Can you document these "millions" of defective marriages? You do understand that it is the couple that confects the sacrament of marriage, and the Priest acts as the witness for the Church?
“Can you document these “millions” of defective marriages? You do understand that it is the couple that confects the sacrament of marriage, and the Priest acts as the witness for the Church?”
Yes... In the sixties when I married, and it’s true today... probably even more so, when a person enters into Holy Matrimony with the social mindset that it is NOT a forever till death do us part deal, then it’s defective.
Allowing small print such as “as long as he is faithful”, or as long as she doesn’t “she doesn’t let herself go - ie; get fat”. When you put a qualifier on the wedding vows, the marriages are defective, and you do not have a sacramental marriage.
I chose those two issues because those are the two most common reasons; infidelity for women and fat for men, that are listed as the primary stated reason for divorce.
“I, (Bride/Groom), take you (Groom/Bride), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”
There are no exclusions in there for infidelity or getting fat. Clearly what the bride and groom promise is not inclusive... Not just in an isolated case, but in most cases.
If a couple suggested such an exclusion to their pastor before the church wedding, they would not be getting married in the church.
So yes... It is millions of defective marriages. Probably the majority. Probably yours as well if you were to be honest about it.
As for mine, I have been married for going on 46 years. It hasn’t always been easy and I have not always been a model husband or her a model wife. But we’ve endured none the less..
For those whose marriages have fallen apart, it probably wasn’t a sacramental marriage to begin with.