The author of this study argues that the theology of the bond of marriage is responsible for an impasse which often limits the Catholic Church's official solutions to the granting of annulments. Tracing the history of the teaching on the marriage bond, he concludes that the present discipline is based on disputable theology. The book sets out the Catholic Church's dilemma between on the one hand defending its belief in the sanctity and purity of marraige, while on the other hand ministering the compassion of Christ to those traumatized by the experience of marital breakdown. It is based on a report on the pastoral care of the separated, divorced and remarried in England and Wales.