Compassion for the Divorced and Remarried

The question “Shall we do evil that good may result?” is not only foundational in Catholic moral theology but also central to the Church’s discipline regarding Holy Communion for those who are divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment. Would true compassion for the divorced and remarried be for a priest to approve the second union or to ask them to avoid adultery even if that is difficult in a particular case?

St. Paul addresses this principle directly: “And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), ‘Let us do evil that good may come’? Their condemnation is deserved” (Romans 3:8). Paul’s teaching is unequivocal—no intention, however noble, can justify the commission of evil.

Humanae Vitae by Pope St. Paul VI makes this principle explicit: “Though it is true that sometimes it is lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good, it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it. In other words, to intend directly something which, of its very nature, contradicts the moral order and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family, or of society in general” (Humanae Vitae 14). The encyclical also insists that the Church “is only [the] depositary and interpreter [of the moral law], without ever being able to declare to be licit that which is not so by reason of its intimate and unchangeable opposition to the true good of man” (Humanae Vitae 18).

Veritatis Splendor by Pope St. John Paul II deepens this doctrine, stating: “It is never permissible, even in the gravest of circumstances to intentionally do an evil so that good may come of it” (Veritatis Splendor 80).
The Church teaches that marriage is indissoluble; unless a first marriage is declared null, any subsequent civil union is considered adulterous. No perceived hardship, even the abandonment of a spouse, can justify adultery or the reception of Communion while persisting in a state contrary to the moral law. It is not pastoral to approve or tolerate adultery because of hardship, for no hardship can justify sin. As Humanae Vitae affirms, the Church’s role is not to change the moral law out of compassion, but to proclaim it faithfully and support the faithful in living it, even amid difficulty (Humanae Vitae 19).

This is echoed in the 1986 Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons,” which states: “It is not ‘caring’ or ‘pastoral’ to be silent about the Church’s teaching. Only what is true can ultimately be pastoral. Ignoring the Church’s teaching, or remaining silent about it, deprives people of the help they need to respond to God’s call to conversion and to live according to His will” (no. 15).

Suppose a person who is divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment is admitted to Holy Communion, despite persisting in a second relationship. Later, their child approaches the Church for marriage. The example of the parent receiving Communion while in an objectively adulterous union would confuse the child and others about the indissolubility of marriage. As Familiaris Consortio and canonical tradition affirm, “if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.”

In conclusion, the Church’s refusal to admit to Communion those divorced and remarried without an annulment is not an act of exclusion, but a faithful application of the perennial Christian teaching that one may never do evil so that good may result. No hardship, however serious, can justify sin. True pastoral care is rooted in truth and charity, calling every person to conversion and the fullness of life in Christ. Only by upholding this truth can the Church effectively witness to the indissolubility of marriage and lead souls to authentic freedom and holiness.