Carey says more positive view of divorce needed

DIVORCE should be looked at 'more positively,' the Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday. 'Sometimes a divorce may not be a bad thing,' he stated, writes Alex Renton.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2, Dr Carey said that divorce can lead to renewal and better relationships. 'I am not among those who say divorce is bad, full stop. We have to look at the whole context of relationships,' he added.

Dr Carey said his own family had suffered over broken marriages. One of his daughters is divorced and one of his sons is separated. 'God's ideal and the Church's ideal is that when you get married you get married in a lifelong relationship,' he said. But the Church had a duty to help people who 'rushed into ill-considered relationships'.

The archbishop has previously indicated a wish to clarify the arrangements for the remarriage of divorced people. At present, remarriage in church is at the discretion of individual vicars.