Thread by @ColleenEldrach1

The 9th Commandment: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife."

A thread. Please think about this.

A few years ago, before the YAG (yagincincy.org) really got up & going, I had a Catholic Match subscription. There seemed to be a fair number of conservatives on there, even if I would have argued that meeting all 7 "faith criteria" should have been required for entry.

I talked to several nice people there, men & women, young & old, in the various forums.

But what ultimately made me give up on the site in disgust, (& even gave me the inspiration for the ending of one of my novels-in-progress) was the complete lack of understanding of adultery.

Many people who call themselves Catholics (see Twitter spectrum) have somehow gotten this insane notion that if they get a civil divorce, start shopping around/re-enter the dating pool, find someone, & only THEN apply 4 an annulment.

Now, as a sedevacantist, I do not hold that the Novus Ordo hierarchy has the authority to grant annulments at all.

But even as a matter of mere PRINCIPLE this whole idea is completely, utterly wrong.

A civil divorce is not a free pass on the 9th Commandment. In the eyes of the Church, and of God, both parties are still MARRIED.

And applying for an annulment, even if we had a true pope, does not give you any license to go "shopping."

Only the actual annulment would.

This is NOT because an annulment "ends" a marriage. Rather, an annulment verifies that no marriage ever took place at all.

The legit reasons for one are few and, before Vatican II, extremely strict. Some can be dispensed (some degrees of kindred) while others cannot.

So please. Do not think that you can commit adultery with impunity and just get an annulment later to clear everything up. Do not get romantically attached to divorced people, whether it was their fault or not. They are still someone else's wife or husband.