Headline from the Associated Press, from the Vatican:

POPE ASSERTS MARRIAGE IS FOREVER
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis opened a divisive meeting of the world's bishops on family issues Sunday by forcefully asserting that marriage is an indissoluble bond between man and woman. But he said the church doesn't judge and must "seek out and care for hurting couples with the balm of acceptance and mercy."

Francis dove head-on into the most pressing issue confronting the meeting of 270 bishops during a solemn Mass in St. Peter's Basilica: How to better minister to Catholic families experiencing separation, divorce and other problems when the church's teaching holds that marriage is forever.

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His Holiness implies by this statement that there will indeed be polygamy in heaven, since a person whose spouse dies (and whose marriage will be eternal) and then remarries (again, in a marriage that will be eternal), will obviously have more than one spouse in heaven.

Who would have believed that a Pope would endorse a doctrine peculiar to Mormonism?

Notice that he seems to be contradicting Jesus himself, who told the Pharisees that in heaven everybody is single.

Link:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3806f6df72a94e12b5584c058ab15292/pope-opens-family-meeting-and-sparks-are-expected-fly

They are all just making up whatever sounds good as they go, with little thought regarding how it fits into facts or their religion's previous "teachings."

The best thing about religion is that they never have to be right. It's a great gig.

1. Most people (even outside of TSCC) believe they will be with their spouses in heaven (assuming they are happy in their marriages). Short of that, most churches also follow what Christ said on marriage, that divorce is to be very limited - only being "pro pornia" which most churches interpret as adultery.
2. What Christ said to the Pharisees was modified by the instruction to Peter and the others: "Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven."

rhgc Wrote:
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> 2. What Christ said to the Pharisees was modified by the instruction to Peter and the others: "Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven."

The word translated as "bind" in Matt 16:19 is the Greek word 'deo', and it means to "tie up [like a prisoner]," that is, to restrict someone's freedom, with a negative connotation. It is used in that meaning about thirty times in the New Testament. Paul uses it three times to refer to a person being bound by the law to the spouse, (Rom 7:2, 1 Cor 7:27, 39), but even in those three passages he is speaking of being restricted in contrast to being free. A similar passage in John's gospel (20:23) hints at the correct intent of the passages: the release from sin.

Don't know what he actually said since he is known to go off the cuff frequently.
The official transcript of the homily, however, doesn't say "forever". It says "for life"

That would be in keeping with what the Catholic teaching is. For life.

Eternal marriage goes against Catholic doctrine. This came to a head when I dated a Catholic man. He swore that his church believed in eternal marriage just like my Mormon church. So I went to a priest and asked if this were so. The priest adamantly stated that there was no marriage in heaven and the Catholic church does not preach it. He remarked that according to the Catholic Church I would be sinning by marrying my guy friend because he was still married in the church to his divorced wife. But if his divorced wife died he could marry me because there is no marriage in heaven and he would be free. He said that marriage is only for this life. His explanation came from this quote by Jesus in the Bible:

"Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven."

The Evangelicals teach the same doctrine. I think the Pope is just telling people what they want to hear and not what has been approved as doctrine for years. This does not mean they will not see or be with their spouses. It just means they will no longer be bound by marriages from this life.