As you can see from the comments this has sparked some debate. I mentioned same sex marriage but I have to say that was one example I used and it seems to have got some people mad. The Church teaches that sex outside of marriage, homosexual or heterosexual is a sin. The Church does not recognize same sex marriage ergo sin has taken place. As a priest it is my job to shine the light on sin. But that is not the point of this post. Do I think that same sex marriage is harmful to the institution of marriage no, because I do not recognize it as marriage because the church does not, what I think is harmful to the institution of marriage and families in general is Divorce. Now anonymous be for you get on your high horse and start calling me names again let me say that I do believe that divorce should be allowed, but it should be very rare. If we priests are doing our job and counseling people before marriage then maybe we could avoid this. As fallen people we make mistakes and we sin and we need to make allowance for that but it should be rare and used with great caution.
So I leave you with this thought.
Of course, divorce is a civil matter and has nothing to do with Catholic marriage.
A Catholic getting a divorce means nothing – they are still bound to their spouse through the sacrament unless the Church recognizes their marriage as null.
As a human being, I am opposed to divorces of convenience (“We just grew apart”) because I am fully aware of the harm done to children of divorce and the damage to society which it causes.
my grandfarther was an alcoholic who verbaly abused both his wife and three children.my grandmother would not leave him because she was to good of a catholic and insisted that she was staying for the sake of her children. she died of cancer at age 45 leaveing three children to raise themselves since their farther was never around to raise them.
keep in mind you never realy know when some says they have grown apart what the true story might. sent by Ann