From: Richard Ridge (richard_ridge@tao-group.com)
Date: Tue Jan 29 2002 - 05:12:44 MST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1787000/1787106.stm
Pope tells lawyers to boycott divorce
Roman Catholic lawyers should refuse to handle divorce cases, Pope John Paul
has said. He said divorce was "spreading like a plague" through society, and
lawyers should refuse to be part of the "evil". "Lawyers, who work freely,
should always decline to use their professions for an end that is contrary
to justice, like divorce," the Pope said.
"Marriage is indissoluble... it doesn't make any sense to talk about the
'imposition' of human law, because it should reflect and protect natural and
divine law."
The indissolubility of marriage was not a "simple private choice", but one
of the fundamentals of all society, he added.
The Pope said Catholic lawyers should not even try to help non-Catholics
obtain a divorce.
And he said magistrates should also try to prevent divorce, although he
acknowledged that this would be more difficult, as they could not be
"conscientious objectors" refusing to hear cases.
"Those working in civil law cases should avoid being personally involved in
what could be understood as co-operating in divorce... they should look for
effective measures to favour marriage, above all mediating conciliation," he
said.
"Lawyers should be free to work with the laws of the state," UK family law
specialist Denise Lester told BBC News Online, stressing that lawyers
already worked to promote reconciliation where possible.
"This is a multi-ethnic society where divorce is legal, and lawyers, as
servants of the community, should be able to able to carry out their work.
"The Pope's comments could have an impact on freedom of choice for both
lawyers and their clients."
Italian divorce lawyer Cesare Rimini told Italy's ANSA news agency: "The
laws of the state do not interfere in the laws of the Church, so it would be
right if the Church did not interfere in the realm of judges and lawyers."
Italian right-winger Alessandra Mussolini, grand-daughter of fascist
dictator Benito Mussolini, attacked the idea of saving marriage at all
costs. "Divorce, at times, is a salvation because it interrupts a spiral of
hate and terror even for children," she said.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Sep 25 2002 - 13:28:41 MDT