Fornicación
Fornicación refers to the practice of having sexual relations before marriage. Only someone who has never been married can commit fornicación, because if a married person has sex with someone who is not their spouse, it is considered Adulterio (Adultery). This distinction is based on a specific religious interpretation of Matthew 5:32 (common in the Dominican Republic), suggesting that the only biblical ground for divorce is the discovery that a bride was not a virgin on the wedding night, meaning she committed fornicación previously. If infidelity occurs after the marriage has already begun, the traditional view expressed here is that the couple may separate but must remain unmarried.
An example of Fornicación is found in the Book of Deuteronomy 22:13: When a man takes a wife, and after having gone in to her, he hates her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and says: I took this woman, and when I came to her, I did not find her a virgin; then the young woman's father and mother shall take and bring the signs of the young woman's virginity to the city elders at the gate. The father shall say to the elders: I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, and he hates her; and look, he charges her with shameful conduct, saying: I have not found your daughter a virgin; but here are the signs of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders. Then the elders shall take the man and punish him.
Automatically translated from Spanish
República Dominicana