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Virtually all Christian denominations frown on divorce, although some more harshly than others.
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The ideal references are found in the Holy Family[?] (Joseph the Betrothed and the Virgin Mary).
Marriage is celebrated at the only purpose of procreation and for the education of the sons. The secondary aim is the mutual reciprocal help and it is also a "remedy to concupiscence". Fecundity is a good, a gift and an end of marriage. By giving life, spouses participate in God's fatherhood. Carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive community of life between a man and woman has been established. Human love does not tolerate "trial marriages". It demands a total and definitive gift of persons to one another.
Husband and wife have to share the same house; with cohabitation the marriage is presumed consummatum, unless a proof of the contrary is produced.
A loophole was developed in order to work around this prohibition, so that a couple could effect what amounted to a divorce if they could prove that their marriage was invalid in the first place; this technique was known as an annullment. Annullments are processed by a special tribunal[?], the Sacra Rota[?] (an organ of Roman curia) and the percentage granted is statistically very low.
Today Catholics in the U.S. can so easily attain annullments, for a modest to substantial donation, that it is considered de facto divorce. This is not however what is still stressed by Vatican, that officially always declares a total, absolute denial of consent; moreover, it would evidently be quite difficult to find a theological justification for the dimunition of a sacrament's value. (I think that sentence wants rewriting, but I can't quite work out what it's supposed to mean) As for civil effects of the religious marriage, in January 2002 a declaration by Pope John Paul II made it clear that Catholic civil lawyers and judges must refuse to take divorce cases [2] (http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20020201.htm) and must avoid getting involved at any level in any cooperation with divorce, however indirect.
It has been admitted that civil divorce could be allowed in special cases, eg if it represents the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance. This position indeed might not be completely reflecting the effective position of the Holy See, and seems more related to special individual cases, rather than a possible escamotage: even if the Church has always denied any valuable content for the civil marriage, a divorce remains a divorce, a grave offense against the natural law, and the practice is not at all welcomed by the Church, even when regarding civil aspects only. Divorce is considered immoral "also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society". Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery.
A divorcee (unless his/her marriage was annulled by Sacra Rota) cannot be allowed to receive the Holy Communion; a few priests that volountarily had allowed divorcees to receive it, were also suspended a divinis (forbidden to celebrate mass and suspended from clerical duties). This does not imply that divorcees are put out of the community, on the contrary in recent times an increasing attention is given them, but certain limits will remain unaltered.
It has to be noted that effectively the canon law strictly requires that spouses and celebrating priest deeply verify the opportunity of each marriage before it is celebrated. This is meant as a means to avoid enforcing those causes that might later lead to an unsatisfactory marital life (and a separation). Pre-marriage courses have to be followed by the spouses, in order to verify the potential affinities for a future common life, and a certain time is ordinarily required between the request and the celebration, so to allow a time delay clearly intended for the purpose of suggesting a reflection on the real reciprocal intentions.
Polygamy is described as "not in accord with the moral law". Conjugal communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive."
Information on Catholic annullments (http://www.saveoursacrament.org/home) - Diocese of San Jose Annulment Tribunal (http://www.dsj.org/tribunal/annulment.htm) - Catholic divorce (http://www.sdnewsnotes.com/ed/articles/1998/0698tb.htm) - Catholic Familyland (http://www.familyland.org/) - In Vatican website, catechism[?] contents about marriage (http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/subject_index/subject-index-cat_marriage_en) and divorce (http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/subject_index/subject-index-cat_divorce_en)
Protestants are less likely to hold a negative view of birth control than Catholics, and many see sexual pleasure within marriage as a gift of God, whereas the Catholic church generally views sex as a means of producing children, which is a duty ordained by God for maried couples.
Unlike the well-defined structure of the Catholic church, the diversity found in Protestantism necessitates that we speak of general tendencies, rather than laws. Protestants' overall view of mariage range from the Evangelical view that marriage is only permissible among members of the opposite gender both of whom are Christians, to the ultra-liberal[?] viewpoint, which may permit homosexual marriage and even extra-marital sex.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Eternal Marriage is a sacred covenant between a man, a woman and God performed by a priesthood bearer in the temples of the Church. Eternal Marriage is legally recognized, but unlike other civil marriages, Eternal Marriage is intended to continue into the next life after the resurrection if the man and woman do not break their covenants. Eternally married couples are often referred to as being "sealed" to each other. Sealed couples who keep their covenants are also promised to have their posterity sealed to them in the after life. Thus, the Mormon slogan "families are forever". The Church encourages its members to be in good standing with the Church so that they may marry in the temple. "Cancellation of a sealing", sometimes incorrectly called a "temple divorce", is uncommon and is granted only by the highest authority in the Church. Civil divorce and marriage outside the temple is somewhat of a stigma in the Mormon culture although currently the Church itself directs its local leaders not to advise members about divorce one way or another.
(insert other denominational views here)
Also see the entry on Religious_aspects_of_marriage for all religions.
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