Matrimonio y divorcio, hoy, en España

Abstract

The author begins with the recent campaign organized by the mass media with the aim of introducing divorce in the Spanish legal system either for all types of marriage, or at least for the civil form. No type of international agreement in this sense binds the Spanish state, nor is it one of the conditions required by the Treaty of Rome for membership of the EEC. The author studies the indissolubility of marriage in Spanish Constitutional History, in which it is a traditional principle (with the exception of the period 1932-1939). This principle has been incorporated into the Fuero de los Espanoles (Charter of Constitutional Rights of 1939); it has been declared a question of internal public order by the judiciary, with the result that divorce is unknown. The Second Vatican Council has not changed the traditional Catholic viewpoint regarding the indissolubility of all marriages, including those purely civil or legitimate cases, as pertaining to Natural Law. When divorce was introduced into Italy the aforementioned teaching was clearly re-affirmed by the Italian Episcopal Conference with the explicit approval of Paul VI. In the conclusions the author deduces that from the position of fidelity of the Church's teaching one cannot introduce divorce into the Spanish legislation, neither in the case of canonical nor of merely civil marriage; the indissolubility of marriage is a principle of Natural Law and lies at the root of the most ancient Spanish tradition. Reference is made to a recent survey made by the Institute of Public Opinion, with the conclusion that there is need of a widespread and intense work of education of consciences and of enlightenment of a public opinion that shows itself to be vacillating and unsure.