Our Commentary with  Excerpts from Canon Law and Catechism
CCC 2284 Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. Theperson who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.   2285 Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized. It prompted our Lord to utter this curse: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheep's clothing.

Catholic Divorce is especially grave because of its effect on everyone who knows the family. Unchecked divorce gives scandal because people will think, “If a Catholic, can choose divorce, there must be nothing wrong with divorce,” or “If following Catholic principles, leads to divorce, what good is Catholicism?” Can. 1399Besides the cases prescribed in this or in other laws, the external violation of divine or canon law can be punished, and with a just penalty, only when the special gravity of the violation requires it and necessity demands that scandals be prevented or repaired.

A divorcing parent makes it harder to assist his own children's salvation.   According to the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, “Children of divorce (whose parents divorced while they were children) are 62% more likely than children of non divorced parents to no longer identify with the faith of their parents when they grow up.” (Lawton)

CCC 2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:  If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn anther's husband to herself.

Divorce is “immoral” and an abandoning spouse “through his own grave fault” appears to be destroying his or her marriage. CCC 2385, 2386 Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.      2386 It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage.

There is no record available in most every case of  an abandoning spouse to show that he or she approach the appropriate ecclesiastic authorities to determine if he or she had a lawful excuse (according to canon law) for leaving his or her spouse.  People forcing divorce are apparently violating several canons regarding the rights and obligations of spouses.  Marriages are assumed valid. Can. 1060 Marriage enjoys the favour of law. Consequently, in doubt the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven.

People forcing divorce have reneged on their obligation to live with their spouse unless a lawful reason excuses them. Can. 1151 Spouses have the obligation and the right to maintain their common conjugal life, unless a lawful reason excuses them.

One forcing divorce may not have obtained the decree required from the local Ordinary, or ecclesiastical authority condoning his or her living separate from his or her spouse.  Other than unhappiness, there is no reason that would justify a forced no-fault divorce.  Can. 1153 §1 A spouse who occasions grave danger of soul or body to the other or to the children, or otherwise makes the common life unduly difficult, provides the other spouse with a reason to leave, either by a decree of the local Ordinary or, if there is danger in delay, even on his or her own authority.

One forcing a no-fault divorce has not obtained the bishop's (local Ordinary's) permission to approach civil divorce courts and the civil divorce proceeding result in many court orders which are contrary to divine law. Can. 1692 §1 & §2 Unless lawfully provided otherwise in particular places, the personal separation of baptized spouses can be decided by a decree of the diocesan Bishop, or by the judgment of a judge in accordance with the following canons.  §2 Where the ecclesiastical decision does not produce civil effects, or if it is foreseen that there will be a civil judgment not contrary to the divine law, the Bishop of the diocese in which the spouses are living can, in the light of their particular circumstances, give them permission to approach the civil courts.

One forcing a no-fault divorce is certainly not in a position to need a divorce as the only way to ensure certain legal rights or the care of the children.  The care of the children is always worse after a no-fault divorce.  There are less financial resources, and they are forced between two broken homes. CCC 2383. The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. Cf. CIC, canon. 1151-1155. If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense.

When civil courts order children to be forcibly be taken away from their mother or father according to a rigid schedule, simply because one spouse wanted to abandon the marriage, this is contrary to divine law.  When children become wards of the court appointed guardian et litum this is contrary to divine law.

When the court's psychologist and guardian et litum teach children that no-fault divorce in normal, though canon 1366 warns against raising one's children in a non-Catholic religion, this is contrary to divine law. Can. 1366 Parents, and those taking the place of parents, who hand over their children to be baptized or brought up in a non-Catholic religion, are to be punished with a censure or other just penalty.

When the court orders the loyal Catholic, dedicated spouse to have no authority in decisions regarding the children's education, this contrary to canon law.   Many fathers who have been kicked out of their own children's day-to-day lives because of forced no-fault divorce, have no input in decisions regarding their own children's education.  Chidren are chastized by government and secular psycholoigst for praying to Jesus to restore their family, or acknowledging that their family is broken. Can. 793 §1 Parents, and those who take their place, have both the obligation and the right to educate their children. Catholic parents have also the duty and the right to choose those means and institutes which, in their local circumstances, can best promote the catholic education of their children.

A spouse who wants a divorce may be committing promissory perjury (can. 1368) by not fulfilling the oath he took in front of an ecclesiastical authority to “love and honor me as his wife for the rest of his life,” and to take her as his “lawful wife to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”  (required part of Catholic Marriage Rite, section 24-25) Can. 1368 A person who, in asserting or promising something before an ecclesiastical authority, commits perjury, is to be punished with a just penalty.

If the bishop did recommend that a particular couple reconcile, disobeying ones bishop (who is also called the local Ordinary) is a serious matter. Can. 1371. 2° The following are to be punished with a just penalty: a person who in any other way does not obey the lawful command or prohibition of the Apostolic See or the Ordinary or Superior and, after being warned, persists in disobedience.

If a spouse who is forcing a divorce on his or her family is in fact obstinately persevering in grave manifest sin, he or she should not receive communion.  One can receive communion after grave manifest sins are absolved, but this would include the resolution not to sin again, and to do what is possible to repair the harm.  If an abandoning spouse wanted to confess the sin that he or she forced divorce on his innocent family, then he or she must stop the divorce and restore conjugal life in order for one's contrition to be valid. (Can 915, CCC 1415, 1857, 1451, 1457, 1459)

Can. 915 Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion. (See a CASE HISTORY by Rene Henry Gracida Bishop of Corpus Christi)
CCC 1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharist communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
CCC 1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."
CCC 1451 Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again."
CCC 1457 According to the Church's command, "after having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year." Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession. Children must go to the sacrament of Penance before receiving Holy Communion for the first time.
CCC 1459 Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationships with God and neighbor. Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must "make satisfaction for" or "expiate" his sins. This satisfaction is also called "penance."

The penal process described in canon law is a viable option to motivate a person forcing divorce to reform, to restore justice by dismissing his civil divorce complaint, and agree to work on repair the damage our injured family has endured with the help of an experienced professional.  If he or she refuses to reform himself, at least an ecclesiastical determination regarding the divorce would minimize the scandal caused to others.  Loved ones often would be happy to provide information which may be needed by the diocese to conduct a preliminary investigation. Can. 1717 §1 Whenever the Ordinary receives information, which has at least the semblance of truth, about an offense, he is to inquire carefully, either personally or through some suitable person, about the facts and circumstances, and about the imputability of the offense, unless this enquiry would appear to be entirely superfluous.