Friday, February 13, Catholic University of America Press will release the new English translation of What Binds Marriage Forever by Ida Friederike Görres.
In 1971, when enthusiasts of the sexual revolution were no longer merely outside the walls of the Church but, in Germany at least, now inside, Ida Görres penned this, her final book. What Binds Marriage Forever is a moving, fascinating defense of the indissolubility of marriage, as relevant in 2026 as when it was written.
On Feb. 13 at 3:00 PM, the Catholic Information Center in Washington, DC is hosting an event about the book, featuring Dr Jonathan Bieler of the John Paul II Institute at CUA.
Register for Feb. 13 Book Event
Binds Marriage Forever includes an introduction by Bieler and a study guide with questions about the book for personal reflection, the classroom, and book groups.
When Catholics speak of marriage, they easily fall into one of two pitfalls: either they try to be too sublime, leaving no room for the mess of human intimacy, or they stress the human factor to such an extent that there is no place for sacramental mystery. Ida Görres steers clear of both extremes. With intelligence, precision, and a sense of poetry, she probes the theology of marriage through a lens of incarnation. The result is a compellingly fresh, credible account.
~Bishop Erik Varden, Bishop of Trondheim
Reading this series of reflections on marital indissolubility is like walking around and around an intricate work of art with a curator who can continually bring new aspects to light. And because the Catholic doctrine of marital indissolubility remains challenging, inspiring, and contested in the 21st century, Görres’s insights are as fresh today as they were 50 years ago.
~Helen M. Alvaré, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
In What Binds Marriage Forever, Ida Görres speaks directly to the reader in a form that assumes, bracingly, a shared search for the truth. Without a forest of scholarly citations, she confronts modern attitudes towards marriage with the confidence of ready Scriptural knowledge, a deep understanding of common experience, and a grasp of fundamental moral principles. Jennifer Bryson’s erudite translation and thoughtful editing of this work enable the English speaker to access an important resource for approaching this highly relevant topic of our day, marriage: a topic with unique implications for the well being of children, society, and ultimately, as St. Paul tells us, our very conception of faith, understood as God’s nuptial relationship with His Church.
~Leila Marie Lawler, author, Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life; God Has No Grandchildren: A guided reading of Pius XI’s encyclical Casti Connubii
Informative and inspirational, rather like a powerful and erudite sermon. It could bring about a major change in mindset for the reader who begins the book in disagreement with the doctrine of indissolubility, and for those who are more sympathetic to the author’s positions, it will strengthen the conviction with which they hold their beliefs. Despite their age, the essays are especially timely in light of the recent Synod on the Family and the post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
~Timothy J. Cavanaugh, Diocese of Madison, WI
From an interview by CUA Press with the translator of this book:
Q. “Tell us about the painting on the cover. What does a walnut have to do with marriage?”
A. The painting on the cover is “Walnut of Eden” by Vladimir Kush (b. 1965). It has an uncanny overlap with an image Görres uses in discussing marriage. This passage is in an epigraph in What Binds Marriage Forever. She writes, “Like a nut in its shell, the married couple’s relationship with each other rested within something… This protective and supportive housing of the past has long since been broken open, and the interior stands naked in an environment that has changed.”
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