Pope Francis Makes It Easier for Catholics to Divorce

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Vatican City: Pope Francis, making the most substantial changes to Catholic marriage annulment procedures in centuries, on Tuesday radically simplified them and said bishops should give greater help to divorced couples.

In a move that again showed his desire for the Church to be more merciful to Catholics in difficulty, Francis reaffirmed traditional teaching on the "indissolubility of marriage", but streamlined annulment procedures many considered cumbersome, lengthy, outdated and expensive.

An annulment, formally known as a "decree of nullity", is a ruling that a marriage was not valid according to Church law because certain prerequisites, such as free will, psychological maturity and openness to having children, were lacking. » | Reuters | Tuesday, September 8, 2015

First Openly Gay Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson Announces Divorce

Mark Andrew, left, and Bishop Robinson during their civil union
ceremony in 2008, two years before they officially married

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Bishop Robinson, who became a symbol for gay rights far beyond the church while deeply dividing the world's Anglicans, plans to divorce his husband

Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church, whose ordination split the church in the United States, is to divorce his husband after four years of marriage.

The 66-year-old retired bishop married in 2010 when the state of New Hampshire legalised gay marriage, but had been in a relationship with his partner, Mark Andrew, for more than 25 years before announcing the split in an email to the diocese of New Hampshire last weekend.

In an article explaining the divorce, Bishop Robinson said that specific reasons would be remain private, but said responsibility fell “on the shoulders of both parties” while paying tribute to Mr Andrew as one of the “kindest, most generous and loyal human beings on earth”.

“It is at least a small comfort to me, as a gay rights and marriage equality advocate, to know that like any marriage, gay and lesbian couples are subject to the same complications and hardships that afflict marriages between heterosexual couples,” he wrote on The Daily Beast website.

“All of us sincerely intend, when we take our wedding vows, to live up to the ideal of ’til death do us part. But not all of us are able to see this through until death indeed parts us.” » | Sunday, May 04, 2014

THE DAILY BEAST: A Bishop’s Decision to Divorce » | Gene Robinson | Sunday, May 04, 2014

Top Family Judge Calls for No-fault Divorce for All and Putting Cohabitees On A Par with Married Couples

Sir James Munby, President of the High Court Family Division

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sir James Munby, President of the High Court Family Division, calls for radical overhaul of divorce law to recognise decline of traditional nuclear family

Unmarried couples should have similar legal protections as those who are married, Britain’s top family judge has said as he outlined ideas for a radical overhaul of divorce law to cope with a society in which the traditional nuclear family is being replaced.

Sir James Munby, president of the High Court Family Division, the most senior family judge in England and Wales, called for the idea of fault or blame to be completely removed from divorce.

He added that divorce could largely be taken out of the court system altogether, with marriages dissolved by officials instead of judges, in a similar way to the registration of births or deaths.

The family itself had changed beyond recognition in the past few decades, he added, with the nuclear model increasingly replaced by unmarried parents, single parents, step-families and same-sex couples.

Christian campaigners said removing the idea of fault was "downgrading" commitment. » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Tuesday, April 29, 2014

My comment:

The West is going to Hell in a handbasket. It won't be long now before its total destruction. Rome went the same way too. It's sad, I know; but Western leaders haven't got a clue how to reverse the decline. They keep heaping coals on the fire. It appears that we have a one-way ticket to self-destruction. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Use Jubilee to Restore Moral Values, Says Bishop

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: One of the country’s leading bishops has called for people to use the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee as an opportunity to restore the nation’s moral values.

The Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, said promiscuity, separation and divorce have reached epidemic proportions in Britain and that the Jubilee was an opportunity to think about the kind of environment being bequeathed to future generations.

He said although people were better off since the Queen’s accession to the throne in 1952, material progress had come at the expense of equality and communal life.

Writing in a Bible Society pamphlet, Dr Chartres says: “Britain is indeed a better place today materially than ever before, but that material progress has been at the expense of our relationships with one another, our communal life. Within families, within communities, within society as a whole, our relationships are more strained, more fragile, more broken than we care to recognise.” » | Patrick Sawer | Saturday, June 02, 2012

Muslim Women in India Seek Gender Equality in Marriage
THE NEW YORK TIMES: NEW DELHI — Three years ago, Salma Khatun’s husband divorced her in a fit of rage after a quarrel, pronouncing what is known as the triple talaq in the presence of witnesses. The triple talaq is a formula of repudiation. The first two times it is pronounced, it can be revoked, but the third time it makes a divorce binding, according to some interpretations of Islamic law.

Although Ms. Khatun’s husband repented the next morning, the head cleric of their mosque in Delhi insisted that the divorce was binding. According to his reading of Islamic law, Ms. Khatun would need to marry another man, consummate the marriage and then divorce before she could remarry her husband.

For more than a decade, Muslim women’s organizations in India have been fighting for changes in the body of Islamic law that governs marriage, divorce and the property rights of women. But as the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board held its annual convention in Mumbai last week, the battle lines had never been so starkly drawn. Although the Indian Constitution guarantees equal rights to all citizens irrespective of their religion, Muslims are governed by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937. Attempts to apply a common civil code have often been viewed as interference in the practices of India’s largest religious minority. » | Nilanjana S. Roy | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Inside a Sharia Divorce Court
Sheikh Haithem Al-Haddad and Dr Suhaib Hasan of Britain's Sharia Council allow us rare and exclusive access to their deliberations on Islamic divorces
Watch the video here | Mona Mahmood and Richard Sprenger | Wednesday, April 09, 2011

Divorce de l'Aga Khan : le prince condamné à verser 60 millions d'euros à son ex-épouse
LE POINT: C'est la séparation la plus chère jamais prononcée en France par la justice.

C'est le divorce le plus cher jamais prononcé en France par la justice. Comme le révèle Le Point.fr, la cour d'appel d'Amiens a condamné aujourd'hui Son Altesse l'Aga Khan à verser à son ex-épouse la Begum Inaara 60 millions d'euros de prestation compensatoire. Une somme nette d'imposition. Le chef de la communauté musulmane des ismaéliens devra en effet régler lui-même la totalité des frais fiscaux. Le jugement a été prononcé aux torts exclusifs du prince. » | Le Point.fr | Jeudi 29 Septembre 2011

New York Marriage Bill Paves Way for Same-sex Divorce

REUTERS: As New York's same-sex couples head to the altar to celebrate their newly won right to marry, they can take comfort in the fact that, if it doesn't work out, their right to get divorced in the state just got a lot easier as well.

State senators on Friday voted 33-29 to approve marriage equality legislation introduced by Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat in his first year of office. New York will become the sixth and most populous U.S. state to allow gay marriage.

"One of the so-called benefits to marriage is actually divorce," said Ruthann Robson, professor of law at the City University of New York. "If same-sex marriage is recognized, same-sex divorce would be recognized too."

In fact, same-sex divorce was first recognized in New York in 2008, when an appeals court found that a same-sex marriage performed in Canada could be legally recognized in New York for the purposes of dissolving the union. » | Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Jesse Wegman and Paul Simao | NEW YORK | Saturday, June 25, 2011

Inside Story: Malta Says Yes to Divorce
Inside Story presenter Laura Kyle, discusses with, Michael Falzon, a senior member of the "YES" Movement; David Quinn, director of pro-marriage group the Iona Institute; and Matthew Vella, editor of Malta Today.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminates Hollywood Comeback

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Arnold Schwarzenegger has terminated his Hollywood comeback after admitting to fathering a love child.

After seven years as governor of California the former action star had been planning to return to the big screen in several movies, including the planned blockbuster "Terminator 5."

On Thursday night, he put all projects on indefinite hold so he could deal with the scandal. Patrick Knapp, his entertainment lawyer, said: "Governor Schwarzenegger is focusing on personal matters and is not willing to commit to any production schedules or timelines. We will resume discussions when Governor Schwarzenegger decides."

The 63-year-old star had been expected to appear next in "Cry Macho," a drama in which he was to play a horse trainer who bonds with a Mexican boy. An animated television series called "The Governator," in which he was to voice the main character, has also been postponed.

Mr Schwarzenegger is facing a potentially bitter divorce battle after his wife Maria Shriver hired a high profile lawyer known as the "Disso Queen" in a step toward ending their 25-year marriage.

Laura Wasser, 42, a glamorous single mother-of-two, earned her nickname handling dissolutions on behalf of some of the entertainment industry's biggest names. Her other clients include Robyn Moore, the wife of troubled "Braveheart" star Mel Gibson, who filed for divorce in 2009. » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Thursday, May 19, 2011

Emirati Wife Suing Husband for £7 million for Failing to Fulfil Her Needs
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An Emirati man is being sued for £7.25 million for failing to have sex with his wife and causing her mental anguish, according to reports.

The unidentified woman told the court that her Emirati husband did not sleep with her in the first four months of their marriage in 2008 and later she discovered that he suffered from erectile dysfunction, according to Gulf News.

The newspaper quoted court records as saying that the woman alleged her husband failed to fulfil her needs. The case is pending before Dubai Courts. » | Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Woman Seeks Divorce from 'Gay' Husband in UAE
GULF NEWS: Says she noticed bizarre change in spouse's attitude and behaviour a few months after marriage

Dubai: A woman has filed for divorce after she claimed to have made a chance discovery of her husband's alleged relationship with another man.

The woman, believed to be from a Gulf country, filed her divorce claim before the Dubai Sharia Court, saying she accidentally noticed a love message that her husband received from his gay partner on his mobile phone.

The woman alleged in her claim that her husband started behaving oddly and abnormally a few months after they got married and she had seen him wearing her lingerie at nights and using her perfume, a court source told Gulf News.

The woman said she realised a bizarre change in her husband's attitude and behaviour and caught him trying on women's underwear and perfumes many times. She said she received the shock of her life when she heard her husband hiding in another room and chatting with another man on his mobile phone. » | Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter | Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Saudi Arabia Has a Divorce Every 30 Minutes
EMIRATES 24/7: Saudi Arabia has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, with such cases averaging one every half an hour in 2010, according to a local newspaper.

The Gulf Kingdom, the world’s dominant oil power, had 18,765 recorded divorce cases last year, one of the world’s highest rates compared to its population, Alsaudi Arabic language daily said. » | Staff | Sunday, April 10, 2011

Inside a Sharia Divorce Court
Sheikh Haithem Al-Haddad and Dr Suhaib Hasan of Britain's Sharia Council allow us rare and exclusive access to their deliberations on Islamic divorces
Watch Guardian video here

Muslim Man told Skype Divorce Joke Stands
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Muslim man who told his wife "I divorce thee" three times in an online Skype messenger conversation has been told the separation stands.

The ruling, made in an online fatwa by the Darul Uloom Deobandi seminary in northern India, regarded as one of Islam's leading authorities on religious law said that the woman would have to first marry another man before she could remarry her first husband.

The man, from Qatar, wrote to the seminary following his Skype joke to seek clarification.

"Jokingly typed 'talak, talak, talak' (I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee) to my wife on Skype chat. I don't understand Islam very much and did not know about how talaq works. We love each other very much and want to be together but right now [we are] caught in this thing. Want to know a way out," he wrote. >>> Dean Nelson in New Delhi | Friday, October 29, 2010

Elin Lays Down the Law with Tiger Woods in '$890 Million Divorce Settlement': Report
No more playing happy families ... Tiger Woods is reportedly set to payout a record sum of money to wife Elin Nordegren as part of divorce settlement. Photograph: The Sydney Morning Herald
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Tiger Woods will not be allowed to let future girlfriends near his children in a $890 million reported divorce settlement with Elin Nordegren.

The record payout, reported by The Sun in London, stipulates that the golfer will only introduce the couple's two children Sam and Charlie to a new woman if he marries her.

In exchange, Nordegren has agreed to never speak publicly about Woods's alleged affairs with up to as many as 20 women, including socialite Rachel Uchitel, porn star Joslyn James and reality television star Jaimee Grubbs.

An unnamed "pal" told the tabloid: "Elin is desperate to protect the children from the womanising side of their father.
"Tiger's main fear is her telling her story after he's rebuilt his reputation, sending him back to the gutter."

Swedish Nordegren, a former model, will receive double the amount of money she orginally asked for after her lawyers proved Woods, 34, was worth much more than the $US1 billion ($1.19 billion) she had estimated. >>> smh.com.au | Thursday, July 01, 2010

Related articles and videos here

Sultan of Brunei's Low-key Third Marriage Ends with Quiet Divorce
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah with his wife Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim in 2006. Photo: The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: The Sultan of Brunei "can do no wrong in either his personal or any official capacity," according to the oil-rich country's constitution. But perhaps not all the time.

Brunei's palace announced yesterday that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has divorced his wife, Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim, after five years of marriage. State television and radio last night carried the announcement that the 63-year-old sultan had divorced Azrinaz, 30, a former Malaysian television news journalist, and that all of her royal titles had been revoked.

It marked the end of a marriage that began with a private wedding ceremony which contrasted starkly with previous lavish royal events paid for with the vast wealth accrued by the tiny nation. Michael Jackson had been flown in to perform for the sultan's 50th birthday, while a week of celebrations for the marriage of his eldest daughter included a concert by Stevie Wonder.

The sultan, the heir to an unbroken 600-year Muslim dynasty, is one of the world's richest royals with a private fortune estimated to total at least $20bn (£13.5bn).

His wife had given birth to the sultan's 11th child, a baby boy, less than a year after their wedding and a daughter in 2008 but rumours of a marriage break-up had been circulating for some time in Brunei. >>> Paul Peachey | Thursday, June 17, 2010

Le sultan de Brunei divorce de sa troisième femme !

lire la news

Islamic Iran Offers 'Courting' Diplomas to Cut Divorce
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian youths can attend courtship classes and earn a diploma before tying the knot as part of a newly introduced government scheme to cut the divorce rate.

The National Youth Organisation has unveiled an online course to educate the Islamic republic's overwhelmingly young population on how to find Mr or Mrs Right, pop the question and live happily ever after.

Interactive and lasting three months, the course designed by academics and clerics requires pupils seeking the diploma to sit for weekly tests.

Iran's hardline leaders condemn dating and relationships out of wedlock and like to see men and women married off ideally in their early 20s in a country where traditionalists frown upon singles in their 30s.

But according to official estimates, the average age of marriage has risen to 29, mainly due to economic hardship and a change in priorities and values, especially for women who outnumber men at college.

Since rising to power five years ago, conservatives in the parliament and the government have made a mantra of "facilitating marriage for young people" in Iran, where about 60 per cent of the 70 million population is under 30.

The concept of a "marriage diploma" has already unleashed a torrent of jokes on the internet, but officials insist that Iranians need awareness without revealing much about the content of the course.

"Marriage needs hundreds of hours of education," said Mehrdad Bazrpash, a deputy to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and head of the National Youth Organisation, as he inaugurated the programme in Tehran on Saturday.

Ahmad Borjali, a psychologist and adviser to the initiative, said that the divorce rate has gone up steadily since 2006, rising by 15.7 per cent in 2009 compared with the previous year, against a 2.1 per cent increase in marriages.

One in every four marriages ends in divorce in Tehran alone, he said, citing research by social workers as blaming "sexual" and "communication troubles" among main reasons for the problem nationwide. >>> Hiedeh Farmani, in Tehran for AFP | Monday, March 15, 2010

Indian Women Banned from Keeping Husband's Name after Divorce
THE TELEGRAPH: Indian women will not be allowed to use their husband's surnames after divorce to prevent them from bringing shame on their family, an India high court has ruled.

Its ruling was made in a case where a woman who divorced her police inspector husband four years ago but kept his name and brought shame on it through a series of public brawls.

She also used the family's association with the police for personal advantage. >>> Dean Nelson in New Delhi | Friday, February 19, 2010

Abdur-Raheem Green: Suspicions about Islam