Revised Code and Catholic Code of Canon Law is routinely resulting in mind-boggling injustice against financially successful Catholic husbands.

“I had no idea there were people standing for their marriage ten and twenty years after their marital break-up, praying for the restoration of their relationship. This gave me a lot of peace. I knew I should hang in there, and now I had company.” 

Priest shared that he’s under obedience to work with the tribunal, he said that he frequently cries after the tribunal meets. Saint Pope John Paul warned that giving false marriage annulment decrees will result in distancing people from God.

“The process of discernment – of looking at actions and failures that contributed to the breakup of their sacramental marriage, their current family responsibilities and their resolve to life the Christian life more fully …”

Book: Hope for the World, To Unite All Things in Christ An interview with Guillaume Alancon Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke Publisher: Ignatious Press, 2016 Excerpt from page 91-92.  

“The Citizen’s Voice” in PA publicized that the number of annulment cases is rising. My comment is that the high-income-earning husband, whose wife abandons marriage to get her annulment, should ask the Church to instruct the woman to correct the civil record. The man should not have to give half his property and spousal support to a woman that was never his wife.

Bai and Ed “Flash” Ferenc talked about the underutilized Ohio Laws that were meant to protect families from forced, no-fault divorce. Conciliation counselors could be hired by every Ohio county to help reconcile couples. Divorce lawyers make lots of money following the status quo.

Sentence Issued in Canon Law Legal Case. Catholics appear hypocritical when the Church teaches about the indissolubility of marriage, but remains silent when … Mary’s Advocates has been given access by an abandoned husband to a formal decree issued by his Catholic diocese which defended the husband’s marriage against marital abandonment.

By Helen Bell – There is an unprecedented crisis within marriage and the family unit. Statistically, despite the fact that more than 90% of all adults will get married, half of them will divorce. Common reasons people give for wanting a divorce are …

By Bai Macfarlane. Cleveland’s Plain Dealer on-line and Sun Newspapers. “Ohio Domestic Relations courts have a rule that empowers judges to take the property of one party before any due process guaranteed by the Constitution. If all divorce defendants are being pre-judged as “guilty,” this should be of public interest.”

After Pope Francis’ June 16 statement initially, that “the vast majority of marriages are invalid,” EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo with guests Robert Royal and Fr. Gerald Murray commented. Canon lawyer, Fr. Murray said, “Most people are naturally capable of marriage.” […] “What you need to get married is very simple” […] “God did not make it so difficult, that your average 20 year old cannot get married.”

Jimmy Akin, at Catholic Answers, wrote, “I know of no competent expert in canon law, biblical studies, or theology who would hold the opinion that “the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null. In fact, I don’t know of anybody—expert or not—who would hold this view.” … see Full Story

Dr. Jeff Mirus, co-founder of Christendom College, recommends the same book Mary’s Advocates recommends, “When Is Marriage Null?” by Fr. Paolo Bianchi. He writes, “There is an enormous difference between an invalid marriage and a valid marriage that proves to be difficult.” … “In the worst annulment mills (more in the United States than anywhere […]

National Catholic register piece by canon/civil lawyer, Benedict Nguyen, said what Mary’s Advocates has been saying for years: “Pre-judging the validity of marriages is a dangerous mentality that can do serious harm to the pastoral care of marriages, causing spouses to doubt whether they have married validly. The worse casualties would be those marriages experiencing […]

(From SperoNews.com) Yesterday, Pope Francis made impromptu remarks during a question and answer session. As reported by the Catholic World Report and One Peter Five, he said the great majority of marriages are invalid. … This morning, Ed Peters, also adamantly disagreed with the assertion that the great majority of marriages are invalid. … Bai Macfarlane, the founder of Mary’s Advocates, has suggested a measure to foster annulment-proof marriages.

In Catholic World Report, Ed Peters wrote, “Yesterday, however, Pope Francis waded into one part of this long-standing controversy with the preposterous claim that the great majority of our sacramental marriages are nullÓ ostensibly because people do not understand what permanence is.” Edward N. Peters, JD, JCD has doctoral degrees in canon and common law. […]

EWTN Host – Dr. David Anders Explains for Whom Divorce is a Grave Sin Mary’s Advocates is sharing the summary of Church teaching on divorce given on the EWTN show, “Called to Communion,” by host Dr. David Anders. He explains the canon law about divorce and the obligation…

If Counselors Affirmed Heroin Use, You Would be Shocked – If heroin addicts were sent for help to those who affirmed them in their drug use saying, “maybe you were just meant to be a heroin addict,” would you be upset? How many self-professed Catholic psychologists or counselors are…

(From Catholic Family News) Cardinal Raymond Burke concedes that the situation today “can give the impression that there are two Churches.” People whose faith is weak or who are not Catholic, are scandalized and see the Church as hypocritical: “She says for instance that marriage is indissoluble but now there is a marriage nullity process by […]

(by Bai Macfarlane) In his article “Pope Francis Streamlines the Annulment Process” (March), canon lawyer Philip C.L. Gray writes, “The world is burning the institution of marriage with the fires of hedonism (fornication, divorce, abortion, same-sex unions, etc.), … I think we should divert our energies away from the annulment question and focus instead on the canons regarding the separation of spouses

Colin Donovan talks about the difference between the regime of law (canon/civil) and the regime of morality, using the example of chapel veils. Regarding the canons on divorce, he says “This is clearly an area where the Church has fallen down.” When parties withdraw from marriage and file for divorce, …

On Catholic Answers Live, Canon lawyer Fr. Gerald Murray, J.C.D. taught listeners that the bishop’s permission is required in cases of separation of spouses.

Why aren’t modern tribunals applying the same means prior to the wedding thereby prevent invalid marriages? by guest author, Bill Mcdonald While watching a documentary on the history of Cancer and the quest for a cure, the film chronicles a strategic paradigm shift in how to “cure” cancer by preventing it in the first place. […]

Msgr. Stuart W. Swetlandd, S.T.D. President of Donnelly College, answered Bai Macfarlane’s question. . 7 minute excerpt, from min 33:39 March 10, 2016. Archives She asked how can an abandoned spouse solicit help from others to encourage the wayward spouse to uphold obligations. Msgr. Swetland said “For a person to live outside of the state of […]

“From the Median” on Salem Radio in Cleveland, featured guests Bai Macfarlane and attorney Joe Meissner talking about no-fault divorce and the overlooked family-friendly Ohio laws.

Son Rise Morning Show, Cincinnati. 7 minute Interview. Ohio Laws are against unilateral forced no-fault divorce. Bai Macfarlane spoke with host, Matt Swain, about the Ohio family-friendly laws that she publicizes on Pro-Families Ohio, an outreach of Mary’s Advocates.

The father of a two-year-old Patrick, and anyone concerned about the social conditions in which our children are raised, want the judges in north-eastern Ohio to follow the laws designed to protect the upbringing of children. …Little Patrick’s Dad, Kevin Flanagan, told Mary’s Advocates about his wife in an e-mail interview, that the “reason she left is because she met someone else.”

From Canton Ohio, with host Suzie Thomas. We talk about no-fault divorce and the three Ohio laws that make Ohio more family friendly than other states. 1. Abandonment is a crime. 2. Incompatibility can not be used as a ground for forced divorce. 3. There are ways to get financial support without giving divorce court control over children.

We hear about giving Communion to people that are objectively living in adultery (which is wrong), but we are not hearing about the Church’s involvement in the first wrong which occurred when the first marriage broke up.

National Catholic Register – … Fighting the No-Fault Divorce Mentality: Beyond providing support for those like Feliz and Robinson, Mary’s Advocates has also made it its mission to urge the Church in the United States to be more proactive in intervening in troubling marriages and staving off no-fault civil divorce. Though the Church in its official teaching remains …

Nov. 6, 2015. A twelve-year old girl, whose parents married in 2002, is thrilled that her parents are reconciling after having been separated for seven years. Craig Walterscheid said, “Forgiving my wife and in-laws, for what I perceived as their destruction of our marriage, was the key that opened the door to reconciling my marriage.” […]

He affirmed us saying, “You should be.” Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center, Bloomington, IN. With Cardinal Burke, are pictured Isabel McPhilips and Bai Macfarlane, from the Separated Faithful Group in Cleveland By Bai Macfarlane – Along with two other faithful spouses, I attended a day of reflection by Cardinal Raymond Burke on “Holy Matrimony: Sacrament […]

Fr. David Sereno, from the Diocese of San Diego, has a doctorate in canon law. He graduated from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome summa cum laude. He provided to Mary’s Advocate background research emphasizing that Catholic sacramental marriages can never be separated from civil marriage contracts. In an e-mail interview with Bai Macfarlane on […]

This article originally appeared in The Anchor, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River, MA. Page 14. HERE by Gail Besse Marie “Bai” Macfarlane knew that World Marriage Day and St. Valentine’s Day were coming up, but her heart was really pinned on those days when her boys, who lived with their dad, would […]

It is anybody’s guess how many valid sacramental marriages are nullified by phony annulments followed by remarriage. By Robert J. Kendra December 2005 see PDF version “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Eph 5:11) An important characteristic of American history has been its innovative application of mass production. A […]

This article originally appeared Nov 2005 (Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute) also Catholic Exchange. By: Dale O’Leary There is a wonderful scene in A Man for All Seasons where Thomas More’s daughter Meg begs her father to take the oath accepting Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Meg encourages her father to say the words of […]

A diocese Chancellor submitted an expert opinion for a Defendant in a no-fault divorce case, showing that the parties have a defacto antanuptial agreement to assume the rights and duties of the order of spouses: including duties in cases of separation of the spouses pursuant to Code of Canon Law, canons 1151-1155 and 1692-1696).

January 15, 2004 Reprinted with permission from The Villager www.villagernews.net “If you don’t want your children to be divorced, don’t want to be divorced yourself, or suffered because you grew up in a divorced home, you need to keep reading,” writes Mary, a Westlake mother of four fighting divorce. “I’m a stay-at-home-mom with four children […]