Brandmüller writes: "When looking at Antiquity, it's necessary to set aside today’s view: we must be very careful not to project on the early Church the ease with which today's society accepts divorce and remarriage. In pre-Christian antiquity, divorce and remarriage were already dealt with in a very restrictive way. It can certainly not be said that, in the era of the Fathers, the practice of divorce and remarriage was generalized. A second simultaneous marriage, i.e. a contract while the first spouse was still alive, was considered perpetual adultery and was never taken into consideration as a Christian choice."

This is the Cardinal’s conclusion: "An interpretation of the texts that wishes to follow correctly the requirements of the historical-critical method does not allow drawing the conclusions to which Cereti has come. Moreover, it does not seem superfluous to recall that only a consensus Patrum—a consensual teaching of the Fathers and not an arbitrary choice of texts—can claim to have doctrinal authority and, consequently, probative value for a new pastoral practice. It should also be remembered that the Spirit guides the Church into all truth (cf. Jn 16:13). This means that the Church progresses gradually into an ever deeper understanding of the truth. Since, on the other hand, the Holy Spirit cannot contradict himself in the course of history, no subsequent acquisition can contradict the previous ones."