As One Could Guess, This is a Roman Catholic Essay

One that ignores Eastern Catholic canons and theology regarding marriage and ecclesial divorce. Latins need to stop speaking of the Church when they are really referring just to the patriarchate of Rome.

To see what the Church understands marriage to be, we must look to divine revelation in Holy Scripture and the Apostolic Tradition.https://t.co/3J4RDqAA5n

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) November 9, 2020

First Things

Patrick Viscuso Reviews Kevin Schembri's Oikonomia

Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies (temporary free access)

The reviewer is a priest and canonist for GOARCH:

The Reverend Dr. Patrick Viscuso is a priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and a canonist specializing in marriage and gender issues. His doctorate in historical theology from The Catholic University of American concentrated on Byzantine and Oriental canon law, patristic studies, and church history. He also holds a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. Fr. Viscuso is the author of a large number of scholarly publications in the field of Late Byzantine Canon Law and is a specialist in marriage legislation and theology. His most recent writings focus on the relationship of marriage to ordination, purity issues, divorce, and women's superstitions in late Byzantium.

Perhaps he has written something on the Byzantine canons on marriage and divorce.

In his review of Oikonomia: Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition, he notes

Another point repeatedly made is that the "Orthodox tradition" invests the indissolubility of marriage with an eternal character and consequently views remarriage as a concession or expression of ecclesial oikonomia. The absence of the Eucharist and crowning during late Byzantine celebration of second and third marriages is said to imply that Orthodoxy regarded or still regards these unions as less than sacramental in some way.

However, the author fails to show any articulation of marriage as an eternal bond in Orthodox canonical or theological literature prior to the twentieth century, when this theological opinion came to be expressed at the Institut de Théologie Orthodoxe Saint-Serge. In fact, there are substantial Byzantine texts that articulate a contrary view affirming that marriage is ended by death, an example being the Scriptural commentaries of Theophylaktos, archbishop of Ohrid (b. ca. 1055-d. after 1126), specifically on Luke 20:34–36.

The assertions regarding the non-sacramental nature of second and third unions within Orthodoxy do not adequately address the facts. For instance, there was no uniform practice regarding crowning of a second or third marriage in Byzantium. Second unions were definitely crowned according to the usage of the Great Church; the presence or absence of crowning did not mean that a sacerdotal blessing of the marriage did not take place; and, since the Eucharist was not a constitutive element in the establishment of the marriage, the canonical restriction of the second and third married from the Eucharist during a period of penance did not mean that the union, as established by sacerdotal blessing, was not regarded as sacramental and incapable of sanctification.

Furthermore, in considering such questions, the absence of the Eucharist from the marriage service is completely irrelevant to its sacramental nature. As is obvious to those who have ever attended a contemporary ceremony, Orthodox marriages today are considered blessed and sacramental without the reception of the Eucharist during their celebration, even the so-called mixed marriages of Roman Catholics and Orthodox. Also, the author's emphasis on the penitential nature of second and third unions does not adequately address contemporary practice, where such penances are no longer imposed.

A dominant theologoumenon is not the same as dogma... and the opinion that marriage is eternal may not even be dominant in the various Byzantine ecclesial traditions.

So second and third "marriages" may be deemed "sacramental"? And yet a period of penance might be required. Is there a authoritative work discussing penances in the canons and their rationale?

I will have to eventually get a Byzantine textbook on marriage but probably at least one that covers a range of opinions among the various ecclesial traditions, or several textbooks. I don't think I would rely on a Greek one alone.

Is There an Ur Tradition?

Had time to look up something that I had been considering but had put aside.

Latin polemics against Orthodox tradition on divorce and remarriage generally focus exclusively on the Byzantines, arguing that the tradition was a human innovation arising from capitulation to human weakness and state pressure or accomodation. Those polemicists do not look at divorce and remarriage within the Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches.

So I took a quick look -- it appears that there is ecclesiastical divorce (and remarriage) in at least the Assyrian, Armenian, Syro-Malankara/Syriac Orthodox, and Coptic Churches. So how would the Latins respond to that? Most likely: "Only Rome has maintained the purity of the Apostolic Tradition, because the pope is the sucessor of St. Peter!"

Is the origin of the Latin tradition on divorce and remarriage linked to the origin of the Latin tradition on clerical continence/celibacy? Latin polemicists, again: "Apostolic Tradition!"


Related: NEW BOOK – Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition
Oikonomia, Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition by Rev. Dr. Kevin Schembri (an article published in Melita Theologica)

Related: Divorce and Remarriage of Orthodox Copts in Egypt: The 2008 State Council Ruling and the Amendment of the 1938 Personal Status Regulations by Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron

Eastern Christian Books: Eastern Orthodox Divorce and Remarriage

Eastern Christian Books: Eastern Orthodox Divorce and Remarriage

But Byzantine Christianity is not the only tradition besides the Latin or Roman one.

How useful for a discussion with the Orthodox?

Sandro Magister: Jesus Too Would Admit Divorce Today. So Says One of His Society

Fr. Bertacchini's Letter

Sandro Magister: On the Pope’s Desk, a "Memorandum" Against the General of the Jesuits. For Near Heresy

Fr. Bertacchini is supposedly a Jesuit of high caliber, and yet he can assert this:
"Such a grave statement should be reasoned out at length and in depth, because it is indeed possible to admit error in a narrative detail; but to call into question the veracity of doctrinal teachings of Jesus is another matter."

Recent Posts from Sandro Magister

A Lone Man In Charge, To the Crowd’s Acclaim
Revisitations. Twelve Years Ago Bergoglio Did Not Have the Doubts of Today
Marriage and Divorce. The General of the Jesuits: "Jesus Too Must Be Reinterpreted"

Petrine and Pauline Privilege

CDF: NORMS ON THE PREPARATION OF THE PROCESS FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MARRIAGE BOND IN FAVOUR OF THE FAITH

Arlington
St. Paul and Minneapolis
Stockton

The Church has the authority to dissolve nonsacramental natural marriages; what is the theological rational given for this? If natural marriages can be dissolved, why not sacramental marriages? (Why is there a higher standard, besides the Mystery of Marriage being a sign of the union between Christ and His Church, which is indissoluble?)


Can the Orthodox Way End the Divorce and Remarriage Debate? by Ines A. Murzaku

Amoris Laetitia

Pope Francis’ post-Synodal Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, on “The Joy of Love”, was officially released to the public at...

Posted by Vatican Radio - English Section on Friday, April 8, 2016

Pope’s Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation ReleasedCardinal Schönborn, Cardinal Baldisseri, and Married Couple Present Widely Anticipated ‘Amoris Laetitia’ on Love in the Family

Posted by ZENIT - News Agency on Friday, April 8, 2016

Chiesa: Hypothesis: A Rescript That Would Authorize Communion

Issued by the bishop, on the behalf of a divorced and remarried member of his diocese, after a careful examination of his case according to the norms promulgated by the pope. This is the proposal of an Australian theologian to remedy the current confusion

Pope Francis on Friday met with bishops from Germany during their ad limina visit to Rome.See our story at the link:...

Posted by Vatican Radio - English Section on Friday, November 20, 2015

Pope Francis on Friday told the bishops of Germany - in Rome on their ad limina visit - that the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy offers the opportunity to “rediscover the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist.”

Posted by Vatican Radio - English Section on Friday, November 20, 2015

Pope Francis on Thursday met with a group of bishops from Germany, who are in Rome on their ad limina visit.

Posted by Vatican Radio - English Section on Thursday, November 19, 2015

Sandro Magister Continues...

Kasper vs Ratzinger, the Unending Dispute
Francis reignited it and the synod has not resolved it. In the paragraphs on the divorced and remarried the word “communion” isn’t there. But the pope could introduce it himself, by authority


Synodal Church. But the Pope Will Decide Everything
The word “communion” doesn’t even appear in the synod-approved text concerning the divorced and remarried. But in practice everyone is already doing whatever he wants. The spirit matters more than the letter, Francis says

Archbishop Aquila Contra the German Bishops

Did Thomas More and John Fisher Die For Nothing? by Archbishop Samuel Aquila
Following the words of Christ himself, the Church has always taught that divorce and remarriage is simply adultery by another name

(via Fr. Z)

Joseph Arias on the Kasper Proposal

Doctrine, Discipline and the “Kasper Proposal” by Joseph Arias

Chiesa: “Unacceptable.” The Base Document of the Synod “Compromises the Truth” by Sandro Magister

On the verge of the synod, three theologians with the support of cardinals and bishops critique and reject the “Instrumentum Laboris.” Here is the complete text of their charges of accusation

Synod’s Turn To Speak. But Decisions Will Be Up To Francis by Sandro Magister

The last exchange of fire before the opening of the work. The uncertainty about the procedure. The appeals to the pope. Why in the end it will be he alone who will draw the conclusions

Rorate Caeli: EXCLUSIVE: CARD. MÜLLER'S pre-Synod presentation of Card. Sarah's book in Germany - Liturgy, Grace, Marriage, and the New Danger of Schism

Chiesa: The Shadow Synod of Switzerland and Germany Has a Follow-up. In Two Books by Sandro Magister

They say that the divorced and remarried and homosexual couples are not waiting for “mercy,” but for recognition of the goodness of their condition. A critical reply from the vicar of the diocese of Chur

Is Divorce Permissible?

Synod. The Key Question: Does Jesus Allow Divorce Or Not? by Sandro Magister

Innocenzo Gargano, an illustrious exegete, explains that he does, and Cardinal Kasper agrees with him. But the New Testament and the tradition of the Church say the opposite, critics object. A preview of a book by the biblicist Gonzalo Ruiz Freites

One of the Panels at This Year's Napa Institute Conference

The CWR Blog: Cdl. Schönborn, Bishops Aquila and Gudziak discuss challenges for families, hopes for upcoming synod by Catherine Harmon

How many recognize the problems caused by feminism and consumerism and capitalism for stable marriages? How prevalent is "frivoce" in Europe?