Maronite patriarch deplores conversions for sake of divorce

In an address to judges of ecclesiastical courts, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church deplored the conversion of Lebanese Maronites to other Christian communities or to Islam in order to obtain a divorce.

In Lebanon, divorce is primarily a matter of religious rather than civil law.

Lamenting the breaking of the sacred bond of marriage, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Raï said that such conversions are a “painful plague” rather than a matter of authentic religious freedom or freedom of conscience.

References:

• Il patriarca Raï su libertà di culto e diritto di famiglia (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 6)