Catholic Doctrine on Divorce and Remarriage: A Practical Theological Examination

This essay uses practical theology as a method to investigate the disconnect between church teaching on divorce and remarriage without an annulment and the lived experience of the faithful, and argues for a reformulation of the doctrine. First, it presents the interrelationship between sociology and the sensus fidelium as a methodological framework for doing practical theology; second, it explores the sociological data on divorce and remarriage; third, on the basis of historical-theological justification, it argues for the reformulation of church doctrine; finally, it posits that such reformulation is an authentic methodological and normative development of Catholic tradition.