Church marriage is concluded only after the official registration of a couple in the registry office. When the family breaks up, the husband and wife are first officially divorced, and the logical question arises of invalidating the church wedding. Debunking is possible, but subject to certain conditions.
Instruction manual
1
Unlike the official (secular, as the church calls it) divorce, which can be done for any reason, debunking is allowed only if the spouse, who was not guilty of discord and did not provoke a breakdown, plans to enter into another marriage. Orthodoxy implies lifelong fidelity of the church (true believers) spouses and the indissolubility of marriage, however, it voices several more serious reasons for a possible church divorce. This can be a spouse's refusal of the Orthodox faith, treason or unnatural vices, a serious illness (leprosy, syphilis, AIDS, drug addiction, alcoholism), incurable mental illness, infringement on the life / health of children or a spouse, an abortion by a wife if her husband disagrees, inability to cohabitation / impotence, involvement in the underworld, the absence of a spouse for more than 3 years, abandonment of the family and the marriage of the spouse with another person.
2
To receive a church divorce, or debunking, write and petition in the name of the lord (diocesan bishop) in the diocesan administration. Your application will be considered and made a decision. A written appeal about the debunking of the lord should consist of the following points: a brief history of church marriage, a detailed statement of the reasons for the divorce, where and when you were married. Attach copies of civil divorce registration documents. If you do not know how and where to write, ask for help from any priest in the church or directly to the temple in which you were married.
3
After some time - from a week to several months - your church marriage will be recognized as "graceless." You will receive a notice with the signature of the diocesan bishop on the debunking, with this confirmation you can apply to any church for a second wedding. But keep in mind that the church disapproves of the second marriage, although it admits it. Third church marriages are not concluded.
4
Church divorce is given automatically if both spouses simultaneously became monks in different monasteries, after which they will never be able to see each other again.
note
Prior to church divorce, both official and civil marriage of any spouse with a different person is a sin of adultery, therefore it is not recognized by the church and is unacceptable among Orthodox people.
