Back in the late 1800s Pope Leo XIII had a few things to say about marriage, family, and society. His words are still relevant today.
During the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2025 National Marriage Week, (Feb. 7-14) I decided to re-read Arcanum, the 1880 encyclical written by Pope Leo XIII on Christian Marriage. Eleven years after Arcanum, that same pope authored Rerum Novarum, inaugurating modern Catholic Social Teaching.
While I frequently hear or read about “Catholic Social Teaching,” few seem familiar with the content of the Vatican’s magnificent Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. As I noted here at CS, a couple years ago,
“God invented the greatest social program for His people – the family! . . . A man and woman united in marriage form a family, the very basis of society, and are entrusted to cooperate in God’s continuing work of creation. Jesus raised marriage to a sacrament.”
Hmm. Marriage, family, and the just ordering of society – might there be connections?
Marriage
Right at the start of the Bible, God made clear His plan for marriage!
“The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.”
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.
“This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken” (Genesis 2:22-24).
Jesus affirms this in Mathew 19:5-6:
“Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
Via the family springing from His great mold for marriage, God planned to continue His work of creation for human society.
Essential to Society
Pope Leo XIII knew that God’s great gift of marriage was essential to the preservation of society! A century and a half later, that common sense has somehow eluded numerous minds.
As Brad Wilcox writes in the preface of his book, “Get Married,”
“[H]aving the benefit of a family headed by stably married parents, where both parents are on hand to love you day in, day out, share life’s joys and frustrations, and devote their combined financial resources to your home, your extracurriculars, and your schooling ends up being the ultimate privilege for the millions of today’s boys and girls across America who are fortunate enough to grow up in an intact family” (pg. 9).
Divorce
Arcanum does not get soft and mushy about any supposed necessity for a divorce escape hatch:
“29. Truly, it is hardly possible to describe how great are the evils that flow from divorce. Matrimonial contracts are by it made variable; mutual kindness is weakened; deplorable inducements to unfaithfulness are supplied; harm is done to the education and training of children; occasion is afforded for the breaking up of homes; the seeds of dissension are sown among families; the dignity of womanhood is lessened and brought low, and women run the risk of being deserted after having ministered to the pleasures of men. Since, then, nothing has such power to lay waste families and destroy the mainstay of kingdoms as the corruption of morals, it is easily seen that divorces are in the highest degree hostile to the prosperity of families and States, springing as they do from the depraved morals of the people, and, as experience shows us, opening out a way to every kind of evil-doing in public and in private life” [emphasis added].
And he writes later (par. 32), “we see most clearly how foolish and senseless it is to expect any public good from divorce, when, on the contrary, it tends to the certain destruction of society.”
Reminiscent of a pep rally, Pope Leo XIII writes of popes who faced down powerful rulers to defend marriage in paragraph 34. Nary a namby-pamby among those holy fathers:
- Pope Nicholas I v. Lothair
- Popes Urban II and Paschal II v. Philip I
- Popes Celestine III and Innocent III v. Alphonsus and Philip II
- Popes Clement VII and Paul III v. Henry VIII
- Pope Pius VII v. Napoleon I
We continue to need our Holy Father, bishops, and all clergy to defend the basic unit of society!
Conclusion
The Church must courageously hold fast to what has been entrusted to her concerning marriage. As Pope Leo also writes,
“41 . . . no power can dissolve the bond of Christian marriage whenever this has been ratified and consummated. . . . When, indeed, matters have come to such a pitch that it seems impossible for them to live together any longer, then the Church allows them to live apart . . . yet she never ceases to endeavor to bring about a reconciliation, and never despairs of doing so. But these are extreme cases….
“45 . . . the doctrine and precepts in relation to Christian marriage . . . tend no less to the preservation of civil society than to the everlasting salvation of souls.
In 1880, the world saw the election of U.S. President James Garfield and the start of the First Boer War. It also say the births of General Douglas MacArthur, W.C. Fields, and Helen Keller. In some ways, 1880 is a long time ago, but in other ways it is not so long ago at all!
In a rapidly changing world, Pope Leo XIII’s Arcanum resoundingly reaffirmed the importance and holiness of marriage – the source and foundation of family – in God’s plan for our happiness. Arcanum also made clear the forbidden (but for the gravest of reasons and with the hope of reconciliation) nature of society-destroying divorce. And, of course marriage, after divorce, to another man or woman was unthinkable!
14 thoughts on “Pope Leo XIII on Marriage, Family, and Society”
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Susanne,
Canon 212 gives knowledgeable lay people the right to speak up.
An annulment is absolutely not a divorce – that is true. You are correct.
Before getting an annulment, dioceses are first requiring that a couple be divorced (See Capt Crisis’ 3/1/25, 8:55am comment.). Yet,
Catholics are not supposed to get a divorce without the bishop’s permission.
God bless you.
An annulment is not a divorce. Why you confuse and conflate the two is a mystery. Perhaps you don’t understand the difference? Maybe being a “proud” father and husband are not a sufficient education to opine on such things? Humility and staying in your lane are important aspects of following Christ.
Thank you Susanne. Please see Canon 212.
Code of Canon Law – Book II – The People of God – Part I. (Cann. 208-329)
https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann208-329_en.html
Nothing you cited in Cannon law speaks to the established fact that and annulment is not a divorce.
“It would be interesting to know the odds of getting divorced if one had four wives….
“For the extreme endpoint of that way of thinking, look up ‘standers’ — women who stay married to husbands who beat them and then desert them.”
I believe both Bai McFarlane and Leila Miller have written about “standers” who remain true to their vows even when not cohabiting.
We had a nice ride, but I missed my stop. I need to get off now.
God bless you.
It would be interesting to know the odds of getting divorced if one had four wives. Moses was wise to bargain God down, knowing his tribes would never settle for one, with four being a workable equation that would take the pressure off of a mismatch. The author seems to think
the harm done by this scourge has no equal, while not even dissecting the harm done by people (that made bad choices) who live in ‘dead’ marriages. The kiddos know when love fails to resonate between parents and don’t think for a moment that it does not imprint itself onto their psyche in painful memories that linger through their lives. Now if a parent breaks their vow because they think the ‘grass is greener’, well, that’s what I believe Jesus was referring to.
For the extreme endpoint of that way of thinking, look up “standers” — women who stay married to husbands who beat them and then desert them. They refuse to get a divorce and find a man who would be a good husband and stepfather. For the sake of following Church teaching, they let their children suffer and grow into unhappy, damaged adults.
“To me the worst thing about annulments, even valid ones, is its effect on the children. I’ve never seen a convincing and non-hurtful way to explain to them what has happened.”
Capt C – you are absolutely correct!
What you describe seems to be a tragic reality.
As you no doubt already know, the # of annulments in the U.S. skyrocketed in the 1970s.
To begin an annulment process, couples must already be divorced. Yet, they are actually NOT supposed to divorce without the bishop’s permission.
Far too many Catholics (including clergy) now seem to act as though divorce/annulments were routine rather than TRAGIC.
Bai McFarlane and Leila Miller have highlighted how spouses wanting absolutely no end to marriages have been victimized.
IMHO, misguided notions like this and Fiducia Supplicans have had the unexpected result of FAR FEWER young people seeking Catholic marriage.
To me the worst thing about annulments, even valid ones, is its effect on the children. I’ve never seen a convincing and non-hurtful way to explain to them what has happened.
Odd that the Church condemns divorce while at the same time requiring it before an annulment can even be applied for.
It is my understanding that what you describe violates Canon Law. Couples are supposed to be getting the bishop’s permission before separating. I believe actual practice promotes.tremendous confusion.
To apply for an annulment, the couple must provide “a COMPLETE copy of the divorce decree” (capitals in original). https://setonparish.org/annulment-faq
Go to any official Church site and you will find the same language.