Vatican City, Oct 7, 2018 / 04:05 am
A married couple striving to faithfully live out their life-long commitment to each other, need both God's grace and love that is anchored in self-gift, Pope Francis said Sunday.
"What allows married couples to remain united in marriage is a love of mutual self-giving sustained by the grace of Christ," the pope said Oct. 7.
"If, on the other hand, individual interest and satisfaction prevail in the spouses, then their union cannot endure."
He explained that if divorce or separation should happen, however, the Church does not condemn, but "on the contrary, faced with so many painful marital failures, she feels called to live her presence of love, of charity, of mercy, to bring back the wounded and lost hearts to God."