Chapter LXX: Part II: SPECIAL MORAL THEOLOGY (Continued) (33)

(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).