Dr. David Anders – Leaving your Wife is a Mortal Sin

Dr. David Anders discussed the obligation to admonishing the sinner, which is a spiritual work of mercy. He used marital abandonment as his example as he answered a question on EWTN’s “Call to Communion” on January 13 (min. 5-7).  There are three considerations when admonishing the sinner:

• Are the offenses objectively grave?
• Are they likely to listen?
• Are you the best person to make the admonition?

Dr. Anders said his Dad was an attorney who never had anything to do with family law or divorce court.  More than once, men would tell his Dad that they were thinking of leaving their wife.

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.

Mary’s Advocates publicizes where those “extraordinary circumstances” are described in the Catechism, Canon Law and canonical case law jurisprudence.  Because the rights of the other spouse and children must be protected, a Catholic is not supposed to, on his own volition, decide to leave his spouse or divorce. When someone wants the Church to protect the rights of those aggrieved by a wrongful marital separation, Mary’s Advocates shows him/her how to use canon law to ask the diocese shepherd to speak up and tell a spouse that leaving his/her marriage is gravely wrong.