Church of England slams ‘divorce-on-demand’ reforms
by Steve Doughty, Mailonline:
The Church of England has condemned divorce-on-demand reforms that ministers say will ease marriage break-ups.
It said yesterday that the changes planned by Justice Secretary David Gauke will wrongly stop a husband or wife opposing divorce.
The reforms will sweep away divorce on the grounds of adultery and unreasonable behaviour, and instead allow divorce within six months at the request of just one spouse.
But the Right Reverend Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, attacked the idea of ‘no-fault’ divorce that underpins Mr Gauke’s reforms.
He told the Church’s parliament, the General Synod, someone was always at fault if a marriage failed.
Mr Gauke has admitted his Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill, which is before the Commons, will lead to an increase in divorces, which are at their lowest in nearly 50 years.
The Roman Catholic Church had already opposed the Bill.
Yesterday, Bishop Butler told a Synod meeting in York that the Church’s mission and public affairs council ‘agreed that ‘irretrievable breakdown’ should remain the sole ground for divorce’.
He said that in a submission to the Government consultation on the reforms, it ‘criticised no-fault divorce as the council believed all marital splits involve some fault, although not necessarily on one side only’.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
