VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul urged magistrates and lawyers Monday to avoid working on divorce cases, which he described as ``spreading like the plague.''
The Pope, spiritual leader of about one billion Catholics around the world, sent his warning to the legal profession during an annual meeting with Vatican magistrates.
``Marriage is indissoluble ... it doesn't make any sense to talk about the 'imposition' of human law, because it should reflect and protect natural and divine law,'' the Pope said.
``(Divorce) ... has devastating consequences that spread in society like the plague.''
As a result, judges and lawyers should refuse to use their professional skills with the goal of ending marriages, he said.
``Lawyers, who work freely, should always decline to use their professions for an end that is contrary to justice, like divorce,'' the 81-year-old Pope said.
While magistrates may find it more difficult to avoid being assigned marriage cases, the Pope said they must strive to prevent divorce.
``Those working in civil law cases should avoid being personally involved in what could be understood as cooperating in divorce...they should look for effective measures to favor marriage, above all mediating conciliation,'' he said.
The Catholic Church is vehemently opposed to divorce and homosexual unions which it says threaten the ``natural institution'' of the family.