Describe
the Nature and Ends of Christian Marriage? (1055)
What
are the Essential Properties of Christian Marriage? (1056)
What
are Ratified and Consummated Marriages? (Can. 1061)
Introduction
Marriage
in Christian understanding is basically a vocation, a call, an invitation with
a solid purpose and effect. Therefore, before one enters into marriage one has
to find out whether one can live a marital life. Christianity values marriage
very highly and that union of man and woman in holy matrimony is seen as
representing the union between Christ and the church (Eph 5:22-33). The love of
the couple brings them closer to God and closer to an understanding of God’s
love for his creation.
Christian Marriage
In
the light of CIC 1015 &CCEO 776 a canonical definition of marriage can be
formulated thus: “Marriage between the baptized is a covenant, which has been
raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament, by which a man and a
woman, by their personal consent, establish between themselves partnership of
their love whole life, and which of its own nature is ordered to the well being
of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children. The provision of CIC 1015 & CCEO 776 are
based on the sources of LG 11, 41; GS 48; AA 11; and Humane Vitae 8
I. Nature of Christian
Marriage
1.
Marriage between the Baptized
It
refers to Christian marriage, a marriage between a Christian man and a
Christian woman. It is distinct from a natural marriage, a social institution,
with its own civil effects.
Marriage is a human reality, a secular
one. In one form or another it existed always. But for the believers in Christ
it has a new dimension, as He raised it to a sacrament. It signifies and brings
grace, it is a marriage “in the Lord” (I Cor 7:39).
Christian marriage is between the
baptized man and woman. However, the fact of baptism alone is not enough. They
must really believe in Christ and in the sacramentality of marriage. We cannot
simply assume that all baptized are believers in Christ and in His teaching.
The parish priest or his delegate must verify it. He should see if the proposed
couples are actual believers. He should instruct them about various aspects of
Christian marriage and prepare them for Christian marriage.
2.
Marriage as a Covenant
Vat.
II and CIC 1983 describe Christian marriage as a
covenant. Marriage is enduring and exclusive covenant of love between a man and
a woman. The notion of covenant describes the theological dimension of
marriage. It is relationship, which recognizes the spiritual quality of the
spouses, and their capacity to enter into an agreement which demands the gift
of the whole person to each other.
It is biblical expansion. We have the theology
of covenant, which is based on the biblical concept of covenant. All through the
bible, God’s relationship with mankind is expressed in terms of covenant, a
solemn treaty of love and fidelity, which God makes with His people. By this
covenant God pledges himself irrevocably to love His people and never to desert
them. They, in turn, are asked to pledge themselves to Him with a covenant. God
will never change His love for them, no matter how they behave towards Him.
He loves them with a love, which has all
the characteristics of married love; “even if a mother forgets her children, I
will not forget you” (49:15). God loves mankind with a love which is faithful,
dependable, unconditional, and irrevocable; a love which if patient and full of
pity; a love which is tender yet strong, passionate but constant; a love which
forgives to the point of foolishness and never ceases to welcome home the
unfaithful partner.
(Cf.
Hos.2:16-17; Jer. 2:2, 31:3; Isa 54:4-10, 49:15; song of Songs 8:6-7; Dt.
16:17; Jos. 24:19-20; Jer. 31:34; Mal 2:14…..)
A covenant is also a form of contract;
but in it the details are not fixed at once. The rights and duties are not
carefully outlined from the beginning. Fundamentally they are formal legal
terms. Legalistic prescription of rights and duties are secondary the basic
commitment of person’s infidelity and spontaneity is the essence of a covenant.
It is primarily a personal relationship and mutual commitment. However, from
the human point of view, it must be specified by legal terms and prescriptions
together with warnings of what will happen if the covenant is violated. Thus,
in the covenant the aspects of a legal contract are present, but they do not
exhaust it.
® Marriage
Covenant is based on Love
Love is the basis of marital covenant. Pope
Pius XI in his encyclical Casti Connubi wrote the love of husband
and wife which pervades all the duties of married life hold pride of place in
Christian marriage. GS 49 says “Love is and must be the strength and the basis
of the whole of married life.
The best example for the husband-wife
relationship in Eph 5:21-33. It uses the Christ Church relationship as the
model for marriage. As the church is devoted to Christ, so are the wives to
their husbands (Vv 22-24). It is not given as lordly authority but is
admonished to love his wife according to the example of Christ (v 25). The total
surrendering love of Christ for this church is a model and measure for the
mutual love of man and wife in marriage. The attitude of the husband towards
his wife should not be that of self assertion but self sacrifice.
The love of the husband for the wife
should be sanctifying love (vv 26-27). It is expressed in terms of love. Love
one another means accepting the other as a person. The self-sacrifice love of
husband and wife becomes the source of sanctification of each other as Christ’s
self-sacrifice resulted in the sanctification of the church, his Bride.
In the same way, husbands should love
their wives as their own bodies (v. 28), as part of their total self. For no
man ever hates his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the
church” (v 29). In the Semitic language, the one who hates is the one who loves
someone less than another. Naturally treating one with indifference is equal to
hate the other whom he ought to love. The husband should have a caring love for
his wife as he takes care of his own body. It implies a love for his wife,
which is unselfish, and a relationship is care and trust.
3.
Marriage is a Partnership for their Whole Life
The
council teaches, “The intimate partnership of life and love constitutes the
married state of life (intima communitas vitae consortium” GS 48. “Totius
vitae consortium” is the Latin expression used in the canons CIC 1015
& CCEO 776, in order to formulate the council teaching on this matter.
“communitas”, “communion”,
“societas”, “coniunctio”, and”consortium” are words that could be
juridically used in this regard. The code commission however, preferred the
word consortium, since it is a much used term in relation to marriage. The
Romans in fact called marriage a consortium.
The word consortium literally means a
close association, partnership, connection and company of persons sharing the
same fortune, fate and destiny. It is less than Communion, which is the closest
of intimate relationship.
Marriage, as an intimate partnership of
life and love, has its basis in the Bible (Gen 2:18). The Bible presents
marriage in terms of “two becoming one flesh”, Jesus as a natural institution
ordered to partnership and procreation.
Studies have been made on consortium. In
his study of the term Coniunctio, communion and consortium, J. Huber
concludes that the concept of coniunctio denotes the union of both
bodies and minds that is matrimonium consummatum. Communion on the other
hand, is a term used in the new code to described theological relations and it
includes the totality of rights and duties of marriage, common living,
communion of minds excluding communion of bodies.
The concept underlying consortioum
stands for marriage itself and for the totality of the rights and duties
obligations of marriage. It includes two things (a) communion of bodies, that
is, the exclusive and perpetual right over the body for acts which are
naturally apt for the generation of offspring; in this communion are included, Bonum
Prolis,Bonum Fidei, (unity and exclusivity), bonum Sacramenti (indissolubility),
and also to some extent bonum coniugis;
(b) communion of souls (of persons) that is the right of mutuum adiutorium understood
in its more profound Biblical sense.
CIC
1015.1/ CCCEO 776.1 refer to consortium without “coniugalis” while CIC 1098/CCEO 821 speaks
of “consortium coniugalis vitae.” The
three elements that have been consistently highlighted as being essential to
the consortium vitae are the following:
1.
The consideration of the other as ‘a
person’-a subject having his own identity, an autonomous centre of spirituality
etc, towards whom one must display a certain degree of sensitivity.
2.
A decision or a willingness to establish
a relationship of love with this other person which involves a certain degree
of ‘understanding (appreciation) and caring’ (wanting the good of the person)
and of ‘oblative love’ (offering oneself to build up the other).
3.
A willingness to share responsibility in
the generation and upbringing of children.
‘Consortium
Vitae’ is distinguished from mere cohabitation. It does
not mean a mere sharing of bed and board of being under the same rood, but the
right and the corresponding obligation of an all-embracing union-sexual,
corporeal, spiritual, moral and intellectual.
4.
Marriage as a Sacrament
The
church teaches that marriage is a sacrament. The first Canon on marriage states
that for the baptized “This institution has been raised by Christ our Lord to
the dignity of a Sacrament.” (1055) The Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et Spes states “God himself is the
author of marriage” (no.48).
The church sees marriage as a Sacrament
because it wants to show that this occasion when two people say ‘yes’ to each other has something to do with
God. When the church gives blessings to marriage it declares it holy and whole,
for it has placed it under God’s blessing. Under God’s blessing they will
embark on the experience of mutual openness, understanding and love.
In the east, the sacramental character
of marriage was accepted and emphasized from the 5th century onwards
in the West, it was fully recognized only after a long period of time. It was
early Christian writers referred to marriage as ‘sacramentum”, “mysterion.” However,
only in the 13th century marriage was defined as one of the 7
sacraments. This was universally declared only by the council of trend in 16the
century.
In the N.T we have no direct reference
to the institution of marriage by Christ as a sacrament. The basic text to
reference to it is Eph 5. The sacramentality of marriage is grounded in Christ’s
saving work. It reflects the union of Christ with his church. Christ raised
marriage to the sacramental dignity because it can be a means for growth in
true charity, in unselfish love, mutual service for the spouses. When marriage
is contracted between two baptized persons, by the very fact makes it a
sacrament (CIC 1055.2). Thus,
persons, catholic or not, who baptized validly are capable of a sacramental
marriage. If baptism takes place after marriage, the sacramentality is acquired
then.
4.1
Reformer’s View
Reformers
denied sacramentality of marriage because according to them there was no direct
and explicit scriptural evidence that Christ established the sacrament of
marriage. Consequently they rejected church’s juridical function in matrimonial
matters. Luther: matrimony is not the sacrament of the new law because it lacks
divine promise. , Calvin: Matrimony is not the sacrament in the full sense of
the word.
4.2
Catholic Teaching
The
General Council of Florence in its Decree for the Armenians in 1439 affirms
the sacramentality of Christian marriage. The seventh (sacrament) is the
sacrament of matrimony which is the sign of the union of Christ and the church.
(ND 1803)
Since, because of the grace of Christ,
matrimony under the law of the Gospel is superior to the marriage unions of the
old law, the Holy Fathers, the councils and the universal church have with good
reason always taught that it is to be numbered among the sacraments of the new
law (ND 1807).
If anyone says that matrimony is not
truly and properly one of the seven sacrament of the new law of Gospel
instituted by Christ the Lord, but that it was devised in the church by men and
does not confer grace, anathema sit (ND 1808).
5.
Marriage as a Vocation
God
calls a person to the vocation of Christian marriage as He calls a young man to
be priest or brother or a woman to be a sister. The dignity and holiness of the
married state had been recognized ever more clearly in 20th century.
It is truly a sacred calling, which has an important place in the church. Thus,
marriage is special vocation. It is not just something, which is suitable for
some people but a necessary for full presentation of the message of salvation.
It is God’s invitation to the majority of men and women to achieve love and
union with him through a life of dedicated service.
6
Marriage as an Institution of New Law of Christ
Marriage
is also a Sacrament and therefore an institution of the new law of Christ. The
church ought to regulate Christian marriage by its own laws for the good of the
Christian spouses, of the children born in the Christian family, and of the
entire Christian people in order that all may attain that supreme bunum animarum of all church law which
is sanctity.
II. Ends of Marriage
®
Gen.1:28
says “and God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill
the earth and subdue it.” By generating children, the couples are cooperating
with the divine will and plan.
®
Gen. 2:18 says
“It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper”. Adam calls Eve,
flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone” (Gen 2:23), because they both constitute
one being together. And the scripture completes, “therefore a man leaves his
father and his mother and leaves to his wife, and they become one flesh’ (Gen
2:23ff). The expression of ‘one flesh’ asserts in a very concrete and vivid
manner the mutual completion of man and woman effected through marriage.
® The
code of Canon Law 1917
Can
1012.1&2; 1013.1 and 1081.2 employed strictly
juridical languages to describe marriage as contract than as a covenant. In
clear terms this code stated that primary end of marriage is procreation and
education of children and the secondary ends are mutual assistance of the
spouses and remedy of concupiscence.
® Casti Connubii
- Pius XI (1930)
Pope
Pius XI makes a distinction between primary ends and secondary ends of
marriage.
Primary ends - procreation
and education of children
Secondary ends - mutual
love and remedy for concupiscence.
® Vatican
II- strikes a balance
The
Vatican II has brought about a new understanding of the ends of marriage notion
in hierarchical manner but as complementing each other.
The Vatican II in G.S 48
says, ‘by its very nature, the institution of marriage and conjugal love is
ordered towards the begetting and educating of children and it is in them that
it finds its crowning glory.
G.S. 49
says “conjugal love is an eminently human love because it is affection between
two persons rooted in the will and it embraces the good of the whole person”
1.
Spousal Well Being
In
marriage the good of the spouses is of paramount importance and the good of
both parties is wrapped up in the goodness of one. Christ’s love and gift to
the church and those of the church become the model of the mutual love and the
self-giving of man and woman (Eph 5:22-32). This divine plan of love and
self-giving between two people joined in sacramental marriage, has to be
permanent and indissoluble. Thus through the sacrament of marriage the husband
and wife are enabled to help each other to live spiritually good lives, and to
live together in harmony under the fatherly care of God, ultimately enabling
their mutual sanctification in the marital vocation.
The importance end obtained through
marriage covenant is mutual assistance and completion in love of the two
spouses. In marriage man and woman ‘render mutual help and service to each
other through an intimate union of their persons and their actions (G.S
48). Man and woman with their different gifts and abilities complete each other
in this covenant in the most perfect way.
2.
Procreation and Education of Children
Just
as God’s love was so fruitful in the creation of mankind, so is the deepest union
of man and woman in marriage is aimed at procreation. Thus with God the couple
become co-creator. They partake of the call of God “to be fruitful and multiply
(Gen 1:28) as a serious responsibility attached to their vocation to marital
life. For this end He created them social beings and naturally inclined to each
other and filled them with physically capacity to join together and beget
children. This invitation or command therefore includes mutual help and
nourishment for each other and to implant in their children the highest virtue
of love. Therefore husband and wife are not only intimate companions in life
and in love, but also producers and promoters of new lives. In God’s plan
marriage is for the spreading and the expansion of human race through taking
part in the procreative mission. The Bible places a high value on having
children as one of the prime blessings of marriage, the decision to procreate
is highly weighed in relation to the other intrinsic of marriage.
Marriage is basically a vocation to have
children. On the natural plane the indissolubility exists ultimately to serve
the good of children. Just as the child before birth needs the womb of his m
other for protection and nurture, so as a young child and adolescent he or she
needs the environmental womb of the family. Marriage has as its purpose not
merely the procreation but also the education of children. In this direction G.S.
(Gudium et Spes) states “Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature
ordained toward the begetting and educating of children. Children are really
the supreme gift of marriage and contribute very substantially to the welfare
of their parents…Hence, while not making the other purpose of matrimony of less
account, the true practice of conjugal love, and the whole meaning of the
family life which result from it, have this aim: that the couple be ready with
stout hearts to cooperate with the love of the Creator and Saviour, who through
them will enlarge and enrich His own family day by day. Parents should regard
as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and educating those
to whom it has been transmitted. (G.S 50)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
therefore affirms this responsibility of the parents in the following statement:
“Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of
God. Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human
life, and to educate their children: they should realize that they are thereby
cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its
interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian
responsibility.” (CCC 2367)
III.
The Essential
Properties of Marriage
Can.
1056
says, “The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility,
which in Christian marriage obtain a special firmness in virtue of the
sacrament. Therefore in the juridical setup these two elements are absolutely
essential. To be more realistic the love between the spouses is expressed in
all the aspects of their marital life and all the more in their sexual
relationship. Sexual relationship between the couples expresses and nurture
love and these results in procreation of children who are to be brought up in
love. Love in marriage is genuine only in so far as the spouses strongly decide
to carry on their union until death and to defend it from every attack from
without. Though they may look silly, four words –only you forever—are the
cornerstones of the edifice of marriage. So much so without these foundational
values of unity and indissolubility there cannot be true marriage. Since
Christian marriage is not only a symbol but also a participation in Christ’s
covenant of unconditional fidelity and unbreakable union with his church. In
Christian marriage the essential properties acquire a distinctive firmness and
yield to no exception. Therefore, we can firmly hold that these unitive and permanent
aspects of marriage are two sides of the same coin.
1.
Unity of Marriage
Unity
means that marriage by its nature consists of the union of one man with one
woman. This notion therefore categorically rules out the concepts of polygamy
which can be either polyandry, which is one woman having several husbands, or
polygamy, that is one man having several wives at the same time. Unity is one
of the essential features of every marriage, whether Christian or
non-Christian. But as a matter of fact, in virtue of the sacramental dignity of
Christian marriage, unity acquires a special significance.
The Catholic Church, throughout the
centuries, has adhered to monogamous marriage as prescribed by the Lord. At the
same time the prohibition of polygamy for Catholic is a dogma defined at the
council of Trent. The second Vatican Council sums up the notion in the
following statement: “Firmly established by the LORD, the unity of marriage
will radiate from the equal personal dignity of wife and husband, a dignity
acknowledged by mutual and total love (G.S 93)
Unity means the union of one man and one
woman to the exclusion of all others. Thus it is very important to understand
that the juridical bond which is the foundation of marriage can arise only
between a man and a woman, because this exclusively belongs to the very nature
of marital unity. That is to say that a man and a woman conjugally unite
themselves with each other, and with no one else. Another point to be noted
here is that the foundation of marital unity is the equality of dignity between
man and woman; however the sexual difference is to be a means by which one
compliments and fulfills the other. This enables them to work together as
spouses in accord with the dignity which belongs to them as persons. In fact this
unity does not mean that it destroys the individuality of the neither couples
nor does it merge them into one. Though ontologically united, each of them
maintains their individuality, yet they belong to each other and become
co-owners with a mutual and solitary purpose. This is how the biblical
understanding of marriage as the union of two in one flesh becomes a reality in
marriage. So much so, their intimacy is such that this particular man and woman
alone are united as husband and wife in a marriage partnership for their whole
life, which is the crux of the unitive aspect of marriage in the Christian
understanding.
1.1
Monogamy in Scripture
It
was true that polygamy was the order of the day among the patriarchs and kings.
It was indeed a sign of affluence and prestige. Although prophets and the
wisdom literature treated polygamy as an existing condition, they held monogamy
as an ideal. Marriage was cited as an existing reality and as an example of
fidelity to the covenant. Genesis 1,2, has it that man tells of woman, “she is
flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones”, which is a clear indication that
marital union in for the two and the two alone. Genesis 5:7 gives us a
chronology of monogamous union on patriarchs. In the NT monogamous marriage was
taken for granted,.. “what God has joined together , let no man put asunder (Mk
10:6-9; Mt 19:1-9).
1.2
The Teachings of the Church
Down
through the centuries the Magisterium has consequently held marriage to be
monogamous. Council of Trent clearly states: “If anyone says that it is lawful
for Christians to have several wives at the same time and that it is not
forbidden by the divine law anathema sit” (ND.1809).
Casti
Connubii - 12 speaks
“marriage will never be profaned by adultery or divorce. Firmly established by
the Lord, the unity of marriage will radiate from the equal personal dignity of
wife and husband, a dignity acknowledge by mutual and total love.
Familiaris Consortio 10
say, “by virtue of the covenant of married life, the man and the woman are no
longer two but one flesh”. They are called to grow continually in their
communion through day to day fidelity to the marriage promise of mutual
self-giving.
1.3
Reasons for Unity
Christian
marriage is a life of love and mutual sharing. The spouses exist for each
other. The husband cannot live out his sex nature without existing for the sex
nature of his wife and vice-versa. In fact, monogamy is the supreme expression
of agape, a lifelong living for one another. Christian marriage is a covenant
entered into by a man and woman of the whole of their life: it is a call to a
life of mutual offering one another without any reserve every moment of their
life.
Polygamy
not only affects seriously the mutual love and personal love and unity of the
spouses but also disrupts their mutual co-operation in education of their
children. Polygamy even affects the propagation of human race as well.
Legitimacy of children becomes difficult to be determined.
2.
Indissolubility
Can.1141
says, “A marriage which is ratified and consummated cannot be dissolved by any human
power or by any cause other than death. Indissolubility of marriage means that
the event of marriage cannot be dissolved at will neither with the consent of
the contracting parties nor by an extrinsic human authority except through the
death of one of the parties. “The indissolubility is an essential point in
catholic doctrine concerning marriage. With it stands or falls the significance
of the sacrament of marriage as an image of the faithful love between Christ
and his church. Thus it was Jesus who first, clearly expressed the view that
marriage was intended by God to be permanent, and the Catholic Church has
always retained this value and set it before its members as an ideal. The
official teachings of the catholic church on marital indissolubility is that
once a marriage is validly witnessed in a ceremony and consummated physically
it cannot be dissolved by any human power, either by one of the partners or by
any other individual. In this view, the marriage bond may ordinarily be
dissolved only by the death of one of the partners.
It is because husband and wife become
one flesh in sexual union, marriage is indissoluble. What therefore God has
joined together let no man put asunder (Mt 19:6). For Jesus, indissolubility of
marriage corresponds to God’s original and therefore to the nature of the
marital relationship between husband and wife. They can make this binding
commitment only if they trust that God will bless this marriage and enable the
two partners to remain loyal to each other. Marriage does not derive from human
intentions alone but, as a sacrament, calls on the grace of God, who alone
makes a lasting union possible.
Indissolubility is in no way an option
open to the free choice of the couples. It flows from the very nature of the
love they pledging to each other. This is clearly stated by Vatican II: “As
a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union, as well as the good of the
children, imposes total fidelity on the spouses and argued for an unbreakable
oneness between them.” Therefore indissolubility is not something independent
of the couple themselves. Their children, other people, the church and society
may expect it from them but its reality lies in them.
2.1
Scriptural Evidence
A.
Old Testament: As we read in Genesis, in the beginning
God created woman from man and so she is the flesh of his flesh and bone of his
bones and Jesus adds what God has put together let not man put asunder. Hence,
intention of the creator was that this bond between the man and woman be
indissoluble.
Prophets spoke marriage as a covenantal relationship.
This covenantal relationship calls for fidelity and oneness. It is persons to
person relationship. This relationship does not cease even in the consent of
covenant is withdrawn by one on these parties. Hosea and Jeremiah also affirm
the indissolubility of marriage and condemn infidelity or being unfaithful to
such relationship. Malachi 2:16 says, “I
hate divorce, says Yahweh, the God of Israel (Jer 3:8, 50:1).
B.
New Testament: Mk 10:11-13, “Whoever divorces his wife
and marries another, commits adultery against her and if she divorces her
husband and marries another, she commits adultery.
This
text clearly shows a couple of elements:
1.
No exception to indissolubility
2.
Jesus categorically asserts that
marriage is absolutely indissoluble. He made it amply clear that creator’s
intention as found in Genesis 1&2. Hence, there is no legal ground for
divorce. Civil authority would go against divine will if it dissolved marriage.
Jesus means to say that indissolubility is the very nature of marriage.
The meaning of the phrase ‘except for unchastity’
is widely disputed. A theory championed by H.Baltenweilor and R.Schnackenburg
elucidate that (unchastity) in Greek refers to illegal or illegitimate marriage
between relatives. At the time of Jesus there were many gentile converts called
proselytes. The Jews had given concession to them and if they married close
relative, it was tolerated. But when they become Christian, the church held
that if they had such unchaste relationships before becoming Christian they
must give up even that i.e. separation of marriage of close relatives. Hence it
is not an exception to indissolubility of a valid marriage but a separation
commanded by the law of the people who are married illegitimately. We find a
reference to it in Acts 15:20.
According to second theory except for
unchastity is an actual exception to the norms of indissolubility. But then
unchastity is understood variously. Its correct meaning depended on what
precious little we can gather from the practices of the infant church.
Scripture scholars are most unanimous on the fact that the phrase except for
unchastity is an interpretation as it is conspicuously absent in the other
synoptic gospels.
2.2
Reasons for the Indissolubility of Marriage
The
stability and happiness of a marriage can more easily be attained if there is
genuine love between the partners, if they are mature, if they understand that
they must sacrifice for each other and for their children, and if they realized
that marriage, by its very nature, must be permanent. The following are the few
reasons why this marital indissolubility is very essential in marriage.
- Biblical Reason for the
Indissolubility of Marriage
The
biblical reason for the indissolubility of marriage can be drawn from the words
“what therefore God has joined together let not man put asunder (Mk 10:9; Mt
19:6). These passages mentions the mind of God without exception there is an
emphasis from God that they need to live an indissoluble life. Here God does
not grant any exemption or exception. Male and female He called them to live
one flesh. Therefore there is no indissolubility. We know that God created
human being in His image and likeness as male and female and He blessed them saying
increase and multiply (Gen 1:27-28). So in this sense not only man and woman
are important here but also the third party i.e. God himself who made them and
inaugurated the marriage. Therefore God is an active agent in the process of
marriage. When the man and woman make the promises of marriage God unites them.
Therefore they cannot break it. Thus from Bible perspective all marriages are
indissoluble By Divine Law.
- Theological Reason for the
Indissolubility of Marriage
It
is true that Christ’s love is an unbreakable love. That is the reason St. Paul
tells us that Christian marriage is the symbol of Christ’s union with the
church and therefore it is a mystery (Eph 5:21-23). In fact Paul, by giving us
the notion of a ‘great mystery,’ says that the Christian marriage is great,
holy and sacred, because it reproduces the union of Christ with the church.
Christians, as members of this church, must model themselves after this
pattern. The union of Christ with His church, of which natural marriage
represents and reproduces all the principles, thus becomes the ‘type’ of
Christian marriage. Paul shows how this union is fully realized in the mystical
bond between Christ and the church, of which Christian marriage is an image and
reflection. Therefore we can say the law of marriage is nothing other than that
which shines forth in the union of Christ with his church, and this union is
definitive, faithful, fruitful, holy and sanctifying. As Christ loved the
church unconditionally, the love that exists between the spouses should also be
unconditional.
- Social Reason for the
Indissolubility of Marriage
If
we trace out the root causes of all the evils that exist in the society we
reach to a platform where we realize that it is because of the broken families.
Everyone those who are engaged in the immoral activities like stealing, murder,
rape and any kind of unsocial activities will have a very pathetic story to
tell about their families. Since the number of broken families is increasing
day by day the crimes and all the immoral activities also will increase in an
alarming rate. So it is clear that good citizens come only from the good
families. So when we look indissolubility of marriage from a social point of
view it is a must for building up a good society.
- The Ultimate Reason for the
Absolute Indissolubility
All
marriages are intrinsically indissoluble. Extrinsic indissolubility was
provided for under the Mosaic Law through the legislation of Dt 24. Under the
Christian dispensation all marriages are extrinsically dissoluble, at least in
theory, with the exception of one that is ratun and consumatum. A
ratified (ratum) marriage, i.e., a valid marriage between two validly baptized
persons, is a sacramental marriage. The baptism of both parties can be either
prior to contracting the marriage or subsequent to it. If one or both of the
parties were not baptized at the moment of marriage, they contracted a natural
bond of marriage. With valid reception of baptism by both parties this natural
bond becomes sacramental, and the marriage which until that moment was natural
becomes ratified, i.e. sacramental.
A consummated marriage is one in which
the parties have performed after their marriage in a human manner the conjugal
act. A sacramental marriage which has been consummated cannot be dissolved by
any human power, not even the Roman Pontiff as the head of the church has the
power to do so. When a ratified but non consummated marriage is dissolved by
pope, the dissolution takes place not by merely ecclesiastical law or even by
divine law that is natural or positive but antecedent to the use of the power
of keys given by Christ to the church. The consummated marriages of Christian
do not come under the power of the keys; by divine law they are exempt from it.
And therefore they are absolutely indissoluble. So it is clear that a ratified
and consummated marriage is by divine law absolutely indissoluble and was in no
way completed in the power of loosing or dispensing that was grated to peter
and his successors.
IV.
Dissolution of
Marriage under Canon Law
The
Catholic Church holds that a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be
dissolved. However her power to dissolve a marriage which is ratified and but
not consummated is affirmed by the magisterium and several centuries of
practice of the church. Thus notion of absolute and relative indissolubility
has been in her canonical tradition. Likewise, a ratified but non-consummated
marriage can be dissolved by the Roman Pontiff, using his vicarious power as
Vicar of Christ, for a just reason at the request of the parties. The following
are the four occasions when the church gives concession to dissolve a marriage
bond.
1.
Dissolution of Ratified but Non-Consummated Marriage
A
non-consummated marriage between baptized persons or between a baptized party
and an unbaptized party can be dissolved by the Roman Pontiff for a just
reason, at the request of both parties or of either party, even if the other is
unwilling. This canon contemplates two requirements: (a) it must be established
with moral certainly that the marriage has not been consummated and (b) there
must be just reason. A marriage is consummated when the partners have met in
the act of sexual intercourse after marriage contracted. Intercourse prior to
consent is not considered to be consummation and therefore has no effect on
marriage consent.
Canons 1697 to 1706
provide for dispensation from a ratified but non-consummated marriage. However,
since this process takes time as recourse must be had to the Apostolic See the
petitioner may also try for a decree of nullity of marriage at the diocesan
tribunal level. For there is every chance that such a marriage might have been
invalid on some canonical grounds. This is based on the rule of thumb according
to which one need not ask authority to dissolve a marriage which is already
null. However, a dispensation for the dissolution of a marriage bond is a
special concession grated by the Holy Father in person. The other occasion
where the special concession can be grated is in the case of a marriage contracted
between a baptized and an unbaptized person or even between two unbaptized
persons in favor of faith.
2.
Dissolution of Marriage as per Pauline Privilege
Pauline
privilege is a privilege whereby a legitimate marriage between two unbaptized
persons, one of whom, after the marriage, had been converted to Christianity
and baptized is dissolved in favor of the faith. It is based on an answer given
by St. Paul regarding these types of cases. The problem was that the partner,
not converted to Christianity, did not want to stay with the Christian spouse
in peace, St. Paul stated that in such cases the Christian partner was free : I
Cor 7:12-15. Did St. Paul mean ‘free to live separately’ or ‘free to remarry?
The interpretation accepted and followed in practice in the church since 4th
century is that he meant free to remarry but among exegetes there is no
complete agreement on this point. It certainly appears to be the most logical
explanation.
Those
who do not accept this interpretation do not thereby deny the value of what is
called the Pauline privilege. They base the dissolution of such marriages on
the power in the church to dissolve such a marriage and not on a ruling given
by the Apostolic. In short, this covers the case of marriage entered into by
two non-baptized persons in which one of them still unbaptized is unwilling to
live with the other at all or at least in peace without offence to the creator
i.e., let does not the other spouse follow the Christian religion. This is a
concession made in favor of the faith i.e., to show the partner, who seeks
baptism in. catholic church, to be baptized and remarry or who has already
become a catholic, to remarry and thus live a full Christian life in Catholic
Church.
3.
Dissolution of Marriage in Petrine Privilege
A
natural marriage can be dissolved “in favor of faith” when one of the parties
is not baptized. The term Pauline privilege is used because this privilege
derives its authority directly from the power of the pope as the successor of
Peter. The pope exercises his power as Vicar of Christ and the universal
shepherd in this case. Accordingly, any other marriage which is not ratified
and consummated and it not covered under the general concessions explained
earlier could be dissolved by the Roman Pontiff in favor of faith
® The
cases which fall under these norms are:
1.
A marriage contracted between a baptized
and unbaptized persons
2.
A marriage contracted between two
unbaptized persons but to which none of the general concessions of the
privilege of the faith apply because the requirement for their operation are
not fulfilled.
3.
A marriage contracted between two
unbaptized persons neither of whom seeks baptism in favor of faith of a third
person.
®
In order that dissolution may be
validly granted, the following three conditions are absolutely necessary
1.
Lack of baptism of one of the two
spouses during the whole time of their married life.
2.
Non-use of the marriage after the
baptism perchance received by the party who was not baptized
3.
That the person who is not baptized outside
the Catholic Church yields freedom and ability to the catholic party to profess
his own religion and to baptized and educate the children as Catholics: this
condition must be safeguarded in the form of a promise.
Pauline privilege requires
interpellation similar to those used in a Pauline privilege case: besides,
while the Pauline privilege cases can be decided at the local level, the
Petrine privilege cases are to be sent to Rome as the Pope alone has power to
dissolve such marriages.
Conclusion
Christian marriage is an unconditional commitment to
each other. One grows in that union of love and fidelity which results in
indissoluble unity. It is definite surrender to one another without calculation
for the future. Certainly, it is a human manifestation of man’s total surrender
to God since it is consecration to marriage for life. This nature of Christian
marriage demands that everyone who is entering into such a marital covenant
should sufficient knowledge of the essential ends and proper ties of marriage.
Precious Blood Missionaries
