2024: I HATE DIVORCE: An Insight into the Nature of Marriage and Causes of Family Crises and Divorce
One of the institutions that have faced multiple challenges in our modern time is the institution of marriage. For so many in the west, marriage is outdated, accounting for the crashing of several marriages annually. For some who come into marriage, there is the difficulty of remaining in marriage, accounting for the rise in divorce cases. In the face of several questions emerging about marriage, from where shall come the answers needed? In this book titled: I Hate Divorce: An Insight into the Nature of Marriage and Causes of family Crises, Rev. Fr. Dr. Bakwaph Peter Kanyip, has not only shown the value and potential of marriage but responded to emerging fundamental questions bordering on divorce.
The Code of Canon Law defines Catholic marriage using key concepts (Can 1055, 1°): permanent, lifetime, intimate, consensual and exclusive partnership. This implies that, while marriage and remarriage are possible, the Catholic Church has no place for divorce in marriage. However, there is separation and dissolution. In the case of separation, the person is considered to be in good standing and is entitled to participate fully in the spiritual and sacramental life of the Church. However, the divorced and remarried without a Declaration of Invalidity is only entitled to participate in a limited way. The absence of divorce in the lexicon of Catholic Sacramental Theology has shaped the thoughts of Fr. Peter in this beautiful piece of ten chapters.
The author, therefore, presents marriage as a permanent, intimate, consensual and exclusive partnership or community of life and love; an institution established by the Creator and endowed by Him with its own proper laws. Fr. Peter holds that God has inscribed this union in the very nature of man and woman, not just as a covenant relationship but as a vocation through which God is loved and served. Given the fundamental place that marriage occupies in God's plan and in the life of the Church, it is commendable that Fr. Bakwaph is marking his 50th birthday anniversary with the gift of a book on marriage to the Church. Taking from the benefits of his several years of experience as a pastor and teacher, he combined insightful imagination and originality in substantially treating the issues surrounding divorce. This gives this piece a unique behavour.
For all these reasons, it is an honour and my pleasure to salute this splendid achievement with a foreword. I, therefore, strongly recommend this book for all who treasure good theological/spiritual literature; and most especially for anyone who wishes to be abreast with important teachings and developments on marriage and divorce. Pastors, teachers, experts, researchers, undergraduate and post-graduate students, beginners and casual readers within and outside the parameters of theology are bound to treasure the usefulness of Fr. Peter's unique contribution to knowledge.
