Is it a sin to give up your spouse to devote your life to becoming a saint in the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

That depends on what you mean by "give up your spouse". If you are legitimately married in the Catholic Church, which is a sacrament, which helps you on your way to salvation, then your way to salvation INCLUDES helping your spouse to become a saint, so there few ways in which you can become a saint without at least helping your spouse to also become a saint. In the past, there have been instances where both spouses, out of love for God, have mutually agreed to separate and enter religious life, or the husband to become a priest, and the wife to enter a convent. This would probably come under the same theory that allowed a religious to leave their Order if they were willing to enter a *stricter* Order, for instance, a Benedictine could get permission from the Vatican to be released from his vows to his monastery in order to enter a Cistercian or Trappist monastery, or Carthusian hermitage.

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However, to just LEAVE your spouse to try to become a saint would result in failure before you ever started, as you may never do evil to try to do good, and to "give up" your spouse would normally be evil in and of itself. If you are having these thoughts, you should disclose them fully to your confessor or spiritual director immediately.