The Canonical Obligation of Spouses to Approach the Ecclesiastical Authority for a Separation

This thesis is particularly about the obligation to approach the ecclesiastical authority for a decree of separation in cases of adultery.

There is a distinction between permission before separation and permission before civil action (like divorce, or civil separation, or civil annulment).

Page 39:   “[T]he law has placed an obligation on all spouses to obtain the permission of the diocesan bishop before approaching the civil forum. The process of drafting canon 1692 highlights the fact that it is the diocesan bishop alone who can allow the spouses to approach the civil forum” (from section 2.3.1 — The Norms of the 1983 Codex Iuris Canonici in Light of the Revision Process)