Teresa has not received Communion in eleven years. Her husband walked out, the divorce went through, and she never remarried. Every Sunday she stays in the pew, because someone once told her that divorced Catholics cannot receive.
A few rows ahead, Daniel goes up every week. After his first marriage fell apart, he married again at the courthouse. His Protestant brother-in-law asks, "God forgives divorce. Why would your church keep anyone from the Lord's table?"
The Catholic Church gives them very different answers. Here is why.
Short answer: Divorce by itself does not keep a Catholic from Communion. A separated or civilly divorced Catholic who has not remarried may receive like any Catholic in a state of grace, and a spouse who is "the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law" has "not contravened the moral law" (CCC 2386; see CCC 2383; canon 1153). The obstacle is a new union while a valid first marriage still binds: "If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God's law. Consequently, they cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists" (CCC 1650). A tribunal can examine the first marriage, and couples who cannot separate may return to the sacraments by living in complete continence (Familiaris Consortio 84). Either way, they remain members of the Church (CCC 1651).
Key verses on divorce, remarriage, and Communion
- "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." (Mark 10:11–12)
- "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery." (Luke 16:18)
- "To the married, however, I give this instruction (not I, but the Lord): A wife should not separate from her husband—and if she does separate she must either remain single or become reconciled to her husband—and a husband should not divorce his wife." (1 Corinthians 7:10–11)
- "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:27)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What Protestants, Critics, and Others Believe
Many Protestants permit remarriage after divorce. The Westminster Confession teaches that after adultery "it is lawful for the innocent party to sue out a divorce, and after the divorce to marry another," and that "nothing but adultery, or such willful desertion" as cannot be remedied dissolves the bond (Westminster Confession 24.5–6). Others allow remarriage after any divorce, and many leave reception of the Lord's Supper to each believer's self-examination: "A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:28).
The Eastern Orthodox tolerate remarriage. The Orthodox Church in America says the Church opposes divorce yet "does permit divorced individuals to marry a second and even a third time," with a rite that "bears a penitential character" (OCA, "Divorce and Remarriage"). The Orthodox call this pastoral relaxation economy (oikonomia).
Critics, including some Catholics, add pastoral objections. The rule seems harsh to the abandoned, annulments look like divorce with paperwork, and conscience seems to be the believer's own business. Some argue that Pope Francis's 2016 exhortation Amoris Laetitia changed the rule.
What Catholics Actually Teach
1. Separation and civil divorce do not, by themselves, bar Communion. Sometimes living together "becomes practically impossible." "In such cases the Church permits the physical separation of the couple and their living apart." Yet "the spouses do not cease to be husband and wife before God and so are not free to contract a new union" (CCC 1649). A spouse who causes "grave mental or physical danger" to the other or to the children "gives the other a legitimate cause for leaving" (canon 1153 §1). When civil divorce is the only way to secure legal rights, the care of the children, or an inheritance, it "can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense" (CCC 2383). So Teresa may receive like any Catholic. Whoever bears grave fault for a breakup confesses that sin first.
2. A new union while the first bond stands is the obstacle. The Catholic Church "maintains that a new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was" (CCC 1650). Such a union "adds to the gravity of the rupture"; "the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery" (CCC 2384).
In 1981 Pope St. John Paul II wrote that "the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried." The reason: "their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist" (Familiaris Consortio 84). In a 1994 letter signed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and approved by Pope St. John Paul II, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith restated it: "This norm is not at all a punishment or a discrimination against the divorced and remarried, but rather expresses an objective situation that of itself renders impossible the reception of Holy Communion" (CDF Letter 4).
3. This is the law for every communicant. "Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion" (CCC 1385). Canon 916 says the same, with a narrow exception. Canon 915 binds the minister: those "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion" (canons 915–916).
4. The bond is real. "The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility, which in Christian marriage obtain a special firmness by reason of the sacrament" (canon 1056). "A marriage that is ratum et consummatum can be dissolved by no human power and by no cause, except death" (canon 1141), that is, a valid sacramental marriage that has been consummated.
5. The way back is open. First, the Catholic Church, "after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed" (CCC 1629), and the parties are then free to marry, "provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged." Second, when "for serious reasons, such as for example the children's upbringing," a couple "cannot satisfy the obligation to separate," they may "take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples" (Familiaris Consortio 84). Then "they may receive Holy Communion as long as they respect the obligation to avoid giving scandal" (CDF Letter 4; see CCC 1650).
What about Amoris Laetitia? Pope Francis's 2016 post-synodal exhortation reaffirms that "The indissolubility of marriage … should not be viewed as a 'yoke' imposed on humanity, but as a 'gift' granted to those who are joined in marriage" (Amoris Laetitia 62). Its eighth chapter asks pastors to accompany and discern each case, recalls that mitigating factors can reduce culpability (§ 301), and says it offers no new general canonical rules for all cases (§ 300). A footnote (n. 351) says that in certain cases the Church's help can include the help of the sacraments. Its pastoral application has been interpreted in different ways. In a letter of September 5, 2016, Pope Francis praised the guidelines of the bishops of the Buenos Aires pastoral region as a full explanation of chapter VIII; those guidelines first propose continence, say the path of discernment does not necessarily end in the sacraments, and hold that in more complex cases, where a declaration of nullity could not be obtained and limitations reduce responsibility and culpability, Amoris Laetitia opens the possibility of access to Reconciliation and the Eucharist (cf. AL notes 336 and 351). Both texts are printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (vol. 108, 2016, p. 1071 ff.). None of this changed the doctrine of indissolubility, and the Catechism (CCC 1650) still teaches what is quoted above.
What Catholics do not teach:
- That divorced or remarried Catholics are cut off. Priests and the whole community must care for them "so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate as baptized persons" (CCC 1651).
- That every marriage is beyond dissolution. The absolute rule concerns a sacramental, consummated marriage (canon 1141); see also canons 1142–1143 on non-consummated marriages and the Pauline privilege.
If this is your life. Pope St. John Paul II wrote: "Let the Church pray for them, encourage them and show herself a merciful mother, and thus sustain them in faith and hope" (Familiaris Consortio 84). Pope Benedict XVI taught that even when one cannot receive, "participation at Mass remains necessary, important, meaningful and fruitful," and he recommended "the practice of spiritual communion," a prayer of longing for union with Christ (Sacramentum Caritatis 55). Ask a priest about a tribunal review, go to Confession, and keep coming to Mass.
It all points to Christ. Jesus did not invent a harsher rule. He restored marriage to what it was "from the beginning" (Matthew 19:8), an image of His own love for the Church, for whom He "handed himself over" (Ephesians 5:25). The Eucharist is that same self-gift, His Body given for His Bride. The Catholic Church guards marriage and the altar together because both proclaim a Bridegroom who never walks away.
The Biblical Case
1. Jesus calls remarriage after divorce adultery
Asked whether divorce was lawful, Jesus afterward told His disciples: "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery" (Mark 10:11–12).
Jesus calls the second marriage adultery, which only makes sense if the first bond still exists. No one commits adultery "against" a spouse who is no longer a spouse.
2. God makes the bond, and no human being can unmake it
"Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate" (Matthew 19:6). When they cited Moses, He answered: "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so" (Matthew 19:8). A court can change a person's legal status. It cannot undo what God has joined.
3. St. Paul allows Christian spouses to separate, but not to remarry
St. Paul hands on a command from Jesus Himself, "(not I, but the Lord)": a wife who separates "must either remain single or become reconciled to her husband" (1 Corinthians 7:10–11). "A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives" (1 Corinthians 7:39). "Consequently, while her husband is alive she will be called an adulteress if she consorts with another man. But if her husband dies she is free from that law" (Romans 7:3).
Here are both halves of Catholic teaching. The separated spouse who stays single is doing exactly what the apostle commands; that is Teresa. Remarriage while the spouse lives is what he forbids; that is Daniel's difficulty. St. Paul's one exception concerns a different case: when an unbelieving spouse leaves, "The brother or sister is not bound in such cases" (1 Corinthians 7:15). That is a marriage with an unbaptized spouse, not a sacramental one, and it is the basis of the Pauline privilege (canon 1143).
4. Communion demands worthy reception
"Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Corinthians 11:27–29).
No one must "answer for the body and blood of the Lord" for misusing a symbol. St. Paul writes this way because the Eucharist is Christ Himself (see Is the Eucharist Really the Body and Blood of Jesus?). Self-examination means measuring my life by Christ's words (CCC 1385).
5. Marriage and the Eucharist proclaim the same covenant
Of the one-flesh union St. Paul says, "This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:32). Marriage signs Christ's faithfulness to His Bride, and the Eucharist is that same self-gift. So a union that contradicts the sign cannot be brought to the sacrament as if nothing were wrong (Familiaris Consortio 84).
6. Christ gave His Church authority to apply His words
No verse says, "the remarried may not receive Communion." Scripture gives the premises: remarriage while a spouse lives is adultery, and Communion requires worthy reception. The Church draws the conclusion with the authority Christ gave when He told His disciples, "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 18:18). The Church is "the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15; see Is the Church the Pillar and Foundation of Truth?), and she cannot loosen what Christ Himself has bound.
7. Mercy is real, and it calls us forward
To the woman caught in adultery Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more" (John 8:11). Both sentences are mercy. Every remarried Catholic has real paths back: a tribunal review, a life of continence, or, if the first spouse dies, freedom to marry in the Church (Romans 7:2).
Objections Answered
(a) "The Church is unmerciful. Jesus ate with sinners, and the Catholic Church turns them away from His table."
At its strongest: Jesus welcomed tax collectors and prostitutes. Many remarried Catholics were abandoned, not abandoners, and they have prayed and come to Mass for decades. A rule that keeps them from Christ looks like the opposite of the Gospel.
Answer: Jesus did eat with sinners, and He called every one of them to conversion. The same Jesus who said "Neither do I condemn you" also said "from now on do not sin any more" (John 8:11), and He is the One who called remarriage after divorce adultery (Mark 10:11–12). A "mercy" that contradicts Christ would not be His mercy.
The norm is not a verdict on anyone's soul. It "is not at all a punishment or a discrimination" but "expresses an objective situation" (CDF Letter 4): the couple's "state and condition of life objectively contradict" the union of Christ and the Church that the Eucharist signifies (Familiaris Consortio 84). Every communicant must likewise be free of grave sin (CCC 1385), and the door stays open. And the Catholic Church shows mercy to someone critics forget: the first spouse, often abandoned, whose vows she refuses to treat as void.
(b) "Matthew 19:9 makes an exception for adultery."
At its strongest: Jesus Himself named an exception: after adultery, the innocent party may divorce and marry again. The Westminster Confession builds on this verse.
Answer: St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul give Christ's teaching with no exception (Mark 10:11–12; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11).
The NABRE renders Matthew's clause, "whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery" (Matthew 19:9). One strong Catholic reading, given in the NABRE's own note, is that the Greek porneia here means unions forbidden by Leviticus 18: "Marriages of that sort were regarded as incest (porneia)" (NABRE note on Matthew 5:31–32). Such a "marriage" was never valid. Another ancient reading (Hermas, St. Jerome, St. Augustine) allows separation for adultery but not remarriage. Neither reading opens a second marriage. The Council of Trent (Session 24, 1563) defended the teaching that "the bond of matrimony cannot be dissolved on account of the adultery of one of the married parties" (canon 7). See What Does the Bible Say About Marriage?
(c) "The Orthodox allow remarriage, and they are an ancient apostolic Church."
At its strongest: The Orthodox churches have apostolic succession and valid sacraments, and their practice of economy is very old. Origen reports that some Church leaders in his day allowed remarriage. If they could, why can't Rome?
Answer: True, but it proves little. Origen wrote that "some even of the rulers of the church have permitted a woman to marry, even when her husband was living," but he said they did so "contrary to what was written," though "not indeed altogether without reason," as a concession (Commentary on Matthew 14.23). Even its earliest witness calls the practice a departure from Scripture. The Orthodox rite itself "bears a penitential character," which admits something is wrong. No bishop, Eastern or Western, may set aside a command that is "not I, but the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:10). See Do the Orthodox Allow Divorce and Remarriage?
(d) "An annulment is just a Catholic divorce."
At its strongest: Couples married twenty years, with children, receive declarations of nullity. It looks like divorce with paperwork.
Answer: A divorce claims to end a real marriage. A declaration of nullity is a finding, after a tribunal's examination, "that the marriage never existed" (CCC 1629), because something essential, such as valid consent, was missing from the start. The law presumes every marriage valid: "in a case of doubt, the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven" (canon 1060). See Isn't an Annulment Just Catholic Divorce?
(e) "My conscience is at peace. God knows my heart."
At its strongest: Conscience is the voice of God within. After much prayer a person may be sure his first marriage was never real, and tribunals can be slow. Who is a priest to judge?
Answer: The Catholic Church takes conscience seriously: "A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience" (CCC 1790). But "Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened" (CCC 1783).
Marriage is "essentially a public reality," so conscience alone, "on the basis of one's own convictions," cannot decide whether a previous marriage existed (CDF Letter 7). Rather, "It must be discerned with certainty by means of the external forum established by the Church whether there is objectively such a nullity of marriage" (CDF Letter 9). Canon law agrees: even if a prior marriage was invalid, "it is not on that account permitted to contract another before the nullity or dissolution of the prior marriage is established legitimately and certainly" (canon 1085 §2).
The Early Church Agrees
- Hermas (The Shepherd, Commandment 4.1, mid-second century): if a wife persists in adultery, "The husband should put her away, and remain by himself. But if he put his wife away and marry another, he also commits adultery" (newadvent.org). Separation, even for adultery, but no remarriage.
- St. Justin Martyr (First Apology 15, c. AD 155): explaining Christian morals to the emperor, he cites Christ: "Whosoever shall marry her that is divorced from another husband, commits adultery" (newadvent.org).
- Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 2.23, c. AD 200): he quotes the law, "Thou shalt not put away thy wife, except for the cause of fornication," yet says Scripture "allows no release from the union," "and it regards as fornication, the marriage of those separated while the other is alive" (ccel.org). Alexandria agreed with Rome.
- Origen (Commentary on Matthew 14.23, c. AD 246–248): when some Church leaders allowed a woman to remarry while her husband lived, he called it "contrary to what was written" (ccel.org).
- St. Jerome (Letter 55, to Amandus, c. AD 394): even a husband guilty of grave sins "is still her husband and, so long as he lives, she may not marry another"; "if a woman marries again while her husband is living, she is an adulteress" (newadvent.org). Separation is allowed; remarriage is not.
- St. Augustine (On the Good of Marriage 7, c. AD 401): "the compact of marriage is not done away by divorce intervening; so that they continue wedded persons one to another, even after separation" (newadvent.org). He later wrote On Adulterous Marriages on the same question (cited in the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Divorce (in Moral Theology)").
From Rome to Alexandria to North Africa, the early Church read Jesus and St. Paul the same way: separation may be necessary, but a second marriage while the first spouse lives is adultery. The Catholic Church keeps what she received.
Conclusion
So, can divorced Catholics receive Communion? Teresa can, and she should; her faithfulness is exactly what St. Paul asks. Daniel's case is harder, not because the Catholic Church despises him, but because Jesus Himself named a second union while the first spouse lives for what it is. What she does is keep the door open: a tribunal, a path of continence, Confession, and a parish that does not let him go.
Come home. The Church that holds, with Jesus, St. Paul, and the Fathers, that a second union is not a marriage while a valid first marriage stands, and that still welcomes every faithful divorced Catholic to the altar, is the Catholic Church. Christ did not found many churches. He founded one, on St. Peter and the apostles (Matthew 16:18), and that Church is the Catholic Church. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). If you are a baptized Christian, you already share "a certain, although imperfect, communion" with her (CCC 838). Every truth you already hold is a call to the rest of the way. If you are not yet a Christian, we invite you to come and see. Christ is calling you into the Catholic Church.
Your next step: Come to Mass this Sunday at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. Everyone is welcome; if you're not yet Catholic, pray with us but don't receive Communion yet. When you're ready to become Catholic, call the parish office and ask about OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. They will walk you through every step. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
I'm divorced but not remarried. Can I receive Communion? Yes. Separation or civil divorce alone does not bar you from Communion (CCC 1649, 2383, 2386). Receive in a state of grace, like every Catholic. You remain bound to your spouse before God, so while your spouse lives you are not free to remarry unless a tribunal declares the first marriage null.
Can a divorced and remarried Catholic go to Confession? Yes. Go, and talk openly with the priest. Absolution that opens the way to the Eucharist "can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage" (Familiaris Consortio 84).
Does an annulment make my children illegitimate? No. "The children conceived or born of a valid or putative marriage are legitimate" (canon 1137). A putative marriage is an invalid one that at least one party celebrated in good faith (canon 1061 §3). A declaration of nullity concerns the bond, not the dignity of your children.
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Mark 10:11–12; Luke 16:18; Matthew 19:6, 8–9; Matthew 5:31–32 (NABRE note); Matthew 16:18; Matthew 18:18; John 8:11; Romans 7:2–3; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11, 15, 39; 1 Corinthians 11:27–29; Ephesians 5:25, 32; 1 Timothy 3:15.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 816, 838; 1385; 1629; 1649–1651; 1783; 1790; 2383–2386.
Church documents: Code of Canon Law, canons 915–916 and canons 1056, 1060, 1061 §3, 1085 §2, 1137, 1141–1143, 1153; Council of Trent, Session 24 (November 11, 1563), Canons on the Sacrament of Matrimony, canon 7; Pope St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio 84 (1981); Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church concerning the reception of Holy Communion by the divorced and remarried members of the faithful 4, 7, 9 (September 14, 1994); Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis 55 (2007); Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia 62, 300–305 and note 351 (2016).
Church Fathers: Hermas, The Shepherd, Commandment 4.1; St. Justin Martyr, First Apology 15; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 2.23; Origen, Commentary on Matthew 14.23; St. Jerome, Letter 55; St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage 7.
Other sources: Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 24; Orthodox Church in America, "Divorce and Remarriage"; Catholic Encyclopedia, "Divorce (in Moral Theology)".