III. Matrimonial Consent
1625 The parties to a marriage covenant are a
baptized man and woman, free to contract marriage,
who freely express their consent; to be free means:
- not being under constraint;
- not impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical
law.
1626 The Church holds the exchange of consent
between the spouses to be the indispensable element
that makes the marriage.(Code of Canon Law, canon 1057 § 1.) If consent
is lacking there is no marriage.
1627 The consent consists in a human act
by which the partners mutually give themselves
to each other: I take you to be my
wife - I take you to be my husband. (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 48 § 1; Ordo celebrandi Matrimonium 45; cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1057 § 2.) This consent that binds the spouses to each other
finds its fulfillment in the two becoming
one flesh. (Genesis 2:24; cf. Matthew 10:8; Ephesians 5:31)
1628 The consent must be an act of the will of
each of the contracting parties, free of coercion
or grave external fear. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1103.) No human power can substitute
for this consent. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1057 § 1.) If this freedom is lacking
the marriage is invalid.
1629 For this reason (or for other reasons that
render the marriage null and void) the Church,
after an examination of the situation by the competent
ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity
of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canons 1095-1107.) In this case the contracting parties are free to
marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous
union are discharged. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1071.)
1630 The priest (or deacon) who assists at the
celebration of a marriage receives the consent
of the spouses in the name of the Church and gives
the blessing of the Church. The presence of the
Church's minister (and also of the witnesses) visibly
expresses the fact that marriage is an ecclesial
reality.
1631 This is the reason why the Church normally
requires that the faithful contract marriage according
to the ecclesiastical form. Several reasons converge
to explain this requirement: (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1813-1816; Code of Canon Law, canon 1108.)
- Sacramental marriage is a liturgical act. It
is therefore appropriate that it should be celebrated
in the public liturgy of the Church;
- Marriage introduces one into an ecclesial order,
and creates rights and duties in the Church between
the spouses and towards their children;
- Since marriage is a state of life in the Church,
certainty about it is necessary (hence the obligation
to have witnesses);
- The public character of the consent protects
the I do once given and helps the spouses
remain faithful to it.
1632 So that the I do of the spouses
may be a free and responsible act and so that the
marriage covenant may have solid and lasting human
and Christian foundations, preparation for marriage
is of prime importance.
The example and teaching given by parents and
families remain the special form of this preparation.
The role of pastors and of the Christian community
as the family of God is indispensable
for the transmission of the human and Christian
values of marriage and family, (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1063.) and much more
so in our era when many young people experience
broken homes which no longer sufficiently assure
this initiation:
It is imperative to give suitable and timely
instruction to young people, above all in the heart
of their own families, about the dignity of married
love, its role and its exercise, so that, having
learned the value of chastity, they will be able
at a suitable age to engage in honorable courtship
and enter upon a marriage of their own. (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 49 § 3.) |
