Divorce ‘Creates Disorder,’ Pope Tells Luxembourgers

Pope John Paul II, concluding his visit to a nation where a third of all marriages fail, told young people today that divorce “creates disorder and disfigures the image of God in man.”

The pontiff reiterated his uncompromising stand against divorce during a question-and-answer session with several thousand youths.

At Echternach, a town of 4,500 near the West German border, John Paul was asked why the church “is so hard on divorced and remarried persons.”

33% Divorce Rate

Without referring directly to Luxembourg’s 33% divorce rate, he replied: “You see all around you too many marriages breaking up, and I know how much suffering that entails. Some people are reluctant to enter into wedlock.

“But the pain and distress are the sign that breaking the sacred bonds of matrimony creates disorder and disfigures the image of God in man,” he said.

The Pope added that the church must remain true to its founding principles “and must affirm the principle of the indissolubility of marriage.”

Earlier, the Pope celebrated Mass in the capital of Luxembourg on the day commemorating Jesus’ ascension into Heaven and warned an estimated 30,000 people of materialism’s dangers.

‘Dazzled by Progress’

“People today have been dazzled by progress and prosperity and often look only to (the things of) the earth,” he said. “Luxembourg forms part of the affluent society with its advantages, its darker side and its excesses.”

After the stop at Echternach, the Pope ended his 32-hour stay in Luxembourg and flew to Brussels to begin a six-day visit in Belgium.

To avoid a linguistic dispute there, the Pope arranged to take a helicopter into Brussels, which is officially bilingual ground, from Melsbroek Airport, which is Dutch-speaking territory.