Now two contradictory tendencies have clashed: the popularization of the old wedding ceremony and … the sad statistics of divorces. The Russian Orthodox Church is extremely disapproving of the dissolution of marriage, but it does not forbid married couples to part. So for the official dissolution of a church marriage, you have to spend a lot of time and mental energy.
Instructions
Step 1
Write a petition addressed to the bishop of your diocese. The Orthodox Church treats divorce as a sin, so you will be asked to detail the reasons that push you to take such a serious act. Priests go to a meeting in cases where there was adultery (betrayal) of one of the spouses.
Step 2
Provide objective reasons for ending the marriage, if any. Situations when the church approves the dissolution of a marriage are: mental illness of one of the spouses, the unknown absence of the other half for a long time or the malicious abandonment of the family, the adoption by one of the spouses of a different faith. Orthodoxy also understands the desire to dissolve the marriage of a person whose spouse is imprisoned because of the crimes committed.
Step 3
Wait until the circumstances that prevent the church from dissolving your marriage are gone. These are less than one year of married life and the presence of children under three years of age. But the lack of physical ability of a husband or wife to have children can be considered as a good reason for divorce, but only after five years of marriage.
Step 4
Ask for blessings on remarrying. According to church tradition, the innocent divorced party has the right to remarry. The same spouse, because of treason or other offense, the family broke up, will be able to find his happiness again only after he fulfills the conditions of the penance imposed on him (that is, a certain punishment imposed by a clergyman - in the form of fasting, pilgrimage or other penitential actions).
