The word ‘divorce’ has caused mass confusion among Catholics. The civil meaning of the word includes the freedom to remarry. The Church by the authority of Christ teaches marriage is indissoluble.

Even the Catechism confuses people by condemning divorce as a “grave offense” and “immoral” in #s 2384 and 2385, and saying in 2383 that civil divorce is tolerable and “does not constitute a moral offense.” It’s tolerated in order to divide marital goods in a separation – as long as it’s understood civil divorce does not dissolve the marriage bond.

I say, to avoid confusion, Catholics should use a different term to describe separation from their spouse. With the modern definition of the term, “divorced Catholic” is an oxymoron, i.e., a self-contradiction. While annulment declares that a marriage never took place, separation – short term or long – recognizes the marriage still exists. In neither case is the word ‘divorce’ meaningful.