Moral Theology / A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities

by John A. McHugh; Charles J. Callan

Art. 4: HOLY ORDERS; MATRIMONY

(_Summa Theologica_, Supplement, qq. 34-68.)

2776. The first five Sacraments arc necessary for the spiritual welfare of individuals, the remaining two, which are the subject of this Article, are needful, not for each person, but for the Church as a body. A member of the Church may save his soul though he remains outside the priesthood and the married state, but the spiritual good of the Church itself requires both Orders and Matrimony. Without Orders the Church would be deprived of her rulers, teachers and ministers of divine things; without Matrimony the family would lack that sacramental protection which is so important for the Christian home and the right rearing of members of society.

2777. The Sacrament of Orders.—The spiritual office and power of a member of the clergy is called Orders on account of the order or rank of superiority which it gives in the Church. The rite or Sacrament by which an Order is conferred is strictly called Ordination, and hence it is more correct to speak of the Sacrament of Ordination than of the Sacrament of Orders. Ordination may be defined as “a Sacrament of the New Law in which a member of the clergy receives spiritual power in reference to the Eucharist and the grace to exercise properly the duties of his office.”

(a) Orders is conferred only on a member of the clergy. Just as Baptism is preceded by catechumenate and Matrimony by espousals or engagement, so is Ordination preceded by tonsure, a ceremony instituted by the Church whereby a man is separated from the laity and enrolled among clerics with a view to prepare him for Holy Orders. The candidate for tonsure must be a male who has received Baptism and Confirmation (_sub levi_), and who has begun his course of theology; he sins if he approaches without a divine vocation or with the purpose not to go on for the priesthood. The privileges of clerics are those of forum and canon, and they are capable of receiving Orders, jurisdiction and benefice (Canons 108 sqq). In the reception of tonsure the cleric is admonished to make his life agree with the garb which he then assumes, or, in other words, to cultivate the special virtues of his state (see 2596 sqq.).

(b) Ordination confers spiritual power in reference to the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Sacraments. Just as the sacred vessels of the altar receive a permanent consecration, so likewise the ministers of the altar are set apart by Ordination, which confers upon them an indelible character with the power to exercise higher or lower offices in reference to the supreme Sacrament and the sole Sacrifice of the New Law. Hence, an Order once conferred is eternal and the Ordination cannot be repeated.

(c) Ordination confers grace, which is _per se_ second grace, or an increase of holiness. The special feature of the grace of Orders is its suitability for the duties of the person ordained, for, where God imposes a special obligation, He confers also a special grace. It is clear that the duties of the ordained in reference to the real Body of Christ (i.e., duties as to the Eucharist and divine worship) and the mystical Body of Christ (i.e., duties to the faithful who receive the Eucharist and the other Sacraments) call for a high degree of virtue and a life edifying to all. Hence the need of a special grace in Ordination.

2778. Distinction of the Orders.—The following distinctions of the orders or ranks of the clergy should be noted:

(a) an Order is either sacramental or non-sacramental, according as it was instituted by Christ Himself or by the Church. It is the teaching of St. Thomas that all of the Orders are sacramental in character, but there is not the same degree of certainty in each case. As to the priesthood, there is the certainty of defined dogma; as to the diaconate (and also episcopal consecration according to many) there is theological certainty, but no definition of faith; as to the subdiaconate, and the lower Orders, there is probability;

(b) an Order is Major (sacred) or Minor (non-sacred) according as its functions are concerned with consecrated or non-consecrated matter in the celebration of the Eucharist. The Major Orders, therefore, are the priesthood (whose office is to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ), diaconate (whose office is to dispense Communion to the faithful), and sub-diaconate (whose office is to prepare the bread and wine of the sacrifice in the consecrated vessels, that is, the chalice and paten). The Minor Orders are those that prepare the matter of the Eucharist in non-consecrated vessels (acolythate), or that dispose the people for the Eucharist by freeing them from the impediments of demonic influence (exorcistate) or of ignorance (lectorate), or that exclude unbelievers from participation in the sacred rites (portership). To the Sacred Orders, on account of their closer approach to the Eucharist, are annexed the duties of celibacy and of the Divine Office.

2779. The Hierarchy of Orders and Jurisdiction.—The Orders of the clergy may be considered, not only in reference to power over the real Body of Christ (i.e., the Eucharist), but also in reference to power over the mystical Body of Christ (i.e., the Church). Those who have power over the members of the Church belong to the hierarchy, and this is understood in two senses:

(a) the hierarchy of Orders is composed of those who receive in Ordination a permanent superiority over others in reference to the worship of God and the sanctification of souls by the ministry of the Sacraments. From divine institution this hierarchy is composed of the three ranks of bishops, priests, and deacons; and from ecclesiastical institution of the lower clergy in Orders. Thus, the deacon is able to baptize and administer Communion as extraordinary minister; the priest is the ordinary minister of Baptism and the Eucharist, and only a priest can act as minister of Penance and Extreme Unction; the bishop is the minister, not only of the Sacraments mentioned, but also of Confirmation and Orders;

(b) the hierarchy of jurisdiction is composed of those members of the Church who receive in their accepted election or canonical commission a power over the faithful which can be lost or resigned, and which relates to the instruction and government of subjects in matters of faith and morals. From divine law this hierarchy is composed of the Supreme Pontificate and the subordinate Episcopate; from ecclesiastical law there are other ranks of authority, such as those of parish-priest, prelate, abbot, archbishop, primate, patriarch and cardinal.

2780. The Matter and Form of the Various Orders in the Latin Church.—(a) In the Minor Orders the matter consists in the bestowal of the symbols of office, and the form in the words of ordination that accompany this bestowal. The porter is ordained when he touches with his right hand the keys of the church which the bishop presents to him with the words: “Conduct yourself as one who must give an accounting for the things that are under those keys”, the reader, when he touches the lectionary (i.e., Missal, Breviary, Bible) offered him by the bishop with the form: “Receive this book and announce well the Word of God, knowing that, if you perform your office faithfully and usefully, you shall receive a portion with those who from the beginning have been good ministers of God’s word”; the exorcist, when he touches the book of exorcisms (e.g., the Ritual, Pontifical or Missal) presented to him with the words: “Receive and commit to memory and have power to impose hands on the possessed, whether baptized or catechumens”, the acolyte, when he touches the symbols of his office (i.e., first the candle and candlestick, next the empty cruet), while the words are said: “Receive this candlestick and candle and know that you are deputed to light the lamps of the church, in the name of the Lord”; “Receive this cruet to furnish the wine and water for the Eucharist of the blood of Christ, in the name of the Lord.” “Amen” should be added by the acolyte after each form.

(b) In the subdiaconate, ordination is given when the candidate touches the empty chalice and the paten (the Bishop saying: “See what a ministry is committed to you; I admonish you, therefore, so to conduct yourselves that you may be pleasing to God”) and the Book of Epistles, such as Missal or Bible (the Bishop saying: “Receive the Book of Epistles and have power to read them in the holy Church of God, both for the living and for the dead. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”).

(c) Pope Pius XII in an official decree, an Apostolic Constitution of Nov. 30, 1947 (see AAS, 40-5), determined the essential elements of ordination to diaconate, priesthood and episcopate. Formerly this had been a matter of discussion among theologians. In the diaconate ordination is given by the single imposition of the hands of the Bishop that occurs in the rite with the words of the “Preface,” of which these are the essential: “Send into him, We ask, O Lord, the Holy Spirit, by which he shall be strengthened by the gift of Thy sevenfold grace for the faithful performance of the work of the ministry.”

(d) The matter of the priesthood is the first imposition of hands of the Bishop which is made in silence. The form consists in the words of the “Preface” of which these are the essential and required for validity: “Give, we ask Thee, omnipotent Father, to this Thy servant the dignity of the priesthood ...”

(e) In episcopal consecration the matter is the imposition of the hands of the consecrating Bishop; the form is the “Preface,” the essential words being: “Fill out in Thy priest the fullness of the ministry....”

It is a disputed matter whether the episcopacy is a distinct Order from the priesthood or simply an extension of it. The common opinion favors the negative side and consequently maintains that the consecration of a Bishop is not sacramental. Accordingly, the supreme Order of Priesthood includes the simple priests or presbyters and the high priests or bishops. The episcopacy confers no new power in reference to the Eucharist, but it extends the character of the priesthood to new powers in reference to Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church.

2781. The Minister of Ordination.—(a) For validity it is necessary that the minister be a consecrated bishop; but the Orders of ecclesiastical institution (i.e., subdiaconate and Minor Orders) may be given by a priest authorized by law, or by special indult of the Apostolic See. Thus, Cardinals, Vicars and Prefects Apostolic, and Abbots have the power of conferring tonsure and Minor Orders from Canon 239.

(b) For lawfulness it is necessary that the consecrator of a bishop be the Pope or a bishop designated by him; that the ordainer to other ranks of the clergy be the proper bishop of the candidate (i.e., the bishop of his place of origin and residence or of his place of domicile), or a delegated bishop (i.e., the bishop who has received dimissorial letters from the proper bishop or religious superior). See Canons 951-967.

2782. The Special Duties of the Minister.-(a) As to the ordinandus, the ordaining prelate must be morally certain from positive arguments that the candidate is suitable according to the Canons; otherwise he would be guilty of a very grievous sin and would expose himself to the danger of sharing in the sins of others (I Tim., v. 22; Canon 973, n. 3).

(b) As to the ordination, the minister is bound to observe the law on time and place, and to follow carefully and exactly the ceremonies of his own Rite. If anything essential is omitted, it has to be supplied, absolutely or conditionally, according as there is certain or only doubtful lack. The omission of an accidental but notable ceremony (e.g., the anointing of hands) would be seriously culpable (Canons 1002-1009).

2783. The Recipient of Orders.—(a) For validity it is necessary that the recipient be of the male sex, for the divine law has reserved sacerdotal and ministerial functions to men, and the church law has properly followed this example in regard to the Orders that are of church institution; the recipient must be baptized, for without Baptism one has no capacity for other Sacraments; if he is an adult, he must have at least an habitual intention freely formed of receiving the Order to which he is raised.

(b) For lawfulness it is not sufficient that the recipient be in the state of grace, since Ordination is not merely a personal matter, but also a matter of great consequence to the whole Church. The recipient of Orders takes his place among the representatives and ministers of the Church, and therefore he should have the special qualities that fit him for his dignity and office. Intellectually, the ordinandus must be competent in theological and profane knowledge, and must have made a satisfactory course of studies (Canons 972, 1364 sqq., 589-591). According to the Code, first tonsure should not be given before the study of theology has begun, Minor Orders may be given during the first and second years of theology, subdeaconship only towards the end of the third year, deaconship only after the beginning of the fourth year, and priesthood only after the first half of the fourth year (Canon 976). Morally, the ordinandus should be of commendable life and have the internal and external excellence which is supposed by the Order he is to receive. Virtues to which the Pontifical especially exhorts clerics at their ordination are love and labor given to the Church and the things of God’s house (porter), devotion to the Scriptures and sacred study (lector), conquest of passion (exorcist), the light of good example and the self-sacrifice of good works (acolyte), temperance, vigilance, prayerfulness (subdeacon), liberality to the poor, chastity, fortitude, zeal for preaching the word of God (deacon), elderliness in dignity, leadership in virtue, and justice in stewardship (priesthood). No one should be admitted to a Sacred Order who is unable to overcome a serious habit of sin (especially _in materia turpi_), even though secret; and if there is doubt about amendment, a test during a suitable period of time should be made.

2784. Canonical Requirements for Ordination.—(a) Positive requirements are: proper age (that is, the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-fourth years completed are necessary for subdeaconship, deaconship, priesthood, respectively); Confirmation should have been received before Ordination, for it is suitable that those who are to strengthen others in the faith should have the character of soldier of Christ; promotion from Order to Order should be from lower to higher in proper succession, that fitness may be shown in lesser offices before the greater are received; an interval must elapse between certain Orders, which will give to clerics the opportunity to exercise the powers they have received (e.g., between acolythate and subdiaconate a year, between subdiaconate and diaconate three months); the candidate for sacred ordination must have a title or some canonical means of support (i.e., for secular clergy the title of benefice, or patrimony or ministerial service; for religious the title of profession, common life, etc.). The law allows certain dispensations from some of these requirements (Canons 974 sqq.).

(b) Negative requirements are freedom from certain disabilities introduced by the Church for the sake of the honor and dignity of the sacred ministry. Some of these disqualifications are of their nature permanent, and they are removed only by dispensation or by disposition of the law (e.g., in certain cases by cessation of the cause, or by baptism, or by religious profession), and these are known as irregularities; other disqualifications, which are of their nature temporary and cease with lapse of time or changes in circumstances, are known as simple impediments. The effect of disqualification is to make it unlawful to receive an Order, or to exercise an Order already received. Irregularities are produced either by deficiency or by delinquency, but the cause in either case must be certain; and, in case of delinquency, it must be a personal sin committed after Baptism, which is mortal, external, and consummated in act. The irregularities from defect are: illegitimate birth; mental imperfection (such as epilepsy, insanity, possession); bodily imperfection that makes one unsuited for the service of the altar, on account of mutilation (e.g., those who have lost hand or foot, or thumb or index finger), or of unsoundness (e.g., the blind, the deaf, the dumb, cripples, paralytics), or of very noticeable deformity that excites ridicule or horror (e.g., dwarfs, giants, noseless persons, those who are hunchbacked); successive bigamy, that is, the fact that one has been twice validly married, for St. Paul ruled that a cleric should be a man of not more than one wife (I Tim., iii. 2, 12; Tit., i. 5, 6); infamy of law, that is, the commission of certain crimes which the law declares infamous _ipso facto_ or after sentence (such as profanation of the Eucharist or of graves, violence done to the Pope or a Cardinal, duelling, simultaneous bigamy, and certain sexual sins); participation in capital punishment by pronouncing (i.e., as judge or juryman) or executing the sentence of death. The irregularities from delinquency are: apostasy, heresy, schism; reception of Baptism from a non-Catholic; attempt at adulterous or sacrilegious marriage; voluntary homicide, cooperation in an abortion, mutilation of self or of another, attempt to commit suicide; unlawful exercise of medicine or surgery by a cleric with fatal results; unlawful exercise of the powers of Major Orders by a cleric or layman. The simple impediments are found in the following: in those who may be weak in faith, namely, persons whose parents are non-Catholics, or who are themselves converts (I Tim., iii. 6); in those who are prevented by other occupations, namely, persons held by marriage, business forbidden to clerics, slavery, military service (II Tim., ii. 4); in those who are actually in bad repute before the community on account of misconduct (I Tim., iii. 7). See Canons 983-991.

2785. Duties of Ordinandi According to Canon Law.—(a) Before Ordination.—Application to the bishop must be made beforehand at an opportune time, and testimonials of Baptism, Confirmation, Orders already received, certificates of good character and studies, and letters from superiors testifying to freedom from impediments and general fitness must be presented. The candidate must undergo a special examination and make a spiritual retreat before the day of his ordination. The profession of faith is made before subdeaconship.

(b) During Ordination.—All the ceremonies should be observed, and especially the physical touching of the instruments (chalice and paten, etc.), which seems to be essential in Minor Orders and the Subdiaconate. In the imposition of the hands in the other Major Orders, the head of the subject should be touched physically, although even moral touch is sufficient for validity of the Sacrament (Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution already cited). The law requires that the recipients of Major Orders receive Communion, and the obligations seems to be grave for the new priests, since they celebrate with the bishop.

(c) After Ordination.—The nocturn (three Psalms and their antiphons) which the ordaining prelate imposes on the newly ordained subdeacons and deacons should be taken from the first nocturn of the day, whether it be feria, feast or Sunday, unless the bishop appoints otherwise. The three Masses of the Holy Ghost, Blessed Virgin, and for the dead, imposed on the newly ordained priests, need not be applied for the bishop’s intention, and a stipend may be taken when they are said; but it is fitting that they be applied in thanksgiving and for the benefit of the bishop as well as of the whole Church on earth and in Purgatory. These prayers and Masses do not seem to oblige under sin, though some hold them to bind _sub gravi_. On the life duties of the clergy, see above (2596 sqq.).

2786. Registration of Ordinations.—As in the case of marriage, ordinations should be registered in a special book and notice of them (if subdiaconate was received) should be sent to the pastor of the parish of Baptism. A certificate of ordination is also to be given to the cleric ordained (Canons 1010, 1011).

2787. The Sacrament of Matrimony.—Marriage in general is defined as “the conjugal union of man and woman, contracted between two qualified persons, which obliges them to one another for life.”

(a) The word union may be taken actively for the passing act of internal and external consent, and then it refers to marriage in its state of becoming, as it is a contract and (among Christians) a Sacrament; or it may be taken, as it were passively, for the bond that results from the mutual consent pledged by the parties, and then it refers to marriage as a permanent state of life.

(b) The marriage union is conjugal; that is, its end is the procreation and rearing of children, or the making of a family, and it therefore gives the right to the natural acts of generation. A contract which has other ends (e.g., a business agreement of labor or of partnership), or which excludes procreation (e.g., an agreement of onanistic concubinage), is not a marriage.

(c) Marriage is between qualified persons, for certain individuals are excluded by natural, divine or human law from making a valid contract of marriage.

(d) Marriage is between two, one man and one woman. This unity of marriage is its first property, resulting from its nature as a relationship intended primarily for the propagation of the race and its proper upbringing, and secondarily for the peace and contentment of the married couple, their mutual assistance to one another, and their protection against carnal temptations (299). For polyandry is opposed to both these ends, and therefore to natural law, while polygamy does not accord well with the secondary ends of matrimony and is forbidden for all by the law of Christ (“They shall be two in one flesh,” Matt., xix. 3 sqq.). On the permission of polygamy in the later Old Testament ages, see 303, 311.

(e) Marriage obliges the parties to one another for life. This indissolubility of marriage is its second property, and also follows from the natural ends of marriage. For the right propagation of the human race is a matter that concerns not merely the married couple or human society, but also God Himself, who is matrimony’s immediate author and lawgiver, and God has decreed that marriage be unbreakable except in the few instances allowed by Himself: “What God hath joined together let no man put asunder” (Matt., xix. 6). Since the good of marriage is inferior to the good of faith, the divine law permits a dissolution of the bond in the case known as the Pauline Privilege (I Cor., vii. 12-15); similarly, in a very few instances where there is a serious good more important than the preservation of the bond (the faith of a convert from infidelity, the observance of the counsel of chastity, the public welfare), and where the bond itself has not the strength of sacramentality (i.e., in a non-Christian marriage), or has not been consummated in a Christian marriage, the divine law authorizes the Church, the representative of God, to decree a dissolution (see 363, 314). Not only are these cases few, but the conditions are strict (see Canons 1120-1127), and hence these exceptions are no menace to the ends of marriage. But once consummation has been added to consent in a Christian marriage, thereby perfecting the natural contract and extending the sacramental signification from the mystical and severable union of Christ with the soul by grace to the physical and perpetual union of Christ with the Church by the Incarnation, the indissolubility becomes complete and admits of no exception. The bill of divorce under the Mosaic Law seems to have been a true and complete dissolution of the marriage tie, but there is good reason to think that it was a toleration of the Jewish civil code, not a permission given by God. The valid marriages of infidels as such are not subject to the judgment of the Church; and the civil authority has no power to dissolve them (even when they are childless), otherwise individuals and the family and the State will suffer, as experience proves.

2788. Distinctions.—(a) In reference to validity, marriage may be true (i.e., validly contracted), or presumed (i.e., taken by the law to be validly contracted on account of some fact, as when the validity of a marriage was not attacked during the lifetime of the parties), putative (i.e., really invalid, but contracted in good faith by at least one of the spouses and not yet known by both to be certainly null), attempted (i.e., contracted invalidly in bad faith, at least one of the parties being aware of an invalidating impediment).

(b) In reference to perfection, marriage is legitimate (when it is validly contracted between non-baptized persons), ratified or sacramental (when it is celebrated between baptized persons), consummated (when the consent given in the contract is subsequently completed by the conjugal act). It seems that marriage lawfully contracted between a baptized and a non-baptized person is not ratified or sacramental, for, as the consent must be mutual, so should the Sacrament be mutual. But a marriage free from substantial defects is always a Sacrament, even though the contractants do not wish this, when it is contracted between Christians, whether they be Catholics or non-Catholics; and a marriage contracted between non-Christians becomes a Sacrament on the Baptism of the parties.

(c) In reference to its manner, marriage may be clandestine (i.e., not celebrated before the pastor and two witnesses), or secret (i.e., celebrated before the pastor and two witnesses pledged to secrecy, and without the publicity the Church ordinarily requires), public (i.e., celebrated before pastor and witnesses and with publicity such as announcement to the people and registration in the usual marriage book). The secret marriage is also known as a marriage of conscience (Canons 1104-1107).

(d) In reference to the law under which it is performed, marriage is either canonical or civil. A purely civil marriage between Catholics is invalid, as far as the bond is concerned, since their contract, as being a Sacrament, is subject to the Church. But the civil marriage, as far as the purely civil consequences are concerned, is a lawful ceremony, and is obligatory if required by law. A morganatic marriage is made between two persons of unequal condition (e.g., between a king and a plebeian woman) on condition that the inferior spouse and progeny shall not share entirely in the titles and property of the superior spouse.

2789. The Elements of the Contract of Marriage.—(a) The subject-matter of the contract is the conjugal right or the lawful power of exercising with the other party acts suitable for generation.

(b) The ends of the contract are, primarily, the good of the race and of the children, and secondarily the good of the couple through mutual assistance and protection in spiritual and temporal matters. To these general ends may be added others which a particular person has in view, such as dignity, wealth, honor, lawful pleasure.

(c) The essence of the contract is the consent, for every pact consists in mutual agreement. But if marriage be regarded as a permanent state, its essence is the bond of union, and consent is the efficient cause productive of the bond. Marriage consent must have the qualities (internal, external, mutual, free) that are necessary in every contract, as explained in 1883.

2790. Requirements for Valid Marriage Consent.—(a) Internal Consent.—If both or one of the parties internally and positively wills to exclude marriage, or the right to the conjugal act, or an essential property of marriage, the contract is null, since there is no purpose to contract a real marriage. Similarly, if both or one of the parties negatively (or by lack of all intention) excludes consent, there is no marriage. It should be noted that he who intends to get a divorce later on does not intend a permanent union or marriage, whereas he who intends to be unfaithful or to practise onanism may nevertheless intend to oblige himself to the duties of fidelity and of the lawful use of marriage, and therefore to a true marriage. Fictitious consent, unless a serious reason excuses (e.g., when one is forced under grave fear to marry, when one becomes aware of a diriment impediment at the altar and cannot retire without great scandal), is a mortal sin, as being a lie in a very important matter and an injustice. If the other party was deceived, the party guilty of feigned consent is bound to make reparation for the damage done, and, unless the marriage has become impossible or inadvisable, the means of reparation should be a genuine consent revalidating the marriage. This is especially true when there is a conflict between the internal and the external forums on account of the inability to establish juridically the nullity of the invalid marriage.

(b) External Consent.—Both as contract and as Sacrament, matrimony requires some sensible manifestation of the internal consent. Since the contract of marriage between Christians falls under the jurisdiction of the Church, the manner of expressing the consent is regulated by Canon Law. The solemnities required for valid and lawful marriage will be treated below in 2826, 2827.

(c) Mutual Consent.—Both parties must agree to the marriage, since no one is obliged by a contract without his consent. But mutuality does not imply simultaneity, for, if the previous consent given by one party continues, the subsequent consent given by the other is joined to it and the consent becomes mutual.

(d) Free Consent.—If every contract must be deliberate and voluntary, this is especially true in the case of marriage, since it entails very heavy duties and its obligations are lifelong (cfr. 2195). In marriage there must be full and perfect consent, though it is not necessary that one think expressly on the essentials of the contract when assenting to it.

2791. Defects in Consent.—Consent supposes sufficient knowledge, and hence it may be vitiated by a defect as to knowledge.

(a) Mental Derangement.—Those who are not in possession of their mental faculties cannot marry, whether the derangement be habitual (e.g., idiots, the completely insane, monomaniacs on the subject of marriage) or actual (e.g., infants, those who are completely drunk or doped, the hypnotized or delirious, somnambulists). But defectives who are not unbalanced all the time or on all subjects, may be able now and then to realize the meaning of marriage and to give deliberate consent, though the presumption is against them. Those whose mentality is of a low grade, but who are able to judge and reason correctly (e.g., stupid persons, the deaf and dumb, or blind), and those who have some little fanaticism or eccentricity are not excluded; otherwise very few of either sex could marry.

(b) Ignorance.—Substantial ignorance, or the absence of knowledge about the essentials of marriage (viz., that it is a permanent association of man and woman for the purpose of raising children of their own), makes the contract null, for one does not consent to what one does not know. Accidental ignorance, on the contrary, does not nullify, for he who understands the main facts about marriage can intend to contract it as others do, even though he does not know its details or secondary features. Ignorance invalidates marriage, therefore, if one of the parties does not know that marriage is meant for the procreation of children or that children are procreated by carnal intercourse; but it does not invalidate if the parties are ignorant about physiology or scientific explanations. Substantial ignorance in persons of marriageable age (especially young women) is not uncommon even in these days, but it is not presumed after puberty (Canon 1082, Sec.2).

(c) Error.—Error which excludes consent to the essential object of the contract nullifies, and hence a substantial error about the person with whom one is contracting makes marriage of no effect (e.g., if Titus thinks he is marrying Claudia, but is really marrying her twin sister, Sempronia; if Balbus intends to marry Caia only on condition that she is a virgin and she is not a virgin; if Julius intends to marry the woman who is present solely as differentiated by a personal or individual characteristic which he mistakenly believes her to have, such as seniority among her sisters). Error which does not prevent essential consent does not nullify the contract. Hence, a mere accidental error about the other party (e.g., Titus marries Claudia, thinking she is rich, whereas she is poor, and he would never have married her had he known her poverty) does not make marriage null, though the Church makes the marriage of no effect when a slave is married in the belief that he or she is free (Canon 1083, Sec.2, n, 2). A mere speculative error about the properties of marriage (e.g., if one believes that marriage may be lawfully dissolved for adultery) or about the validity of one’s own marriage (e.g., if the bride erroneously believes that the marriage she is contracting is null) does not deprive the contract of its force, if there is really a purpose to marry as best one may; for such an error does not act upon the will or take away consent.

2792. Forced Consent.—Consent also supposes self-determination, and hence in certain cases force or fear makes a marriage null and unlawful.

(a) Effect on Validity.—Coercion nullifies marriage from natural law, when overpowering physical might extorts an external assent, or when moral violence so terrifies as to unsettle the reason; from church law at least, when being grave, external and unjustly caused, it compels one to marry in order to escape the evil it inflicts or threatens. In other cases fear does not void marriage, even though it be the cause of the contract, as when the fear is slight, or when it is induced by shipwreck or by the fear of sin, or when a seducer marries only because he is threatened with prosecution unless he marries the girl whom he seduced.

(b) Effect on Lawfulness.—He who by intimidation impels another to marry, sins gravely if the fear is unjust and grave, or unjust and productive of serious evils; he sins venially if the fear, though unjust, is light and not productive of serious evils; he sins not at all; if the fear is justly caused, unless he offends charity by his manner of acting; revengeful spirit, etc. He who marries knowing that the other party is forced into the contract, is guilty of serious injustice; and he who marries unwillingly, but with the purpose to live as if he were validly married, sins gravely by his will to live in impurity.

2793. Conditional Consent.—Conditional consent is that in which the agreement to marriage is made dependent on some fact or event.

(a) A condition makes marriage invalid if it neutralizes consent (e.g., if the condition is _de praesenti_ but unfulfilled; if it is _de futuro_ and against the substance of marriage; if it is impossible but seriously added); it suspends marriage if it is _de futuro_, possible, and not against the substance of marriage; it neither nullifies nor suspends if it is _de praesenti_ or _de praeterito_ and fulfilled. In law the presumption is that _de futuro_ necessary or impossible conditions and shameful conditions are not serious, or are modes rather than conditions (see 1886), and of course in the external forum invalidity on account of a condition has to be proved. Conditions against the substance of marriage are such as deny essential conjugal rights or duties (i.e., the right to have conjugal intercourse, the duty of fidelity to the consort, of loyalty to the bond); but they should not be confused with the purpose to violate marriage engagements, or with a resolution, or a vow, or a pact in the form of a mode, not to make use of the right to conjugal intercourse.

(b) A condition added to marriage consent is gravely sinful, unless there is a very urgent reason for it; otherwise most serious evils would result. Moreover, there is responsibility in justice for culpable damages, as when one party gives consent conditionally without the knowledge or against the will of the other party. A suspensive condition (e.g., “if my parents will consent”) is regularly unlawful without the bishop’s permission, and marriage rights may not be used in a marriage dependent on a condition whose fulfillment is not known to the parties. It is unlawful to make a vow or promise of chastity in the married life unless there is moral certainty that it will be kept.

2794. The Elements of Marriage as a Sacrament.—(a) The matter and form of marriage are found in the contract, for the Sacrament is the natural pact elevated to the dignity of a sacred sign productive of grace. The remote matter is, therefore, the bodies of the spouses, or the bodily rights which they give one another (I Cor., vii. 4). Since the indeterminate part of a contract is the offer or bestowal, and the determinate part the approval, the proximate matter of Matrimony is found in the grant of mutual conjugal rights externally manifested, and the form in the acceptance of that right externally manifested.

(b) The ministers and the recipients of Matrimony are the parties themselves, since it is they alone who make and receive the contract. In order to be a recipient of the Sacrament it is necessary that a person be baptized and be free from all natural, divine and human impediments that make one incapable of the contract of marriage.

(c) The effects of Matrimony are _per se_ second grace, which increases sanctity and is of help especially for the due performance throughout life of the duties of the conjugal state and for domestic blessedness and happiness.

2795. Duties in Connection with Marriage.—The duties in reference to marriage as a permanent state of life were treated already in 2613 sqq., and we shall consider here only the duties that have to do with marriage as a contract and a Sacrament. These duties can be arranged under three heads: (a) before marriage, there are obligations in reference to the preparation for marriage, which consists remotely in engagement or espousals, and proximately in compliance with duties owed to divine, ecclesiastical, and civil law (e.g., license from the State, establishment of freedom to marry, proclamation of banns, dispensations, confession); (b) during marriage, in addition to the common obligations of intention and a state of grace, there are special duties in reference to the external form or rite of marriage; (c) after marriage, there is a duty of making canonical records and of validating defective marriages.

2796. Betrothal or Engagement.—Engagement is a promise of their future marriage made by competent persons.

(a) It is a promise, either unilateral or bilateral, the latter being espousals or betrothal in the strict sense of the word (1749). Like every promise, engagement is not binding unless it be made with requisite deliberation and freedom from force and fear. But a valid engagement to marry has not the same strength, either from divine or from human law, as a contract of marriage, and hence fraud or light fear unjustly produced and which induces one to become engaged leaves the engagement rescindable at the will of the innocent party. Canon Law requires certain formalities for a valid engagement, and without them there is no obligation in either forum. The law is that the contract of betrothal be in writing, and be signed by the parties and also by the pastor or local Ordinary or two witnesses, and that, if one or both of the parties be unable to write, this be noted in the document and an extra witness be added (Canon 1017).

(b) It is a promise made by competent persons. Hence, there is no valid engagement if a party is incapable either naturally (e.g., one who has not the use of reason) or canonically (e.g., one who has not attained the age of seven years). It is against good morals to be engaged to two persons at the same time, with the understanding that one will marry the second after the expected death of the first; and much more is it immoral for a married person to become engaged to marry another, the marriage to take place after the death of the present consort. Some canonists hold that engagements are not valid before the age of puberty, on account of the lack of sufficient discretion.

(c) It is a promise of future marriage, that is, a contract to marry, not a contract of marriage. A nuptial engagement is invalid if the marriage promised is invalid or unlawful, for no one can bind himself to sin. An invalid marriage is promised if there is a diriment and not dispensable impediment in the way, or if in spite of a removable impediment the engagement is unconditional, unless the mind of the parties is to marry after the impediment has ceased. The Church seems to regard as null an engagement made on the condition that the Pope will dispense an impediment. An unlawful marriage is promised when the parties cannot marry without sin (e.g., when the marriage will bring great sorrow or disgrace on parents), or when they promise to marry in a sinful way (e.g., with the understanding that they will abuse marriage). But an unlawful promise of a lawful marriage is not necessarily invalid, and hence an engagement dependent on an immoral condition not opposed to the substance of marriage would become obligatory on fulfillment of the condition (see 1878 d, 1886).

2797. It should be noted that the former diriment and impedient impediments produced by espousals are no longer in force, and even a valid engagement gives no right to an action for the celebration of marriage.

2798. Is an Engagement Necessary before Marriage?—(a) An engagement is not strictly necessary. Neither the validity nor the lawfulness of marriage depends on espousals, for there is no law that requires this. Hence, if for a reasonable cause a man and woman married without any previous binding pledge on either side, the marriage would be good and lawful. The formal engagements of Canon Law are not common in this country, but an informal engagement usually precedes matrimony.

(b) Engagement is most suitable and useful. Men are accustomed to fit themselves by long and serious study for the business of a profession or calling, and to enter into preliminary agreements about contracts of major importance (as in contracts to sell), and certainly marriage, a contract and vocation that binds until death and upon which the spiritual and temporal welfare of society and individuals rests, is among the most momentous of human agreements. The special advantage of engagement is that it affords a means of preventing hasty and ill-advised unions, of discovering impediments, of securing the consent of parents, and of preparing oneself in knowledge and virtue for the duties of the married state. If engagements were regarded and treated as a period of training for serious and sacred duties, not as a time for frivolity or enjoyment, there would be fewer divorces and less talk about trial marriages. On the duties of engaged persons to one another, see 2628, 2629.

2799. Duties to Parents or Guardians in Reference to Marriage.—(a) There is, _per se_, a duty of consulting with one’s parents about one’s marriage; for he who marries without their knowledge, generally exposes himself to the danger of making a serious mistake, and moreover as a rule the interests of parents themselves are bound up intimately with the marriages of their children. Hence, unless a very serious reason excuses, he who marries without advising with his parents sins grievously by his rashness or want of filial affection. The same is true, if a child wilfully disregards the wishes of his parents by stubbornly marrying when for a good reason they disapprove. If their opposition is imperative and emphatic, or if they are grief-stricken at thought of the imprudent marriage, the sin is serious; but if their opposition is mild and the match not a very bad one, the sin is venial. The consent or counsel of parents is not necessary for validity, however, since it is not they who are getting married, and no law makes their consent or counsel an essential part of the compact. _Per accidens_, their consent or counsel is not even necessary for lawfulness, as when the children live far away from their parents, or when marriage has to be contracted without delay, or when the parents are unreasonable in their opposition.

(b) There is, _per se_, no duty of obeying one’s parents in the matter of marriage: first, because marriage supposes choice, admiration, and love, and these do not submit to dictation, even from parents; next, because in things that pertain to nature, such as self-preservation and procreation, children are not subject to their parents; finally, because the authority of parents does not extend to the whole lifetime of their children and marriage is a lifelong union. Hence, parents may not compel their children to marry or to remain single; they may not make the match for their children against the latters’ will, they may not force a child to marry a person whom he or she detests, they may not veto a marriage that does not appeal to them if the son or daughter has good reasons for it. Those parents sin, then, who refuse their blessing to a marriage out of selfishness, and those parents sin gravely who force their children into loveless unions and so make them unhappy in this world and endanger their salvation for the world to come. _Per accidens_, there is a duty of obeying parents in reference to marriage when one is obliged even apart from their command to do what they prescribe, when the marriage which they forbid is also forbidden by law (e.g., if the child is needed at home to support his indigent parents, if the mate selected will bring disgrace upon the family and the match can easily be broken off), or when the marriage which they require is also demanded by duty (e.g., if a son will surely enter upon a wild and reckless life unless he marries). See above, 2228, 2627, 2633, 2636, 2347, 2348, 2361 sqq.

2800. Duties of Parents in Reference to Marriage.—(a) If there is question of the marriage of a child, parents should guide themselves by the rule of St. Paul: “Let her marry whom she will, only in the Lord” (I Cor., vii. 39). Undue pressure should be avoided, but bad marriages should be opposed, and parents should assist their children to marry well. (b) If there is question of a parent’s second marriage, the children’s interests should be considered in making the choice of the step-father or step-mother, and, if the children are grown up, they should be consulted, or at least they should not be unreasonably saddened or harmed by the new marriage.

2801. Obstacles to Marriage.—Since marriage is a most important contract and a Sacrament, it is necessary to ascertain beforehand with moral certainty that there is no obstacle to its valid and lawful celebration. This imposes duties on the pastor, the couple themselves, and the faithful who know them.

(a) The pastor in virtue of his office is gravely obliged to make inquiries about the competency and fitness of the prospective husband and wife, and even in a death-bed marriage the obligation does not cease. Church law prescribes the method of inquiry, which should include an examination and instruction of the couple and a publication of the marriage. Of course, there is an obligation of confidential secrecy.

(b) The couple are bound to present themselves to the pastor within a reasonable time before the marriage in order to make these arrangements, and should bring with them the necessary papers (for example, their baptismal certificates, license to marry, testimonials). They are gravely obliged to make known either to the pastor or to the confessor any impediment, even though it be of a secret and culpable nature, in order that their marriage may be valid and lawful, unless they wish to give up the marriage or seek a dispensation in some other way.

(c) The people who know of an impediment to a marriage are bound under pain of mortal sin to make it known in time to the pastor or Ordinary; for the natural and divine laws, as well as the law of the Church, hold one to speak when this will prevent irreverence to the Sacrament of Matrimony, sin and other serious evils to the neighbor. The obligation ceases, however, when the revelation is either impossible or useless. Cases of impossibility are those in which revelation will cause great spiritual harm (e.g., public scandal), or great temporal harm of a public kind (e.g., violation of professional secret), or a great temporal harm of a private kind (e.g., persecution), unless a more serious evil will result from concealment. Revelation is useless when the marriage can be stopped or made legal in some other way (e.g., by persuading the couple to break their engagement or get a dispensation), or when one foresees that the revelation will have no effect.

2802. Duties of the Pastor in the Examination of Engaged Persons.—(a) He should question both the man and the woman separately and prudently about their freedom to marry, even though he is certain that there are no impediments. He should inquire especially whether there has been a previous marriage, and should also ask specifically about any impediment that seems likely. About impediments of a defamatory kind he should not interrogate before others, leaving that matter if necessary to his doctrinal instruction or to the confessor. (b) He should ask both of them, and especially the woman, whether they have decided on marriage freely, without force or pressure from any person. But children who live with their parents should be asked whether or not they have obtained their parents’ consent to the proposed marriage.

2803. Special Proofs of Freedom to Marry.—(a) Proof of Baptism.—A baptismal certificate should be presented by the parties (if baptized in another parish), even by one who is a baptized non-Catholic. If a certificate cannot be had, other proofs are necessary. In danger of death, the sworn testimony of the parties suffices; outside danger of death, the testimony of a reliable witness, or of the person himself, if he can remember his Baptism, or, it seems, a certificate of Confirmation or First Communion will do. If Baptism cannot be proved and there is a prudent doubt, it should be administered conditionally.

(b) Proof of Single State.—If it is manifest that a previous civil marriage was null and was dissolved by divorce, the proof of the facts suffices. If the husband or wife of a previous marriage has died, but the pastor has no personal knowledge of this, positive proof of the decease in the form of a public document or of sworn testimony of two or at least one reliable witness is necessary, and if the pastor cannot obtain these he must have recourse to the Ordinary.

2804. Matrimonial Impediments.—(a) Definition.—An impediment is a circumstance directly affecting the contract of marriage and rendering it illicit or invalid. Thus, an impediment differs from an unfitness that refers immediately to marriage as a sacred rite or Sacrament (such as lack of proper intention or a state of mortal sin), or that does not directly affect the parties (such as forbidden time).

(b) Division.—In reference to effects, an impediment is either impedient (i.e., one that forbids marriage under pain of grave sin but does not render it null and void) or diriment (i.e., one that not only forbids marriage, but also makes it null and void).

2805. Sinfulness of Marrying with an Impediment.—(a) If the impediment is certain, grave sin is committed; for deception and disobedience are committed in a grave and sacred matter, and, if the impediment is diriment, the marriage contract is made null. Great necessity, however, would sometimes excuse.

(b) If the impediment is uncertain, no sin is committed when the impediment is one of ecclesiastical law and the doubt is one of law, for in such a case the legislator removes the obligation (Canon 15); nor when the impediment is impotency (Canon 1068), in view of the fact that the general law of propagation of the race leaves a natural presumption against impotency, which can be overcome only by a certain impediment. It would be an intolerable hardship if marriage were made impossible by a doubt where proof is so difficult. There is a serious sin, however, in other cases, because one is either exposing the Sacrament to nullity or is refusing, contrary to a serious command of the Church, to seek a dispensation.

2806. The Impedient or Prohibitive Impediments (Canons 1058-1066).—(a) Vow.—The following simple vows make marriage illicit: the vow of virginity, that of perfect chastity, the vow not to marry, the vow to receive Sacred Orders, the vow to enter religious life, the simple vows of religion. A vow to abstain from the use of marriage is not against the substance of marriage, but it is difficult to keep in the married state; the vows to enter religion, or take Sacred Orders, or not to wed, are incompatible with marriage. Hence, the Church forbids one who has these vows to marry, unless the vow be first dispensed. Those who marry while bound by one of these vows sin gravely, and are held to keep the vow if this is possible or the other party’s rights do not prevent.

(b) Legal Relationship.—In those countries where relationship from adoption makes marriage illicit, there is also an impedient impediment of Canon Law. The Church wishes, in so far as possible, to preserve harmony between her own law and that of the State. Hence, she includes in her Code the civil law regulations that forbid marriage to certain persons on account of the intimate relation that exists between them through civil law adoption. The law of some European (e.g., France, Germany, Switzerland) and South American countries have a prohibitive impediment of adoption, but in the United States, the British Empire, and many other countries adoption is no such hindrance to marriage.

(c) Mixed Religion.—Marriage between two baptized persons, one a Catholic and the other a member of an heretical or schismatical sect, is severely forbidden by the Church. Mixed marriages in themselves are opposed to divine and natural law, inasmuch as they offer an occasion for communication in false worship and a danger of perversion; and hence they have been disapproved from the very beginning of the Church (II John, X. 11; I Cor., v. 10; Tit., iii. 10). But the divine prohibition ceases if appropriate measures are used to safeguard the faith of the Catholic and the children, and the Church will grant a dispensation, though reluctantly and only for just and grave causes.

2807. Duties in Reference to Mixed Marriages.—(a) The Pastor.—A dispensation should not be sought unless there is first a sufficient reason, all things considered, and generally the reason should be the public good (such as the relative fewness of Catholics in a district, hope of conversion of the non-Catholic, avoidance of scandal). Secondly, there must be guarantees given by the non-Catholic that the faith of the Catholic will not be interfered with, and both parties must promise that all the children will receive Catholic and no other baptism and education. Finally, these promises must be such as to produce moral certainty of fulfillment, and as a rule it should be required that they be given in writing. After the marriage has been celebrated the pastor is held both in charity and in justice to do what he can to have the promises faithfully lived up to.

(b) The Parties.—Neither before nor after the marriage in the Catholic Church is it lawful to have any non-Catholic religious ceremony (see 956 sqq.); and if the pastor knows that this has been done or will be done, he may not assist at the marriage without permission from the Ordinary, which is granted for a most grave reason (scandal being avoided). After the marriage the parties are bound in justice to keep the promises made, and the Catholic is held in charity to seek prudently, by good example and advice, to convert the non-Catholic.

2808. Marriages with Bad Catholics.—(a) If the bad Catholic is unworthy in the matter of faith, because he has notoriously given up the Church (even though he has not joined any other religion), or because he is a member of a forbidden society, there is a danger of perversion. In such a case the pastor may not assist at the marriage unless the Ordinary decides that there is a sufficient reason, that the danger of perversion is made remote, and that the Catholic education of the children is provided for.

(b) If the bad Catholic is unworthy in the matter of morals, because he is a public sinner (e.g., one who neglects the Easter duty), or notoriously under censure and therefore a person to whom the Sacraments must be denied, the pastor is confronted with the law that one may not cooperate formally, even by assistance, in the profanation of a Sacrament. As the guilt of the unworthy person is public in these cases, there must be public reparation before the marriage can be sanctioned by the presence of the Church’s representative. The reparation is to be made either by the sinner going to confession or by the censured person obtaining absolution. But since the priest’s presence can be only a material cooperation, it may be permitted by the Ordinary for a grave reason when the unworthy person refuses to comply with the conditions.

2809. Other Obstacles to Marriage.—Other obstacles which forbid marriage, though they are not strictly canonical impediments, are the following:

(a) valid engagement gravely forbids marriage with a third party. This is a natural obstacle which results from the very nature of a binding promise;

(b) special prohibition of the Church at times gravely forbids a particular marriage, as when the Holy See in granting a dispensation for a present marriage forbids a future marriage. If an irritant clause is added, the prohibition has the force of a diriment impediment. The Ordinary also may forbid a particular marriage for a time, as when there is suspicion of a secret impediment, or when great damage will likely ensue from a marriage. This prohibition is for a special case or time or person, and thus it differs from the impediments of the law;

(c) closed times (Lent and Advent) are the seasons when, on account of the penitential and mournful character of the liturgy then in use, the solemn blessing of marriage is not regularly permitted. This is not really an impediment, since marriage itself may be contracted at any time of the year, according to the general law.

2810. Diriment Impediments to Marriage.—The diriment or nullifying impediments to marriage are personal incapacities in a person which render him or her incapable, from divine or ecclesiastical law, of contracting marriage with anyone (absolute impediments), or of contracting marriage with a certain individual (relative impediments).

2811. The absolute diriment impediments are the following: (a) those that are due to a personal defect making one unable to promise with sufficient discretion (impediment of age) or to perform what is promised (impediment of impotency); (b) those that are due to a voluntary act which consecrates one to God with the obligation of perpetual celibacy (the impediments of Orders and vows).

2812. The relative impediments are the following: (a) that one which is due to an obligation to one’s present husband or wife (the impediment of bond); (b) that one which is due to too great a difference between two parties (impediment of disparity of cult); those that are due to too close a kinship between two parties, whether natural (impediments of consanguinity and affinity) or like to the natural (impediments of public decency, spiritual kinship, legal kinship); (d) those that are due to a relationship caused by a crime that makes it unsuitable for two parties to marry. If one party is perpetrator and the other the victim, there is the impediment of abduction; if the two parties are accomplices, there is the impediment of crime.

2813. The Impediment of Age.—(a) Nature.—This impediment exists in males who have not completed their sixteenth year, and in females who have not completed their fourteenth year. These ages are set by the general law, because all parts of the world have to be considered and sufficient discretion may be presumed at those ages everywhere. But substantial ignorance even after those years invalidates consent, and moreover, in colder countries where development is slower, marriage is generally inadvisable before the parties are 18 and 16 respectively. The marriageable ages according to the statute law in most of our States are 18 and 16 with parental consent, and 21 and 18 without it.

(b) Effect.—This impediment is of ecclesiastical law in so far as the precise determination of age is concerned, but of natural law in so far as the use of reason is demanded. Hence, the Church may dispense, and hence also the impediment as ecclesiastical does not bind the unbaptized, even when being underaged they marry Christians.

2814. The Impediment of Impotency.—(a) Nature.—Impotency is the inability to exercise the sexual act in a way suitable for procreation. The requisites for this act are _immissio membri virilis in vaginam mulieris cum seminis effusione_, and hence those are impotent who lack sexual organs (such as the emasculated or spayed), or who on account of psychical or physical abnormalities are unable to have complete intercourse (e.g., anaphrodisiacs, some hermaphrodites, those who suffer from hypospadias, vaginism, etc.). Sterility, or the mere inability to procreate from sexual intercourse (as in old persons), is not the same thing as impotency, and is not an impediment to marriage. Authorities are not agreed whether or not the operations of male vasectomy and evariotomy produce impotency or sterility. But many regard the former operation as unlawful except for a most grave cause (such as the saving of life), since it takes away a power given by nature for the benefit of society, exposes the individual to very serious temptations, and opens the way to terrible abuses.

(b) Effect.—Impotency anterior to marriage and perpetual, whether in the man or in the woman, whether known to the other party or not, voids marriage from the law of nature itself, and hence is not dispensable. But impotency that arises after marriage or that is only temporary does not invalidate, and impotency that is relative (i.e., in reference to one person only) does not nullify marriage except in reference to a determinate person. In justice to the other spouse, married persons who have an easily curable impotency should have this defect removed.

2815. The Impediments of Orders and Vows.—(a) Orders.—Those who are in Sacred Orders (priesthood, deaconship and, in the Latin Church, subdeaconship) cannot marry validly. The impediment is decreed by ecclesiastical law alone, and hence the Church has the power to dispense. One who was ordained through compulsion or in ignorance of the duty of celibacy, is permitted to marry, if he does not wish to ratify his ordination; but he then loses all right to exercise his Order (2235).

(b) Vows.—Professed religious with solemn vows or simple vows that annul marriage cannot marry validly. It is more probable that this impediment, in so far as solemn vows are concerned, is of divine right; but the Pope, as the Vicar of Christ, is able to dispense (see 2194, 2234, 2235, 1787 e).

2816. The Impediment of Bond.—(a) A person who is already validly married cannot marry again until the bond of the existing marriage is removed by the death of the other spouse or by dissolution. An exception is the case of the Pauline Privilege; but even then the bond of the first marriage remains till the second is contracted (see 2787 e).

(b) This impediment is of natural and divine law, and it binds all men, the unbaptized as well as the baptized. No dispensation can be granted from the impediment as long as it continues; and moreover those who would contract a second marriage must offer proof that the bond of the first marriage was non-existent, or that it has ceased. Nullity of a previous marriage must be established by canonical process (Canons 1986 sqq.); dissolution of an unconsummated marriage through vow or Papal dispensation is proved sufficiently by an authentic document; cessation of bond through death of consort must be demonstrated with moral certainty, if it is not manifest (see 2803). The procedure to be observed in cases of the Pauline Privilege is explained by commentaries on Canons 1120 sqq. of the Code.

2817. The Impediment of Disparity of Cult.—(a) A marriage of a Catholic (i.e., of a person baptized in or converted to the Catholic Church) with an unbaptized person is null and void. This impediment bars the marriage of a professed ex-Catholic with an infidel, but not the marriage of a non-Catholic with an infidel; and by infidel is understood here not only a non-Christian (such as a Jew), but also a Christian unbaptized or invalidly baptized. A person accidentally baptized by a Catholic is not considered a Catholic if born of heretical or schismatical parents and reared by them in their sect.

(b) This impediment as prohibitive is of divine ordinance, for the same reasons as in the case of mixed marriages (see 2806 c): “Bear not the yoke with unbelievers” (II Cor., vi. 14). But neither natural nor divine law nullifies such a marriage with unbelievers; for the substantial ends of marriage (i.e., procreation and education of children) can be had even in such unions, and very holy personages have contracted marriage even with pagans (e.g., Jacob with the daughters of Laban, Joseph with the daughter of Putiphar, Moses with the daughter of Jethro, Esther with Assuerus, St. Cecilia with Valerian, St. Monica with Patricius, St. Clotilda with Clovis, etc.). The Church, however, has made disparity of cult a diriment impediment on account of the special danger, and it grants no dispensation unless the precautions decreed for mixed marriages be observed (see 824, 2807).

2818. The Impediments of Kinship.—(a) Consanguinity.—Marriage is null when contracted between blood relatives, that is, persons descended from one another or from one common ancestor within certain limits. In the direct line consanguinity invalidates marriage between all ascendants and descendants, legitimate or natural, that is, between a man and all his female ancestry (mother, grandmother, etc.) and posterity (daughter, etc.), and between a woman and all her male ancestors and posterity. In the collateral line it invalidates to the third degree inclusively, that is, between a man and a woman whose parents are related as first cousins or even more closely. The degree of consanguinity between this man and woman is first, second or third, according as one, two or three generations separate them (i.e., both or the one farthest removed) from the nearest ancestor of both (see Canons 96 and 1076). Consanguinity is multiplied when two parties are descended from several common stocks. This impediment is of the natural law as regards the first, and probably all the other degrees of the direct line; for reverence due to parents forbids one to marry them. Marriage between brother and sister is not opposed to the absolute or primary law of nature, but to the relative or secondary law (see 303); for natural inclination teaches that it is unbecoming for members of the same family to intermarry, and further the children of their unions are very apt to be weakly or defective. In other degrees consanguinity is an impediment of church law only, and may be dispensed for a good reason, but a more serious reason is necessary for nearer relationship.

(b) Affinity.—Marriage is null when contracted between relatives-in-law, or those who are kin by valid, even though unconsummated, marriage. But the impediment exists only between the husband and his wife’s blood relatives, and vice versa. In the direct line it includes all degrees; in the collateral line it extends to the second degree inclusive. Hence, a widower is impeded from marrying all the lineal relatives of his deceased wife (her mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, etc.), and the following of her collateral relatives: her sisters, her aunts, her nieces, her first cousins. Affinity is multiplied by multiplication of the consanguinity on which it is based (e.g., when a woman is doubly related to one’s deceased wife), and by successive marriages (e.g., when a woman is the sister of a man’s two deceased wives). The impediment of affinity is justified by moral reasons—by the mutual reverence that should exist between those who are closely related by marriage, by the dangers to which their relationship would be exposed if they were able to marry, and by the good of society, which is promoted when marriage is not confined within to narrow a circle. But the impediment is entirely ecclesiastical, for the Church can dispense in all degrees, and the relationship is only an imperfect copy of consanguinity.

(c) Public Decency.—This impediment, also known as quasi-affinity, arises from an invalid, even though unconsummated, marriage, and from public or notorious concubinage; and it annuls marriage in the first and second degrees of the direct line between the man and the blood relatives of the woman, and vice versa. The reason for the impediment is the unbecomingness of marriage with the near relatives (i.e., the mother, daughter, grandmother, granddaughter of the woman, and the father, son, grandfather, grandson of the man) of a person with whom one has lived in putative marriage or concubinage. The impediment is less strict than that of affinity, and is of ecclesiastical law only.

(d) Spiritual Relationship.—This impediment nullifies marriage between a baptized person and the person who baptized him or her or who stood for him or her in Baptism. The minister and the sponsor contract a relationship of spiritual parenthood to the baptized person, since Baptism is a supernatural birth and the godparents are charged with the religious welfare of the godchild. Reasons of respect and of intimate relationship make marriage between such persons unbecoming, and hence the Church from early times has ruled against it.

(e) Legal Relationship.—Persons who in civil law are unable to marry one another on account of the relationship arising from legal adoption are also barred from marriage in Canon Law. The relations between an adopted person and the members of the family into which he is adopted are so close that human lawmakers have often felt it necessary to declare adoption an impediment to marriage.

2819. Matrimonial Impediments Produced through Misdeeds.—(a) Abduction.—There can be no valid marriage between a man who holds a woman under restraint in order to compel her to marry him, if she has been abducted by him or is violently detained by him in her residence or elsewhere. If the woman who has been carried away or who is held against her will marries unwillingly, the marriage is invalid according to natural law; if she marries willingly, the marriage is invalid from church law. Hence the impediment of abduction is of positive law only and does not oblige infidels (see Canon 1064).

(b) Crime.—There can be no valid marriage between the following: those who during a legitimate marriage have consummated adultery together and have mutually promised future marriage or have attempted marriage, even though only civilly (Canon 1075); those who during the same lawful marriage have consummated adultery together, and of whom one has committed conjugicide; those who have cooperated physically or morally, even though they are not adulterers, to murder the spouse of one of them. The purpose of this impediment is to safeguard the fidelity and rights of married persons, and to punish those who resort to adultery or murder in the hope of a new marriage. The impediment is ecclesiastical and does not affect infidels.

2820. Duties of the Pastor After the Inquiry about Impediments.—(a) Dispensation.—If the pastor finds an impediment of natural or divine law (e.g., the bond of an existing marriage), or an impediment which is never dispensed (e.g., consanguinity in the first degree of the collateral line, notorious conjugicide, when there is no danger of death), he cannot proceed with the marriage. If he discovers another impediment, he must inquire whether or not there is sufficient reason for dispensation. For the impediments of occult crime, disparity of cult outside of mission countries, age, Sacred Orders and religious profession (also for neglecting the form of marriage), a grave reason is necessary to permit marriage; but for the remaining impediments, a less grave reason is required. The usual or grave reasons for dispensation include the public good (e.g., peace between peoples, prevention of serious litigations), a great private good (e.g., a suitable marriage offered to a woman who on account of age or locality can hardly find another such chance), great spiritual good (e.g., prevention of a mixed or civil marriage or great scandal, termination of open concubinage), great temporal good (e.g., means to support the family of a poor widow); but other and lesser reasons sometimes suffice, as when the woman is illegitimate, an orphan, deflowered, sickly, or homely, or the man needs someone to take care of him or of his small children from a previous marriage, or when the marriage has already been announced or will be of great advantage to the parents of one of the parties. In case of urgent necessity or of danger of death, the pastor and also the confessor or priest who assists at the marriage are empowered to grant certain dispensations; in other cases dispensation can be granted only by the local Ordinary or by the Holy See. The petition for a dispensation must state the facts truthfully, but must conceal the identity of the petitioner when the impediment is occult. In executing a dispensation one must observe the conditions laid down by the superior who granted it (see commentaries on Canons 1043 sqq.).

(b) Publication.—Even though it is morally certain that there is no impediment, the banns of marriage should be proclaimed beforehand and in the place where the parties have their domicile or quasi-domicile (or residence, if they are _vagi_), and also, if necessary, in other places where they have lived. This is a grave duty, since its purpose is to ensure the validity and lawfulness of marriages. If it is morally certain that there is no impediment, the Ordinary may dispense for a good reason (see commentaries on Canons 1022 sqq.).

2821. After the Examination and Proclamation.—(a) If it is certain that there is an impediment, the procedure will be that given in 2820 a; (b) if it is doubtful whether there is a diriment impediment, the matter should be investigated more fully, but without defamation of the parties, and if the doubt remains, the question should be submitted to the Ordinary (see above, 2805 b); (c) if no impediment, certain or doubtful, has been discovered, the pastor should approve the parties for marriage.

2822. Duties of the Pastor as Regards the Religious Instruction of the Engaged Couple.—(a) The pastor should require those who are not confirmed to receive Confirmation before their marriage, if they can do this without serious inconvenience.

(b) He should instruct the parties in the essentials of Christian doctrine, if they are ignorant in these matters (see 920 sqq.), and he should point out to them the nature of marriage as a contract and as a Sacrament, its purposes and properties, the grace it confers and the conjugal and parental duties it imposes, the necessity of preparing for the Sacrament and of receiving it in the state of grace. He should also speak about the impediments, so that the couple may understand the disqualifications for a valid and lawful marriage; but this should be done prudently, so as not to shock the innocent or to help others to evade the law. But ignorance of the Catechism is not strictly an impediment; and if the parties are unwilling to take instruction, they should be married without it. In a mixed marriage it is often very useful to give the non-Catholic a short course in Catholic teaching, and all couples who are preparing for marriage would do well to read some of the good works prepared especially for the use of engaged or newly married people. The Code requires of pastors that in their sermons they instruct the people on marriage and exhort them to avoid mixed marriages and marriages with the unworthy (Canons 1018, 1064, 1065).

2823. The Pastor and the Duties of Engaged Couple.—The pastor should also inquire about duties owed by the couple to others.

(a) Duties to Parents.—He should seriously admonish minors subject to parental authority not to marry without the knowledge or against the reasonable wishes of their parents. If the parents are opposed to the marriage, the pastor should decide from the circumstances whether the opposition is justified or not; if one parent only is unwilling, the wishes of the father _per se_ have preference over those of the mother, as he is the head of the family. If the engaged couple will not heed the pastor, he is seriously bound to refuse to marry them until the case has been presented to the Ordinary for decision (Canon 1034).

(b) Duties to Civil Law.—The State has no power over the Sacrament of Matrimony, its bond, or its inseparable temporal effects (such as the rights and duties of spouses, legitimacy of children and the like), but it is competent in reference to merely civil effects and conditions, which are temporal circumstances separable from the substance of marriage. Hence, those who are getting married should comply with civil formalities that do not trespass on church rights, such as registration or marriage license.

2824. Opposition of Parents to Marriage.—In deciding whether the parental opposition to a marriage is reasonable or not, the pastor should take into consideration both the motives for the opposition and the reasons in favor of the marriage.

(a) The motives for the opposition are reasonable, if the parents object because of the undesirability of one of the couple, or their incompatibility, or the evil consequences that will follow the marriage. A person is undesirable on account of defects of soul (e.g., an atheist, a drunkard, a libertine, a man or woman of ill-fame, a cruel man, an ill-tempered woman), or of body (e.g., a person who is deformed, or malodorous, or afflicted with syphilis or other serious disease), or of mind (e.g., a half-witted person), or of economical ability (e.g., a man who is a gambler or spendthrift, or who is unable to earn a living; a woman who is loaded with debts or who cannot take care of a home). There is incompatibility when the ages of the couple or their rank in life, their race, their education, their tastes, or their dispositions are utterly different. There are evil consequences when scandals, hatreds, disgrace, or loss of temporal goods will ensue.

(b) The reason for the marriage, however, may suffice to prevail over the parental objections. Thus, if the strong disapproval of relatives is the only reason against a marriage and its abandonment will make the couple unhappy for life, charity does not oblige to such a sacrifice. And the temporal advantage of a family should not be preferred to the spiritual benefit, if their son who is wild wishes to marry a poor girl who has a good influence over him rather than a wealthy girl whom he does not admire.

2825. Religious Duties before Marriage.—(a) Confession.—A public sinner (e.g., one who has been living in concubinage) is obliged to go to confession before marriage in order to repair his scandal. A sinner whose guilt is not public must repent before receiving the Sacrament of Matrimony, since it is a Sacrament of the Living and supposes the state of grace; but an act of contrition strictly suffices. It is recommended, however, that all persons go to confession as a preparation and that they make a general confession. The confessor should be told of any occult or incriminating impediment that was not disclosed to the pastor, and it is therefore advisable that the confession precede the ceremony by several days, so as to allow time for possible dispensations.

(b) Communion.—It is better that Communion be received on the day of one’s marriage, but, if this is not convenient, it may be received several days before or several days after. There is no command as to this, but the Church’s counsel is most earnest.

2826. The Celebration of Marriage.—(a) Requisites for Validity.—In order to be valid, a Catholic’s marriage must be celebrated in the presence of the parish-priest or Ordinary, or of a priest delegated by either, and of at least two witnesses. There are two exceptions to this law, namely, in danger of death when the priest cannot be had and in the case of inability to appear before a priest within a month. This law is most suitable, since marriage is not a mere profane contract, but a Sacrament subject to the Church; the law is also necessary, since secret or clandestine marriages would be impossible of proof, and society and the family would be seriously harmed if they were permitted except in very extraordinary cases.

(b) Requisites for Lawfulness.—The pastor assists lawfully at a marriage if he has assured himself of the freedom of the parties to marry and of his own right to assist officially at their marriage. The pastor has the right to witness a marriage when the parties are his subjects by reason of their location in his parish, or when he has permission from their pastor or Ordinary to assist at the nuptials. When the bride is from one parish and the groom from another, the rule is that the marriage should be held before the bride’s pastor (Canons 1094 sqq.)

2827. The Rite of Marriage.—(a) The essential rite consists in the words of consent spoken by the bride and groom. The assisting priest asks for this consent, and then (except in a mixed marriage) blesses the newly married pair and the ring. Marriage by sign language or through an interpreter or proxy is not lawful without special permission, and marriage by letter is not recognized (Canons 1088 sqq.).

(b) The accidental rite is the nuptial blessing bestowed during the Nuptial Mass that follows on the marriage. This is omitted in mixed marriages, and also as a rule during Advent and Lent. The place for marriage is regularly in the parish church, if it is a Catholic marriage, but outside the church if it is a mixed marriage (see Canons 1100 sqq.). The Ordinary may dispense from the requirements of place (Canon 1109).

2828. Cooperation in an Unworthy Marriage.—(a) The Priest.—The clergyman acts as the official representative of the Church, and hence only a serious reason will permit his assistance when the unworthiness of one of the parties is known to him in an extra-confessional way. A serious reason would be a threat of bodily harm to the priest or great spiritual detriment to the parties, such as their continuance in the state of sin. A more serious reason is required if one of the parties is an _excommunicatus vitandus_. Finally, at times only passive assistance is permitted, as in certain mixed marriages in which the non-Catholic refuses to give guarantees, but there is greater danger of perversion without than with the assistance (see 2677 sqq.).

(b) The Spouses.—The bride and groom are the ministers as well as the recipients of Matrimony, and hence, if one of the parties knows that the other is not in the state of grace, there is an administration of a Sacrament to an unworthy recipient. But only charity would bid one to deny the Sacrament to that other party, if one could not induce him to dispose himself, and charity does not oblige with great inconvenience. Hence the worthy party, if he or she has a suitable reason for marrying, does not sin by reason of the other party’s unworthiness.

(c) The Witnesses.—The cooperation of the witnesses is less than that of the priest and of the worthy party, and hence only in an extraordinary case do the witnesses sin by assisting at a marriage contracted before the Church. They may presume that all is well, if the pastor has agreed to the marriage; and even though they are certain that the bride or groom is in mortal sin, the fear of incurring displeasure or harm will ordinarily excuse the best man or bridesmaid from all sin, or at least from grave sin.

2829. Registration of Marriages.—The Code requires that marriages be recorded in the matrimonial and baptismal registers, and that notification be sent to the pastors of the parishes where the bride and the groom were baptized. This duty seems to be grave, since its end is to provide for stable conditions and secure proof of freedom to marry. The entries should be made without delay (i.e., within three days at least), lest they be overlooked or be made incorrectly (Canon 1103).

2830. When an Impediment Is Discovered after Marriage.—A diriment impediment or other invalidating defect is sometimes discovered after the celebration of marriage. There are various solutions of this difficulty.

(a) If the marriage can be validated (or made valid), this should be done. The manner of simple validation of marriages null on account of diriment impediment, defective consent or lack of form, is declared in Canons 1133-1137.

(b) If the marriage cannot be validated simply, it may be made valid in certain cases by the special validation known as a _sanatio in radice_. This supposes that a consent naturally sufficient, but juridically insufficient, was given, and that a renewal of consent cannot be obtained (see Canons 1138-1141).

(c) If marriage cannot be validated in any way (as in the case of an indispensable impediment), the parties should be separated, or permitted to live together as brother and sister, or left in good faith. Thus, if the nullity of the marriage is public, the parties should be separated after a declaration of nullity; if the nullity is secret and unprovable, the parties may be permitted to live together as brother and sister, if they know the marriage is null, but are not exposed to the danger of incontinence; if the parties are in good faith about their marriage and it is foreseen that serious evils would result were they told the truth (such as bad faith, or misfortunes for the children), they may be left as they are.

2831. The Lawfulness of Divorce and Separation.—(a) Complete divorce, or dissolution of the bond with the right to remarry during the lifetime of the other spouse, is never lawful, except in the cases mentioned in 2787 e. Moreover, the civil lawgiver has no right ever to dissolve the marriage tie, for the marriage bond of Christians is sacramental and not subject to the State, while the marriage bond of non-Christians is indissoluble by human authority. On the death of one spouse, however, the survivor is free to marry again, though chaste widowhood is more honorable.

(b) Incomplete divorce, or separation from bed and board, is allowed permanently to the innocent spouse in case of adultery, and temporarily when there are other good reasons. Thus, if one of the parties becomes an apostate, or gives non-Catholic education to the children, or leads a criminal or disgraceful life, or makes common life too hard by his cruelty, or endangers the other party in soul or body, the innocent spouse may separate after appealing to the Ordinary, or may depart on his or her own authority, if the facts are certain and there is danger in delay (Canons 1118 sqq.). With permission one may even seek a civil divorce, if it is a separation only, in order to be free as regards civil effects of marriage (1950).