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A Christian man was executed during the night by a high-profile ruler after making an uncompromising defense of real marriage. The Christian, who was renowned for his holiness, had told the ruler in public that his relationship with his partner was “against the law” of God. The Christian’s words enraged the ruler’s partner who successfully plotted to have him permanently silenced. John the Baptist was first imprisoned before he was beheaded. The Catholic Church honors him today, August 29, as a martyr and saint. While John’s death happened a little less than 2,000 years ago, his heroic stance for real...

Rolling Stone reports that the 68-year-old filed papers in their hometown of San Mateo, California on July 29, with a hearing set to take place on December 12. Not only were the pair married and the parents of two grown children - son Ben and daughter Amber - but they were also frequent musical collaborators, the 61-year-old the inspiration behind a number of her husband's love songs over the years. The Grammy-winning singer met the then-waitress near his California ranch, documenting their meeting in the 1992 song Unknown Legend. Once An Angel and Such A Woman were also written about...

A legal expert from the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department has clarified Sharia rules on divorce after a case last week where a couple sought to divorce for the third time. Muna Al Raeesi, head of legal aid at ADJD, said that when a husband and wife divorced for the first time, there was a waiting period known as “idda”, which is designed to give the couple time to reconcile without finalising the divorce procedure. The waiting period lasts for three of the wife’s menstrual cycles to ensure she is not pregnant. If she is pregnant, it lasts until the child...

Some years ago a woman (and parishioner) told me, almost in passing, me that she and her husband were planning to divorce. Knowing that she had two young children, both under 10, I asked her in so many words, “What about the children?” Unabashedly she assured me that they were in fact divorcing for the sake of the children. Perhaps she saw my bewildered, and dubious look, so she added, “We don’t want them to experience all the yelling and bickering.” “Hmm…,” Said I, “Well then stop the bickering and yelling…get what ever help you need, but don’t make the...

Not so many years ago, married men had the freedom to live by one set of rules away from home, and a different set at the hearth. Because they held the power to distribute resources however they wished, they could decide what and when to share them. As women have become legitimate wage earners with more powerful voices, they have challenged their chosen partners to participate in a whole new kind of connection that does not accept automatic hierarchy. In the last few decades women have slowly driven their point home. The millennial men, who are their current counterparts, are...

As he stepped out on stage last year to hawk his big TV comeback in front of advertisers, comedy great Robin Williams joked it was 'nice to have a job where the checks will clear.' After making his name as the eccentric and beloved alien on 1970s TV hit Mork and Mindy, Robin transferred his attentions to Hollywood with a stream of box office hits. But after acclaim and an Oscar, the movie career started to dry up and the actor signed up for CBS show The Crazy Ones, a small-screen comedy about a 'renowned and slightly unhinged' advertising genius/madman....

Many of us know of couples that have divorced. Some may be Catholic couples that divorced, remarried, and are able to receive the Sacraments with no problems because they received an annulment. Other Catholic couples we may know divorced but were told they could not remarry as they were not given an annulment. This may seem confusing and harsh of the Church, especially if the reason for separation is the infidelity of only one spouse. One of my students put the situation this way: it is as if the Church condemns some people to a lifetime of loneliness because...

An April 2014 Urban Institute study predicts that if current marriage rates do not rebound, just 69 percent of Millennial women (and 65 percent of men) will marry by the age of 40. By contrast, in 1990, 91 percent of U.S.-born women had married by the age of 40. Almost none of this retreat from marriage will be felt among college-educated white Americans. The majority of college-educated Millennials will marry and have their children in marriages that last until the death of one partner. Meanwhile, the average American lives in a world where sex is plentiful but stable families are...

New Zealand’s first same-sex “marriage” is shaping up to become the country’s first same-sex divorce. Less than a year since they became the poster girls for the country’s new legal definition of marriage (last August) the NZ Herald reports that Melissa Ray, a former Ferns football player, and Natasha Vitali, a sales rep, are “believed to have split”. The main source of the story appears to be Ms Vitali’s Facebook page on which the following poem appeared yesterday: Drink it down, laugh it off, Avoid the drama, take chances, And never have regrets Because at one point everything you did...

Wife denies report, saying she was divorced because of family riftsA Saudi man divorced his wife just after he saw her driving a car on social networks, but the woman denied the report, saying she was divorced because of persistent rifts. The unnamed woman said she would file a lawsuit against her husband for his cruelty and beating her up during their marriage and that she would demand alimony. “The report that he divorced me for driving a car is not true… if this is the reason, then I would not only drive a car but perform stunt driving,” she...

The Synod of Bishops has released the instrumentum laboris, or working document, for its upcoming 3rd extraordinary general assembly, which will take place from October 5 to 19. The instrumentum laboris acknowledges the severe difficulties facing the family today, and “the growing conflict between the values on marriage and the family as proposed by the Church” and those prevailing in contemporary societies. The 75-page document suggests that most people— including many Catholics—are not acquainted with the Christian vision of marriage. While showing clear support for Church teachings on controversial issues such as birth control, divorce, remarriage, and same-sex unions, the...

It is always assumed by the Church that Couples are truly, or "validly" married. The burden of proof is on anyone who says that they are not... One thing that would help would be if all of us realized that receiving communion is not obligatory at Mass... Lot's of good stuff in this interview.

Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett isn't afraid to speak his mind, and it usually takes place on Twitter. Often, it's funny, other times it's just weird (and ultimately not true). But on Saturday, Dockett probably would've been better off saying nothing at all.

Pope Francis concluded his homily during the Canonization Mass of Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II by invoking the intercession of the two new saints as the Church journeys towards the upcoming Synod on the Family. He finished his homily with the beautiful words, “May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.”The Church is called during this time in preparation for the Synod, to reflect ever more deeply on...

OKLAHOMA CITY —Oklahomans filing for divorce will now have to go through an extra step if they have kids. Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill last week that requires married couples who have children younger than 18 to pay for and attend classes before they can split. Those classes will cost anywhere between $15 and $60 and will teach parents about the impact divorce will have on the kids. Many Oklahoma residents have mixed feelings about the new law. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but I just don’t agree with people have to go to classes,” Linda Fuller...

Wife disobeyed, hubby says; he is mean, she countersA Saudi man divorced his wife for disobeying him and buying a beverage can although she has given him four children, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The unnamed man had repeatedly refused his wife’s request to buy her beverage on the grounds he did not want her to have such drinks. But the wife rebuffed her husband’s claims, saying he has refused to buy her beverage and many other items because he is mean. “When the husband returned home one day, he found that his wife has bought a beverage can…he immediately...

He has been broken down! Divorced men understand what it's like to be in a committed relationship within which there are compromises and accommodations. His resistance has already been broken down by another woman so that you don't have to endure the push back yourself. He uses his words. Divorced men tend to be better communicators. There is a decent chance that he went to therapy during his marriage, if not after, and he has become fairly proficient at communicating needs and feelings more clearly. He's been broken in! Another thing about divorced men that you might not want to...

A Gallup poll released May 30 showing large majorities of Americans now agree that homosexual relations, contraception, divorce, and fornication are "morally acceptable” highlights the need for strong preaching on moral issues, says the president of Human Life International. “The acceptability of these evils is a direct result of people not being engaged in public debate against those trying to force us to accept these issues,” Father Shenan Boquet told LifeSiteNews. “That’s why it’s so important for faith leaders to speak out and find new ways to help the public understand moral teachings on controversial issues.” Father Shenan Boquet, president...

All is fair in love and war even when you’re an anti-war activist. And Michael Moore is using a Breitbart article about his $2 million vacation home to claim his wife was making him look bad. With his divorce trial looming, Michael Moore is battling his wife over the valuation of the couple’s assets, while branding her a spendthrift who “unilaterally wasted a large percentage of the marital funds” building a lakefront mansion that has prompted mocking news stories about the activist filmmaker’s wealth.Moore and Glynn jointly own “multiple substantial residences and multiple companies,” including Dog Eat Dog Films, the...

UNE 5--With his divorce trial looming, Michael Moore is battling his wife over the valuation of the couple’s assets, while branding her a spendthrift who “unilaterally wasted a large percentage of the marital funds” building a lakefront mansion that has prompted mocking news stories about the activist filmmaker’s wealth. Moore and Kathleen Glynn are scheduled for trial next month in a Michigan courtroom not far from the sprawling Torch Lake residence that the Hollywood power contends became a money pit that cost five times what his wife claimed she would spend on the home.