However, what you described earlier was also the case, that divorced and separated Catholics were treated as virtual pariahs in the Church prior to 1965.
Jesus didn't come for the healthy, but for the sick, meaning those who were broken in spirit and in their relationships.
I should have highlighted the last sentence:
Catholics who are divorced but not remarried should consult their confessors or a parish priest as to whether they may receive Holy Communion. In certain circumstances they are allowed to do so.
Reprinted from January 17, 1997
http://www.dioceseoflincoln.org/purple/divorce/#6
Considering that was their position on divorced women, and still is today in 1997, you can well imagine how much more severe it was for separated and getting divorced women in 1963!