Marriage and the Catholic Church, Part 1

In April of this year, Archbishop Sheehan issued a letter on Pastoral Care of Couples Who are Cohabitating, saying “We have three groups of people who are living contrary to the Gospel teaching on marriage: those who cohabit; those who have a merely civil union; and those who have a civil union who were married before.” For many couples, not following Church teaching on this matter is based on misunderstanding or ignorance of Church teaching on marriage.

We start with Canon Law – Church law – which tells us that the Church understands marriage as a “matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership …(for) the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.”

Because a marriage exists through the consent exchanged by the spouses, the Church requires that both parties have the capacity to enter marriage, as well as:
• sufficient knowledge about marriage;
• the intention to enter marriage as the Church understands it; and
• the marriage celebrated before an authorized priest or deacon and two witnesses.
A valid marriage involves understanding and intention to live by these requirements and the ability to carry out this commitment.

Why does the Church have such strict requirements for marriage? Because Jesus Christ valued marriage highly. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus quotes Genesis, saying, “they are no longer two but one flesh; therefore, let no one separate what God has joined.” This is the basis for the view that marriage is an enduring and exclusive partnership, one which requires serious consideration.
We begin with who can celebrate the Rite of Marriage in the Roman Catholic Church. A basic requirement is that at least one of the parties should be a baptized Catholic. While this may seem obvious, there have sometimes been non-Catholic couples who approach the church and ask to be married there simply because they think the church is pretty! While one of the parties should be Catholic, exceptions may be made for someone who is, for example, going through the R.C.I.A. process in order to become a fully initiated Catholic.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we explore the answers to other questions about Catholic marriage.