View source for Marriage in the Catholic Church

{{Short description|Sacrament and social institution within the Catholic Church}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
[[File:Weyden Matrimony.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Matrimony, ''[[Seven Sacraments Altarpiece|The Seven Sacraments]]'', [[Rogier van der Weyden]], c. 1445]]
{{Catholic Church sidebar}}
Marriage in the [[Catholic Church]], also known as holy matrimony, is the "covenant by which a man and woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring", and which "has been raised by [[Christ the Lord]] to  the dignity of a sacrament between the [[Baptism|baptized]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=CIC|quote=can. 1055 §1|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3V.HTM}}</ref> [[canon law (Catholic Church)|Catholic matrimonial law]], based on [[Roman law]] regarding its focus on marriage as a free mutual agreement or [[contract]], became the basis for the [[marriage law]] of all European countries, at least up to the [[Reformation]].<ref>[http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/Studies_in_Polish_and_Comparative_Law_1000373856/165 Studies in Polish and Comparative Law], forgotten books.com, Retrieved 7 July 2014, Association, Polish Lawyers'. (2013). pp. 156-7. Studies in Polish and Comparative Law: A Symposium of Twelve Articles. London: Forgotten Books. (Original work published 1945)</ref>

The Catholic Church recognizes as [[sacrament]]al, (1) the marriages between two baptized non-Catholic Christians, as well as (2) marriages between baptized non-Catholic Christians and Catholic Christians,<ref name="Foster1999">{{cite book|last=Foster|first=Michael Smith|title=Annulment|year=1999|publisher=[[Paulist Press]]|isbn=9780809138449|page=[https://archive.org/details/annulmentwedding00fost/page/83 83]|quote=The Catholic Church considers marriages of baptized Protestants to be valid marriages. So if two Lutherans marry in the Lutheran Church in the presence of a Lutheran minister, the Catholic Church recognizes this as a valid sacrament of marriage.|url=https://archive.org/details/annulmentwedding00fost/page/83}}</ref> although in the latter case, consent from the diocesan bishop must be obtained, with this termed "dispensation to enter into a mixed marriage".<ref name="Burke1999">{{cite book|last=Burke|first=John|title=Catholic Marriage|year=1999|publisher=Paulines Publications Africa |isbn=9789966081063|page=98|quote=We might remind ourselves here that a marriage between a Catholic and a baptized person that takes place in the Catholic Church, or in another Church with permission from the diocesan bishop, is a sacramental union. Such a marriage is a life-long union and no power on earth can dissolve it.}}</ref> To illustrate (1), for example, "if two Lutherans marry in the Lutheran Church in the presence of a Lutheran minister, the Catholic Church recognizes this as a valid sacrament of marriage".<ref name="Foster1999"/> On the other hand, although the Catholic Church recognizes marriages between two non-Christians or those between a Catholic Christian and a non-Christian, these are not considered to be sacramental, and in the latter case, the Catholic Christian must seek permission from his/her bishop for the marriage to occur; this permission is known as "dispensation from [[disparity of cult]]".<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/are-non-catholic-marriages-valid-in-the-eyes-of-the-catholic-church-what-if-a-catholi|title=Are non-Catholic marriages valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church? What if a Catholic marries a non-Catholic?|year=1996|publisher=[[Catholic Answers]]|access-date=16 June 2015|quote=Supernatural marriages exist only between baptized people, so marriages between two Jews or two Muslims are only natural marriages. Assuming no impediments, marriages between Jews or Muslims would be valid natural marriages. Marriages between two Protestants or two Eastern Orthodox also would be valid, presuming no impediments, but these would be supernatural (sacramental) marriages and thus indissoluble.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221104452/http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/are-non-catholic-marriages-valid-in-the-eyes-of-the-catholic-church-what-if-a-catholi|archive-date=21 December 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Weddings in which both parties are Catholic faithful are ordinarily held in a Catholic church, while weddings in which one party is a Catholic faithful and the other party is a non-Catholic can be held in a Catholic church or a non-Catholic church, but in the latter case permission of one's [[Bishop]] or ordinary is required for the marriage to be free of [[defect of form]]. <ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions about Marriage in the Catholic Church |url=https://www.archsa.org/marriage-faqs#question5 |publisher=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio]] |access-date=30 November 2020 |language=en |date=2020 |quote=If the wedding is celebrated in the Catholic Church, the priest presides, and a non-Catholic minister can be present as a witness. If the wedding takes place in a non-Catholic church, the minister presides, and a priest/deacon may be present to offer a prayer and blessing.}}</ref>

== Catholic Church view of the importance of marriage ==

The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' states: "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage. The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life".<ref name="vatican.va">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P51.HTM |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText |access-date=7 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624072000/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P51.HTM |archive-date=24 June 2016 }}</ref>

It also says: "The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the [[wedding at Cana]]. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence. In his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning: permission given by Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the hardness of hearts. The matrimonial union of man and woman is indissoluble; God himself has determined it, 'what therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder'. This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to realize. However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too heavy – heavier than the Law of Moses. By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God".<ref name="vatican.va"/>

==History of marriage in the Catholic Church==

===Early period===
[[File:Istanbul - S. Salvatore in Chora - Esonartece - Nozze di Cana - Foto G. Dall'Orto 26-5-2006.jpg|thumb|Mosaic depicting the [[Marriage at Cana|wedding feast in Cana]]]]

Marriage was considered a necessary passage into adulthood, and strongly supported within the [[Jewish]] faith. The author of the letter to the Hebrews declared that marriage should be held in honor among all,<ref>{{bibleverse||Hebrews|13:4|ESV}}</ref> and early Christians defended the holiness of marriage against the [[Gnostics]] and the [[Antinomians]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6nwc9j_0ut4C&pg=PA54 Michael G. Lawler, ''Marriage and Sacrament''] (Liturgical Press 1993 {{ISBN|978-0-81465051-6}}), p. 54</ref>

At the same time, some in the emerging Christian communities began to prize the [[celibate]] state higher than marriage, taking the model of [[Jesus]] as a guide. This was related to a widespread belief about the imminent coming of the [[Kingdom of God]]; and thus the exhortation by Jesus to avoid earthly ties. The apostle Paul in his letters also suggested a preference for celibacy, but recognized that not all Christians necessarily had the ability to live such a life: "Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion".<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|7:6–9|ESV}}</ref> This teaching suggested that marriage be used only as a last resort by those Christians who found it too difficult to exercise a level of self-control and remain abstinent, not having the gift of celibacy.<ref name="ReferenceA">Reay Tannahill, ''Sex in history'', Abacus</ref> Armstrong has argued that to a significant degree, early Christians "placed less value on the family" and saw celibacy and freedom from family ties as a preferable state for those capable of it.<ref>Karen Armstrong, ''Christianity's creation of the sex war in the west'', London, 1986</ref> Nevertheless, this is tempered by other scholars who state Paul would no more impose celibacy than insist on marriage. What people instinctively choose manifests God's gift. Thus, he takes for granted that the married are not called to celibacy.<ref>Brown, Raymond E. S.S., Fitzmyer, Joseph A. S.J., Murphy, Roland E., O.Carm., Eds., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 804, Prentice-Hall, 1990, {{ISBN|0-13-614934-0}}</ref>

As the Church developed as an institution and came into contact with the Greek world, it reinforced the idea found in writers such as [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] that the celibate unmarried state was preferable and more holy than the married one. At the same time, it challenged some of the prevalent social norms such as the buying and selling of women into marriage, and defended the right of women to choose to remain unmarried virgins for the sake of Christ. The stories associated with the many virgin martyrs in the first few centuries of the Catholic Church often make it clear that they were martyred for their refusal to marry, not necessarily simply their belief in Christ.

The teaching on the superiority of virginity over marriage expressed by Paul was accepted by the early Church, as shown in the 2nd-century ''[[Shepherd of Hermas]]''. [[Justin Martyr]], writing in the middle of the 2nd century, boasted of the "many men and women of sixty and seventy years of age who from their childhood have been the disciples of Christ, and have kept themselves uncorrupted". Virginity was praised by [[Cyprian]] (c. 200 – 258) and other prominent Christian figures and leaders. [[Philip Schaff]] admits that it cannot be denied that the later doctrine of the 16th century [[Council of Trent]] – "that it is more blessed to remain virgin or celibate than to be joined in marriage" – was the view that dominated the whole of the early Christian church. At the same time, the Church still discouraged anyone who would "condemn marriage, or abominate and condemn a woman who is a believer and devout, and sleeps with her own husband, as though she could not enter the Kingdom [of heaven]".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=v6SboiI2mB8C&pg=PA92 Philip Schaff, ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers''] (Cosimo 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-60206534-5}}), p. 92</ref>

For much of the history of the Catholic Church, no specific ritual was therefore prescribed for celebrating a marriage – at least not until the late [[medieval]] period: "Marriage vows did not have to be exchanged in a church, nor was a priest's presence required. A couple could exchange consent anywhere, anytime".<ref>{{cite book |title=Marriage, sex, and civic culture in late medieval London |last=McSheffrey |first=Shannon |year=2006 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-3938-6 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJX_Nr2fdzAC |access-date=16 April 2012}}</ref>

===Church Fathers===
[[File:El-matrimonio-romano.jpg|thumb|left|Marriage without religious rite]]

Markus notes this impact on the early Christian attitude, particularly as Christian anxiety about sex intensified after 400: "The superiority of virginity and sexual abstinence was generally taken for granted. But a dark undercurrent of hostility to sexuality and marriage became interwoven with the more benign attitudes towards the body<!-- and current as late as the second century -->. Attitudes diverged, and mainstream Christianity became infected with a pronounced streak of distrust towards bodily existence and sexuality. This permanent 'encratite' tendency was given powerful impetus in the debates about Christian perfection at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries".<ref name="ReferenceB">John McManners (editor), ''The Oxford History of Christianity'', University of Oxford, 2002, pp. 69-70</ref>

While the [[Church Fathers]] of the Latin or Catholic Church did not condemn marriage, they nevertheless taught a preference for celibacy and virginity.

Bishop [[Ignatius of Antioch]], writing around 110 to Bishop [[Polycarp]] of Smyrna said, "[I]t becomes both men and women who marry to form their union with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God, and not after their own lust".<ref name=Ignatius>{{cite web|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-polycarp-longer.html |title=St. Ignatius of Antioch to Polycarp (Roberts-Donaldson translation) |publisher=Earlychristianwritings.com |date=2 February 2006 |access-date=27 August 2010}}</ref>

In his ''On Exhortation to Chastity'' [[Tertullian]] argued that a second marriage, after someone has been freed from the first by the death of a spouse, "will have to be termed no other than a species of fornication".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf04.iii.vi.ix.html|title=ANF04. Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second – Christian Classics Ethereal Library|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> Claiming to find in the [[Book of Leviticus]] a prohibition of remarriage by the priests of the Old Law similar to that for Christian clergy in the [[Pauline letters|Pauline]] [[pastoral epistles]],<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Timothy|3:2}}; {{bibleverse||Titus|1:6}}</ref> he used it as an argument against remarrying even on the part of lay Christians, whom Christ made "a kingdom, priests to his God and Father":<ref>{{bibleverse||Revelation|1:6|ESV}}</ref> "If you are a digamist, do you baptize? If you are a digamist, do you offer? How much more capital (a crime) is it for a digamist laic to act as a priest, when the priest himself, if he turn digamist, is deprived of the power of acting the priest! 'But to necessity', you say, 'indulgence is granted'. No necessity is excusable which is avoidable. In a word, shun to be found guilty of digamy, and you do not expose yourself to the necessity of administering what a digamist may not lawfully administer. God wills us all to be so conditioned, as to be ready at all times and places to undertake (the duties of) His sacraments".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf04.iii.vi.vii.html|title=ANF04. Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|website=www.ccel.org|language=en|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref>

In his earlier ''Ad uxorem'' also, Tertullian argued against second marriages, but said that, if one must remarry, it should be with a Christian.<ref name="Tertullian">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/works/ad_uxorem.htm|title=Tertullian : Ad uxorem|last=Pearse|first=Roger|website=www.tertullian.org|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref> In other writings, he argued strongly against ideas like those he expressed in his ''On Exhortation to Chastity''; and in his ''De Anima'' he explicitly stated that "the married state is blessed, not cursed by God". Adhémar d'Alès has commented: "Tertullian wrote a lot about marriage, and on no other subject has he contradicted himself as much".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aWCzz8-kwwkC&pg=PA41 Tertullian, translated by William P. Le Saint, ''Treatises on Marriage and Remarriage''] (Paulist Press 1951 {{ISBN|978-0-80910149-8}}), p. 41</ref>

[[Cyprian]] (c. 200 – 258), Bishop of Carthage, recommended in his ''Three Books of Testimonies against the Jews'' that Christians should not marry pagans.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpdaAAAAIAAJ&q=Cyprian+%22not+to+be+made+with+Gentiles%22&pg=PA104|title=A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Anterior to the Division of the East and West|date=1842|publisher=J.H. Parker|language=en}}</ref>
Addressing consecrated virgins he wrote: "The first decree commanded to increase and to multiply; the second enjoined continency. While the world is still rough and void, we are propagated by the fruitful begetting of numbers, and we increase to the enlargement of the human race. Now, when the world is filled and the earth supplied, they who can receive continency, living after the manner of eunuchs, are made eunuchs unto the kingdom. Nor does the Lord command this, but He exhorts it; nor does He impose the yoke of necessity, since the free choice of the will is left".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050702.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Treatise 2 (Cyprian of Carthage)|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="KarenA">Karen Armstrong,''The Gospel According to Woman: Christianity's creation of the sex war in the west'', London, 1986</ref>

[[Jerome]] (c. 347 – 420) commenting on Paul's letter to the Corinthians wrote: "If 'it is good for a man not to touch a woman', then it is bad for him to touch one, for bad, and bad only, is the opposite of good. But, if though bad, it is made venial, then it is allowed to prevent something which would be worse than bad. ... Notice the Apostle's carefulness. He does not say: 'It is good not to have a wife', but, 'It is good for a man not to touch a woman'. ... I am not expounding the law as to husbands and wives, but discussing the general question of sexual intercourse – how in comparison with chastity and virginity, the life of angels, 'It is good for a man not to touch a woman'".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p-llH1Z4JnMC&q=Schaff%20%22man%20not%20to%20touch%22&pg=PT286|title=NPNF2-06. Jerome: The Principal Works of St. Jerome|publisher=CCEL|access-date=7 November 2016|via=Google Books|isbn=9781610250672}}</ref> He also argued that marriage distracted from prayer, and so virginity was better: "If we are to pray always, it follows that we must never be in the bondage of wedlock, for as often as I render my wife her due, I cannot pray. The difference, then, between marriage and virginity is as great as that between not sinning and doing well; nay rather, to speak less harshly, as great as between good and better". Regarding the clergy, he said: "Now a priest must always offer sacrifices for the people: he must therefore always pray. And if he must always pray, he must always be released from the duties of marriage". In referring to Genesis chapter 2, he further argued that, "while Scripture on the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days relates that, having finished the works of each, ''God saw that it was good'', on the second day it omitted this altogether, leaving us to understand that two is not a good number because it destroys unity, and prefigures the marriage compact".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p-llH1Z4JnMC&q=%22two%20is%20not%20a%20good%20number%22&pg=PT1096|title=NPNF2-06. Jerome: The Principal Works of St. Jerome|publisher=CCEL|access-date=7 November 2016|via=Google Books|isbn=9781610250672}}</ref> Jerome reaffirmed {{bibleverse||Genesis|1:28|KJV}} ("God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth") and {{bibleverse||Hebrews|13:4|KJV}} ("Marriage is honourable in all"), and distanced himself from the disparagement of marriage by [[Marcion]] and [[Manichaeus]], and from [[Tatian]], who thought all sexual intercourse, even in marriage, to be impure.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4JKCTBzB8FEC&pg=PA94 Paul John Frandsen, ''Incestuous and Close-kin Marriage in Ancient Egypt and Persia''] (Museum Tusculanum Press 2009 {{ISBN|978-876350778-3}}), p. 94</ref>

There were, of course, counter-views. [[Pelagius]] thought [[Jerome]] showed bitter hostility to marriage akin to [[Manichaean]] dualism,<ref name="KarenA"/> an accusation that Jerome attempted to rebut in his ''[[Adversus Jovinianum]]'': "We do not follow the views of Marcion and Manichaeus, and disparage marriage; nor, deceived by the error of Tatian, the leader of the Encratites, do we think all intercourse impure; he condemns and rejects not only marriage but also food which God created for the use of man. We know that in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware. [...] While we honour marriage we prefer virginity which is the offspring of marriage. Will silver cease to be silver, if gold is more precious than silver?"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zm1v-c7fGmgC&q=%22honour%20marriage%22%20%22prefer%20virginity%22&pg=PA347|title=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series, Volume VI Jerome|first=Philip|last=Schaff|date=1 June 2007|publisher=Cosimo, Inc.|access-date=7 November 2016|via=Google Books|isbn=9781602065178}}</ref> Elsewhere he explained: "Someone may say: 'And do you dare disparage marriage, which is blessed by the Lord?' It is not disparaging marriage when virginity is preferred to it. No one compares evil with good. Let married women glory too, since they come second to virgins. ''Increase'', He says, ''and multiply, and fill the earth''. Let him who is to fill the earth increase and multiply. Your company is in heaven".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jvJHT39rIIMC&q=Jerome%20%22not%20disparaging%20marriage%22&pg=PA262|title=The Christianity Reader|first1=Mary|last1=Gerhart|first2=Fabian|last2=Udoh|date=1 September 2007|publisher=University of Chicago Press|access-date=7 November 2016|via=Google Books|isbn=9780226289595}}</ref> Mocking a monk<ref name=Letter50/> who accused him of condemning marriage, Jerome wrote: "He must hear at least the echo of my cry, 'I do not condemn marriage', 'I do not condemn wedlock'. Indeed — and this I say to make my meaning quite clear to him — I should like every one to take a wife who, because they get frightened in the night, cannot manage to sleep alone".<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name=Letter50>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001050.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 50 (Jerome)|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref>Letter 50 (to Domnio) in Charles Mierow (ed) ''Letters of St Jerome'', Paulist Press, 1962</ref>

It was [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] (354–430), whose views subsequently strongly influenced Western theology,<ref>Fiorenza and Galvin (1991), p. 317</ref> that was most influential in developing a theology of the sacramentality of Christian marriage.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OhmGMenxSiIC&dq=%22theological+value+of+Christian+marriage%22&pg=PA18 Saint Augustine, ''Marriage and Virginity''] (New City Press 1996, {{ISBN|978-1-56548104-6}})</ref> In his youth, Augustine had also been a follower of [[Manichaeism]], but after his conversion to Christianity he rejected the Manichaean condemnation of marriage and reproduction for imprisoning spiritual light within material darkness.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FttsYc-EaPYC&pg=PA32 Elizabeth Ann Clark (editor), ''St. Augustine on Marriage and Sexuality''] (CUA Press 1996 {{ISBN|978-0-81320867-1}}), p. 2</ref> He subsequently went on to teach that marriage is not evil, but good, even if it is not at the level of choosing virginity: "Marriage and fornication are not two evils, whereof the second is worse: but marriage and continence are two goods, whereof the second is better".<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1309.htm Augustine, ''On the Good of Marriage'', 8]</ref>

In his ''On the Good of Marriage'', of 401, he distinguished three values in marriage: fidelity, which is more than sexual; offspring, which "entails the acceptance of children in love, their nurturance in affection, and their upbringing in the Christian religion; and [[sacrament]], in that its indissolubility is a sign of the eternal unity of the blessed.<ref>Fiorenza and Galvin (1991), p. 318</ref> Like the other Church Fathers of East and West, Augustine taught that virginity is a higher way of life, although it is not given to everyone to live at that higher level. In his ''De bono coniugali'' (On the Good of Marriage), he wrote: "I know what people are murmuring: 'Suppose', they remark, 'that everyone sought to abstain from all intercourse? How would the human race survive?' I only wish that this was everyone's concern so long as it was uttered in charity, 'from a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned'; then the city of God would be filled much more speedily, and the end of the world would be hastened".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UovJsb_vuAkC&q=augustine+de+bono+coniugali+text&pg=PP4|title=De Bono Coniugali: De Sancta Uirginitate|last1=d'Hipona)|first1=Agustí (sant, bisbe|last2=Hippo.)|first2=Saint Augustine (Bishop of|last3=Hippo|first3=Saint Augustine of|last4=Augustine|first4=St|last5=Augustinus|first5=Aurelius|date=2001|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=9780198269953|language=en}}</ref> Armstrong sees this as an apocalyptic dimension in Augustine's teaching.<ref name="KarenA"/> Reynolds says that Augustine's comment on this wildly hypothetical objection by Jovinian may have been that the saintliness of a church in which all had chosen celibacy would mean that it comprised enough members to fill God's city or that the church would thereby gather souls to herself even more rapidly than she was already doing.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B3m9MzLojtIC&pg=PA270 Phillip Reynolds, ''Marriage in the Western Church: The Christianization of Marriage During the Patristic and Early Medieval Period''] (Brill, Leiden, 1994 {{ISBN|978-0-39104108-0}}), pp. 270-271</ref> Nevertheless, Augustine's name "could, indeed, be invoked through the medieval centuries to reinforce the exaltation of virginity at the expense of marriage and to curtail the role of sexuality even within Christian marriage".<ref name="KarenA"/>

Finally, [[Isidore of Seville]] (c. 560 – 636) refined and broadened Augustine's formulation and was part of the chain by which it was transmitted to the Middle Ages.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-2CRzlijgwC&pg=PA203 Paul Haffner, ''The Sacramental Mystery''] (Gracewing Publishing 1995 {{ISBN|978-0-85244476-4}}), p. 203</ref>

Although not a church father, but belonging to the same period, in [[Adomnan of Iona]]'s biography of [[St Columba]], the saint at one point is mentioned as meeting a woman who refuses to sleep with her husband and perform her marriage duties. When Columba meets the woman, she says that she would do anything, even to go to a monastery and become a nun, rather than to sleep with him. Columba tells the woman that the commandment of God is for her to sleep with her husband and not to leave the marriage to be a nun, because once they are married the two have become one flesh.<ref>Adomnan of Iona. ''Life of St Columba'', Penguin Books, 1995</ref>

===Medieval period===

====Sacramental development====
[[File:Lettrine-Sibylle-betrothal&marriage.jpg|thumb|Betrothal and marriage around 1200]]
The medieval Christian church, taking the lead of Augustine, developed the sacramental understanding of matrimony. However, even at this stage the Catholic Church did not consider the sacraments equal in importance.<ref name=Women>Karen Armstrong, ''The Gospel According to Women'', London, 1986</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – The sacrament of the Eucharist |access-date=7 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818210304/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm |archive-date=18 August 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3G.HTM|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> Marriage has never been considered either to be one of the sacraments of Christian initiation ([[Baptism]], [[Confirmation]], [[Eucharist]]) or of those that confer a character (Baptism, Confirmation, [[Holy Orders]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4063.htm#article6|title=SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The other effect of the sacraments, which is a character (Tertia Pars, Q. 63)|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref>
 
With the development of sacramental theology, marriage was included in the select seven to which the term "sacrament" was applied. Explicit classification of marriage in this way came in reaction to the contrary teaching of [[Catharism]] that marriage and procreation are evil: the first official declaration that marriage is a sacrament was made at the 1184 [[Synod of Verona]] as part of a condemnation of the Cathars.<ref name=SystTheol/> In 1208, [[Pope Innocent III]] required members of another religious movement, that of the [[Waldensians]], to recognize that marriage is a sacrament as a condition for being received back into the Catholic Church.<ref name=SystTheol/> In 1254, Catholics accused Waldensians of condemning the sacrament of marriage, "saying that married persons sin mortally if they come together without the hope of offspring".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LDbhV7u1_yIC&dq=Thomsett+%22married+persons+sin%22&pg=PA105 Michael Thomsett, ''Heresy in the Roman Catholic church: A history''], McFarland 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-78648539-0}}), p. 105</ref> The [[Fourth Lateran Council]] of 1215 had already stated in response to the teaching of the [[Cathars]]: "For not only virgins and the continent but also married persons find favour with God by right faith and good actions and deserve to attain to eternal blessedness".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zPweZnz4nJgC&pg=PA240 John Clare Moore, ''Pope Innocent III''] (Brill 2003 {{ISBN|978-9-00412925-2}}), p. 240</ref> Marriage was also included in the list of the seven sacraments at the [[Second Council of Lyon]] in 1274 as part of the profession of faith required of [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]]. The sacraments of marriage and [[holy orders]] were distinguished as sacraments that aim at the "increase of the Church" from the other five sacraments, which are intended for the spiritual perfection of individuals. The [[Council of Florence]] in 1439 again recognised marriage as a sacrament.<ref name=SystTheol>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_Tp7KLNb3xcC&pg=PA320 Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, John P. Galvin (editors), ''Systematic Theology''] (Fortress Press 1991 {{ISBN|978-1-45140795-2}}), vol. 2, p. 320</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1438sacraments.asp|title=Internet History Sourcebooks Project|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref>

The medieval view of the sacramentality of marriage has been described as follows: "Like the other sacraments, medieval writers argued marriage was an instrument of sanctification, a channel of grace that caused God's gracious gifts and blessings to be poured upon humanity. Marriage sanctified the Christian couple by allowing them to comply with God's law for marriage and by providing them with an ideal model of marriage in Christ the bridegroom, who took the church as his bride and accorded it highest love, devotion, and sacrifice, even to the point of death".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pIL7Gihul0oC&pg=PA92 John Witte, ''From Sacrament to Contract''] (Presbyterian Publishing 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-66423432-4}}), p. 92</ref>

====Liturgical practice====
Matrimony, for most of Church history, had been celebrated (as in traditions such as the Roman and Judaic) without clergy and was done according to local customs. The first available written detailed account of a Christian wedding in the West dates only from the 9th century and appears to be identical to the old nuptial service of Ancient Rome.<ref name=Women/> However, early witnesses to the practice of intervention by the clergy in the marriage of early Christians include Tertullian, who speaks of Christians "requesting marriage" from them,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4xkV8TEcYo4C&pg=PA98 Philip L. Reynolds, John Witte (editors), ''To Have and to Hold''] (Cambridge University Press 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-13946290-7}}), p. 98</ref> and Ignatius of Antioch, who said Christians should form their union with the approval of the bishop – although the absence of clergy placed no bar, and there is no suggestion that the recommendation was widely adopted.<ref name=Ignatius/>

In the 4th century in the Eastern Church it was the custom in some areas for marriages to receive a blessing by a priest to ensure fertility.<ref>[http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/arhu/content/docs/djc%20archive/Practice%20of%20the%20Sacrament%20of%20MAtrimony%20According%20to%20the%20Orthodox%20Tradition.pdf Demetrios J. Constantelos, "Practice of the Sacrament of Matrimony according to the Orthodox Tradition" in ''The Jurist'', vol. 31, no. 4 (Fall 1971), p. 620]</ref> There are also a few accounts of religious nuptial services from the 7th century onward.<ref>Constantelos (1971), p. 621</ref> However, while in the East the priest was seen as ministering the sacrament, in the West it was the two parties to the marriage (if baptized) who effectively ministered, and their concordant word was sufficient proof of the existence of a sacramental marriage, whose validity required neither the presence of witnesses nor observance of the law of the 1215 Fourth Lateran Council that demanded publication of the banns of marriage.<ref>Witte (2012), p. 91</ref>

Thus, with few local exceptions, until in some cases long after the Council of Trent, marriages in Europe were by mutual consent, declaration of intention to marry and upon the subsequent physical union of the parties.<ref name="upennExcerptFromBook">[http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/toc/14042_toc.html Excerpt from Marriage, Sex, and Civic Culture in Late Medieval London] "''the sacramental bond of marriage could be made only through the freely given consent of both parties''"</ref><ref name="marriageDotAbout">{{cite web |url=http://marriage.about.com/cs/generalhistory/a/marriagehistory.htm |title=marriage.about.com |publisher=marriage.about.com |date=16 June 2010 |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214012630/http://marriage.about.com/cs/generalhistory/a/marriagehistory.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The couple would promise verbally to each other that they would be married to each other; the presence of a priest or witnesses was not required.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exploregenealogy.co.uk/FindingEarlyMarriageRecords.html |title=Marriage Records |publisher=Exploregenealogy.co.uk |date=29 October 2007 |access-date=27 August 2010}}</ref> This promise was known as the "verbum". If freely given and made in the present tense (e.g., "I marry you"), it was unquestionably binding;<ref name="upennExcerptFromBook"/> if made in the future tense ("I will marry you"), it would constitute a [[betrothal]]. One of the functions of churches from the [[Middle Ages]] was to register marriages, which was not obligatory. There was no state involvement in marriage and personal status, with these issues being adjudicated in [[ecclesiastical courts]]. During the Middle Ages marriages were arranged, sometimes as early as birth, and these early pledges to marry were often used to ensure treaties between different royal families, nobles, and heirs of fiefdoms. The church resisted these imposed unions, and increased the number of causes for the nullification of these arrangements.<ref name="those_terrible_middle_ages">{{Cite book| last1 = Pernoud|first1 = Régine|title = Those terrible Middle Ages: debunking the myths|year = 2000|publisher = Ignatius Press| location = San Francisco|isbn = 978-0-89870-781-6|page = 102}}</ref> As Christianity spread during the Roman period and the Middle Ages, the idea of free choice in selecting marriage partners increased and spread with it.<ref name="those_terrible_middle_ages"/>

The validity of such marriages even if celebrated under a tree or in a tavern or in a bed was upheld even against that of a later marriage in a church.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=weP7d-zfNbcC&pg=PA92 Norman Tanner, ''New Short History of the Catholic Church''] (Continuum 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-86012455-9}}), p. 92</ref> Even after the Council of Trent made the presence of the parish priest or his delegate and of at least two more witnesses a condition for validity, the previous situation continued in many countries where its decree was not promulgated. It ended only in 1908, with the coming into force of the {{lang|la|[[Ne Temere]]}} decree.

In the 12th century, [[Pope Alexander III]] decreed that what made a marriage was the free mutual consent by the spouses themselves, not a decision by their parents or guardians.<ref>[http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Medieval%20Papacy/AlexanderIIIKP.html Kenneth Pennington, "Pope Alexander III" in Frank J. Coppa (editor), ''The Great Popes through History: An Encyclopedia''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005012332/http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Medieval%20Papacy/AlexanderIIIKP.html |date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> After that, clandestine marriages or youthful elopements began to proliferate, with the result that ecclesiastical courts had to decide which of a series of marriages that a man was accused of celebrating was the first and therefore the valid one.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vJ78Vd4O9d4C&pg=PA241 Russell B. Shaw, ''Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia''] (Our Sunday Visitor Publishing 1998 {{ISBN|978-0-87973669-9}}), pp. 241-242</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=L6JC3D2YUY0C&pg=PT100 Peter Marshall, ''The Reformation: A Very Short Introduction''] (Oxford University Press 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-19157888-5}})</ref> Though "detested and forbidden" by the Church,<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09707a.htm Augustinus Lehmkuhl, "Sacrament of Marriage"] in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York 1910)</ref> they were acknowledged to be valid. Similarly today, Catholics are forbidden to enter [[#Mixed marriage|mixed marriages]] without permission from an authority of the Church, but if someone does enter such a marriage without permission, the marriage is reckoned to be valid, provided the other conditions are fulfilled, although illicit.

===Counter-Reformation===
[[File:Portrait of Pope Paul III Farnese (by Titian) - National Museum of Capodimonte.jpg|thumb|200px|left|''"Pope Paul III"'' (Artist: [[Titian]]) ''1490–1576'', c. 1543, ''Reign 13 October 1534 – 10 November 1549'', Presided over part of the [[Council of Trent]]
]]
In the 16th century, various groups adhering to the [[Protestant Reformation]] rejected to different degrees the sacramental nature of most Catholic [[sacraments]].<ref name="Bellitto">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/generalcouncilsh00bell|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/generalcouncilsh00bell/page/105 105]|quote=Bellitto sacramental status.|title=The General Councils: A History of the Twenty-one General Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II|last=Bellitto|first=Christopher M.|date=2002|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=9780809140190|language=en}}</ref> In reaction, the [[Council of Trent]] on 3 March 1547 carefully named and defined the Catholic Church's sacraments,<ref name=Bellitto/> reaffirming<ref name=Klein>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AEpDnZny1noC&pg=PA134 Gregory L. Klein, Robert A. Wolfe, ''Pastoral Foundations of the Sacraments''] (Paulist Press 1998 {{ISBN|978-0-80913770-1}}), p. 134</ref> the teaching that marriage is a sacrament − from 1184, 1208, 1274 and 1439. Recalling scripture, the [[Twelve Apostles|apostolic]] traditions and the declarations of previous councils and of the Church Fathers, the bishops declared that there were precisely seven sacraments, with marriage one of them, and that all seven are truly and properly sacraments.<ref name=Klein/><ref name=Trent>{{cite web|url=http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/212ct.html|title=Trent|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref>

[[Desiderius Erasmus]] influenced the debate in the first part of the 16th century by publishing 1518 an essay in praise of marriage (''Encomium matrimonii''), which argued that the single state was "a barren way of life hardly becoming to a man". The theologian [[Josse Clichtove]] working at the [[University of Paris]] interpreted this as an attack on chastity, but Erasmus had found favor with Protestant reformers who acknowledged the argument as a useful tool to undermine compulsory clerical [[celibacy]] and [[monasticism]].<ref name="Diarmuid MacCulloch 2008, p356"/>
[[Diarmaid MacCulloch]] argued that the action taken at Trent was therefore partly a response by Roman Catholicism to demonstrate that it was as serious about marriage and the family as the [[Protestants]],.<ref name="Diarmuid MacCulloch 2008, p356">Diarmuid MacCulloch, ''Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490–1700'', London, 2008, p356</ref>

On 11 November 1563, the Council of Trent condemned the view that "the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecounciloftrent.com/ch24.htm|title=~The Council of Trent – Session 24~|first=CO Now LLC, Chicago|last=(reg)|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> And while Catholics upheld the supernatural character of marriage, it was Protestants who viewed it as not a sacrament and who admitted divorce.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CyX9X70kLIAC&pg=PA175 Maria Ågren, Amy Louise Erickson, ''The Marital Economy in Scandinavia and Britain, 1400-1900''] (Ashgate Publishing 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-75463782-0}}), p. 175</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7utYgukZXiIC&pg=PA27 Peter De Cruz, ''Family Law, Sex and Society''] (Routledge 2010), p. 27</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EcyIAW3R8e0C&pg=PT239 Katherine Anderson et al. (editors), ''Marriage - Just a Piece of Paper?''] (Eerdmans 2002 {{ISBN|978-0-80286165-8}}), p. 237</ref>

The decree ''[[Tametsi]]'' of 1563 was one of the last decisions made at Trent. The decree effectively sought to impose the Church's control over the process of marriage by laying down as strict conditions as possible for what constituted a marriage.<ref>Diarmuid MacCulloch, ''Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490–1700'', London, 2008, p540</ref> John P. Beal says the Council, "stung by the Protestant reformers' castigation of the Catholic Church's failure to extirpate clandestine marriages", issued the decree<ref name=Beal1326/> "to safeguard against invalid marriages and abuses in clandestine marriages",<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ehDrpqSKK6UC&pg=PA105 Mark G. McGowan, ''Waning of the Green''] (McGill-Queen's University Press 1999 {{ISBN|978-0-77351789-9}}), p. 105</ref> which had become "the scourge of Europe".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=88Tdzxwb15UC&pg=PA132 Todd A. Salzmann, Michael G. Lawler, ''Sexual Ethics''] (Georgetown University Press 2012 {{ISBN|978-1-58901913-3}}), p. 132</ref> In 1215 the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] had prohibited marriages entered into [[Clandestinity (Catholic canon law)|clandestinely]] but, unless there was some other [[Impediment (Catholic canon law)|impediment]], considered them valid though illicit. ''Tametsi'' made it a requirement even for validity, in any area where the decree was officially published, that the marriage take place in the presence of the parish priest and at least two witnesses.<ref>The [[Seven Sacraments Altarpiece]] of [[Rogier van der Weyden]], of which the detail concerning the sacrament of marriage is given above, shows that the presence of a priest and at least two witnesses was customary more than a century before the decree was composed.</ref> This revolutionised earlier practice in that "marriages that failed to meet these requirements would from the time of the promulgation of the decree be considered invalid and of no effect"; and it required that the priest keep written records, with the result that parents had more control over their children's marriages than before. It also instituted controls over the marriages of persons without fixed addresses ("vagrants are to be married with caution"), "regulated the times at which marriages could be celebrated, abolished the rule that sexual intercourse created affinity, and reiterated the ban on concubinage".<ref>[http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct24.html J. Waterworth, ''The Council of Trent: The Twenty-Fourth Session'']</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SiGe-Zf0nTIC&pg=PA564 James Brundage, ''Law, Sex and Society in Medieval Europe''] (University of Chicago Press 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-22607789-5}}), p. 564</ref>

For fear that the decree would "identify and multiply the number of doubtful marriages, particularly in Protestant areas, where 'mixed' marriages were common", the council hesitated to impose it outright and decided to make its application dependent on local promulgation. In fact, ''Tametsi'' was never proclaimed worldwide. It had no effect in France, England, Scotland and many other countries<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=cN4TAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA36 Leonard Shelford, ''A Practical Treatise on the Law of Marriage and Divorce''], pp. 36-37</ref> and in 1907 was replaced by the decree ''[[Ne Temere]]'', which came into effect universally at Easter 1908.<ref name="Beal1326">[https://books.google.com/books?id=JKgZEjvB5cEC&dq=Tametsi+%22Ne+Temere%22&pg=PA1326] John P. Beal, ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law'' (Paulist Press 2000 {{ISBN|978-0-80914066-4}}), p. 1326</ref><ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04001a.htm James David O'Neill, "Clandestinity (in Canon Law)"] in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York 1908)</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fqK8vdoFxSUC&pg=PA75 Eileen F. Stuart, ''Dissolution and Annulment of Marriage by the Catholic Church''] (Federation Press 1994 {{ISBN|978-1-86287136-6}}), p. 75</ref>

== Validity of marriage in the Catholic Church ==
{{anchor|Conditions for a valid marriage of Catholics}}{{canon law}}
The Catholic Church also has requirements before Catholics can be considered validly married in the eyes of the Church. A valid Catholic marriage results from four elements: (1) the spouses are free to marry; (2) they freely exchange their consent; (3) in consenting to marry, they have the intention to marry for life, to be faithful to one another and be open to children; and (4) their consent is given in the canonical form, i.e., in the presence of two witnesses and before a properly authorized church minister. Exceptions to the last requirement must be approved by church authority. The Church provides [[Pre-Cana|classes]] several months before marriage to help the participants inform their consent. During or before this time, the would-be spouses are [[confirmation (Catholic Church)|confirmed]] if they have not previously received confirmation and it can be done without grave inconvenience (Canon 1065).

The Catholic Church also recognizes as sacramental, (1) the marriages between two baptized Protestants or between two baptized Orthodox Christians, as well as (2) marriages between baptized non-Catholic Christians and Catholic Christians,<ref name="Foster1999"/> although in the latter case, consent from the diocesan bishop must be obtained, with this termed "permission to enter into a mixed marriage".<ref name="Burke1999"/> To illustrate (1), for example, "if two Lutherans marry in the Lutheran Church in the presence of a Lutheran minister, the Catholic Church recognizes this as a valid sacrament of marriage".<ref name="Foster1999"/> On the other hand, although the Catholic Church recognizes marriages between two non-Christians or those between a Catholic Christian and a non-Christian, these are not considered to be sacramental, and in the latter case, the Catholic Christian must seek permission from his/her bishop for the marriage to occur; this permission is known as "dispensation from [[disparity of cult]]".<ref name=":0" /> The Church prefers that marriages between Catholics, or between Catholics and other Christians, be celebrated in the parish church of one of the spouses.  Those helping to prepare the couple for marriage can assist with the permission process. In present-day circumstances, with communities no longer so homogeneous religiously, authorization is more easily granted than in earlier centuries.

=== Canonical form ===
{{anchor|Canonical form}}
The canonical form of marriage began to be required with the decree ''[[Tametsi]]'' issued by the [[Council of Trent]] on 11 November 1563. The decree ''[[Ne Temere]]'' of [[Pope Pius X]] in 1907 made the canonical form a requirement even where the decree of the Council of Trent had not been promulgated.

While allowing for exceptions, the canonical form of marriage, as laid down in Canons 1055–1165 of the ''[[1983 Code of Canon Law]]'' and Canons 776-866 of the ''[[Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches]]'', normally recognizes marriages of Catholics as valid only if contracted before the local bishop or a parish priest delegated by the bishop or (in the [[Latin Church]] only) a deacon delegated by them, and also at least two witnesses. In earlier times, validity was not made dependent on the fulfillment of these two conditions.

==== Freedom to marry ====
The participants in a marriage contract must have the freedom to marry. That is, there must be no [[Impediment (Catholic canon law)|impediment according to canon law]].<ref>can. 1066, 1067</ref>

==== Impediments ====
{{main article|Impediment (Catholic canon law)}}
A Catholic marriage cannot be formed if one or more of the following [[Impediment (Catholic canon law)|impediments]] are present,<ref>{{cite web|title=Code of Canon Law - Book IV - Function of the Church Liber (Cann. 998–1165) |quote=Canons 1083–1094 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann998-1165_en.html#CHAPTER%20III.}}</ref> although for some of these a [[Dispensation (Catholic canon law)|dispensation]] can be given:
* Antecedent and perpetual [[impotence]], whether on the part of the man or the woman<ref>can. 1084 CIC</ref>
* [[Consanguinity]] to the fourth degree in the collateral line (first cousin), including legal [[adoption]] to the second collateral line<ref>can. 1091 CIC</ref>
* [[Affinity (law)|Affinity]]{{snd}}relationship by marriage, e.g. a mother-in-law, in the direct line
* Prior bond{{snd}}the bond of a previous marriage<ref>can. 1085 CIC</ref>
* Those in [[Holy orders|sacred orders]]<ref>can. 1087 CIC</ref>
* Public and perpetual [[vow of chastity]] in a [[religious institute]]<ref>can. 1088 CIC</ref>
* [[Disparity of cult]]{{snd}}one of the persons was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, and the other is not baptized<ref>can. 1086 CIC</ref>
* [[Impediment of Crime|Crimen]]{{snd}}one party previously conspiring to marry upon the condition of the death of their spouse while still married; also called ''conjugicide''.<ref>can. 1090 CIC</ref>
* The minimum age for entering into a valid marriage has not yet been reached (14 for women, 16 for men)<ref>can. 1083 CIC</ref>
* [[Bride kidnapping|Abduction]]<ref>can. 1089 CIC</ref>

==== Times of year for celebrating a marriage ====
[[File:Catholic wedding blessing.jpg|thumb|Priest reading the blessing at a Catholic wedding, 2018]]

In the [[Latin Church]], marriage may be celebrated during [[Lent]] even within a [[Nuptial Mass]]; however, it is considered inappropriate to have such a celebration during [[Holy Week]] and impossible during the [[Easter Triduum]]. In principle, no day of the week is excluded from marriage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicmarriagecentre.org.uk/marriagefaq.php#m|title=Catholic Marriage Resource Centre – Frequently asked questions about marriage|access-date=7 November 2016|archive-date=19 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719041506/http://www.catholicmarriagecentre.org.uk/marriagefaq.php#m|url-status=dead}}</ref> Some [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] do not allow marriage during Lent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tserkva.ca/marriage.html|title=Marriage – St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church|first=St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic|last=Church|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> In earlier times, while the Latin Church allowed marriage to be celebrated at any time, it prohibited the solemn blessing of marriages during [[Advent]] and on [[Christmas Day]], and during [[Lent]] and on [[Easter Sunday]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0813/_P3J.HTM|title=CIC 1917: text - IntraText CT|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref>

=== Mixed marriages ===

While marriage between a Catholic and any non-Catholic is commonly spoken of as a mixed marriage, in the strict sense a mixed marriage is one between a Catholic (baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it) and a non-Catholic ''Christian'', known in popular parlance as an ''[[interdenominational marriage]]''.<ref name="Code of Canon Law – IntraText">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P41.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="CEmixed">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09698a.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Mixed Marriage|website=www.newadvent.org|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref>

The Catholic Church has from the start opposed marriage between a Catholic and any non-Catholic, baptized or not, seeing it as "degrading the holy character of matrimony, involving as it did a communion in sacred things with those outside the fold. [...] it was but natural and logical for the Church to do all in her power to hinder her children from contracting marriage with those outside her pale, who did not recognize the sacramental character of the union on which they were entering". The Church thus saw as obstacles to a Catholic's marriage what came to be called the two impediments of mixed religion (in [[Latin]], ''mixta religio'') and of difference of worship (in Latin ''disparitas cultus'').<ref name=CEmixed/>

==== Marriage with a non-Catholic Christian ====

From an early stage, Church councils forbade Catholic Christians to marry [[heresy|heretics]] or [[schism (religion)|schismatics]]. Unlike marriage with a non-Christian, which came to be considered invalid, marriage with a heretic was seen as valid, though illicit unless a dispensation had been obtained. However, the Church's opposition to such unions is very ancient. Early regional councils, such as the 4th-century [[Council of Elvira]] and the [[Council of Laodicea]], legislated against them; and the [[ecumenical council|ecumenical]] [[Council of Chalcedon]] prohibited such unions especially between members of the lower ecclesiastical grades and heretical women.<ref>''New Advent: Catholic Encyclopaedia''</ref>

In 692, the [[Council in Trullo]] declared such marriages invalid, a decision accepted in the East, but not in the West.<ref name=Beal1342>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JKgZEjvB5cEC&pg=PA1342 John P. Beal, ''Commentary on the New Code of Canon Law''] (Paulist Press 2000 {{ISBN|978-0-80914066-4}}), p. 1342</ref>

With the [[Reformation]] in the 16th century, more legislation regarding mixed marriages was  passed. In those countries where the [[Council of Trent]]'s ''[[Tametsi]]'' decree was promulgated, mixed marriages began to be viewed as invalid in the West, not directly because of being mixed, but because a condition for validity imposed by the decree was not observed, namely, that marriages be contracted before the parish priest or a priest delegated by him and at least two witnesses.<ref name=Beal1342/> This decree required the contract to be entered into before the parish priest or some other priest delegated by him, and in the presence of two or three witnesses under penalty of invalidity. Even where the ''Tametsi'' decree had been promulgated, the Church did not find it possible to insist on the rigour of this legislation in all countries, owing to strong Protestant opposition. However, the legislation was frequently enforced by Catholic parents stipulating in their [[Will and testament|wills]] that their children be [[Inheritance|disinherited]] if they renounced [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]].<ref name="Dolan 1985 pp. 82–83">{{cite book|last=Dolan|first=Jay P.|title=The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present|url=https://archive.org/details/americancatholic00dola/page/82|url-access=registration|year=1985|place=New York|publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]|isbn=978-0385152068|pages=[https://archive.org/details/americancatholic00dola/page/82 82–83]}}</ref>

[[Pope Benedict XIV]] issued a declaration (the "Benedictine dispensation") concerning marriages in the Netherlands and Belgium (1741), in which he declared mixed unions to be valid, provided they were according to the civil laws. A similar declaration was made concerning mixed marriages in Ireland by Pope Pius, in 1785, and gradually the "Benedictine dispensation" was extended to various localities. [[Pius VI]] allowed mixed marriages in Austria to take place in the presence of a priest, provided no religious solemnity was employed, and with the omission of public banns, as evidence of the unwillingness of the Church to sanction such unions. In 1869, the Congregation of the Propaganda further permitted such marriages but only under the condition of grave necessity, fearing the faithful "expose themselves to the grave dangers inherent in these unions". Bishops were to warn Catholics against such marriages and not to grant dispensations for them except for weighty reasons and not at the mere will of the petitioner. In countries where the decree was not promulgated, marriages otherwise contracted, called [[Clandestinity (canon law)|clandestine]] marriages, continued to be considered valid until the decree was replaced in 1908 by the decree ''[[Ne Temere]]'' of [[Pope Pius X]], which revoked the "Benedictine dispensation".<ref name=CEmixed/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K54UAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Benedictine%20dispensation%22|title=Concordia Theological Monthly|date=1 January 1942|publisher=Concordia Publishing House.|access-date=7 November 2016|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Catholic Christians are permitted to marry validly baptized non-Catholic Christians if they receive permission to do so from a "competent authority" who is usually the Catholic Christian party's [[local ordinary]];<ref name="Burke1999"/><ref name="1983 Code of Canon Law - Can. 1124">{{cite web|title=Code of Canon Law - Book IV - Function of the Church Liber (Cann. 998-1165)|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann998-1165_en.html#CHAPTER_VI.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2007/08/09/cath_noncath_marriage/ |title=Marriage Between a Catholic and a Non-Catholic |last=Caridi |first=Cathy |date=2007-08-09 |website=canonlawmadeeasy.com |publisher=Canon Law Made Easy |access-date=2022-02-06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306014926/https://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2007/08/09/cath_noncath_marriage/ |archive-date=2021-03-06}}</ref> if the proper conditions are fulfilled, such a marriage entered into is seen as valid and also, since it is a marriage between baptized persons, it is a [[sacrament]].<ref name="Burke1999"/> 

Weddings in which both parties are Catholic Christians are ordinarily held in a Catholic church, while weddings in which one party is a Catholic Christian and the other party is a non-Catholic Christian can be held in a Catholic church or a non-Catholic Christian church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions about Marriage in the Catholic Church |url=https://www.archsa.org/marriage-faqs#question5 |publisher=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio]] |access-date=30 November 2020 |language=en |date=2020 |quote=If the wedding is celebrated in the Catholic Church, the priest presides, and a non-Catholic minister can offer prayers and ask a blessing on the couple. If the wedding takes place in a non-Catholic church, the minister presides, and a priest/deacon may be present to offer a prayer and blessing.}}</ref>

A condition for granting permission to marry a non-Catholic is that the Catholic Christian party undertake to remove dangers of defecting from the faith and to do all in his or her power so that all the children are baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church; the other party is to be made aware of this undertaking and obligation of the Catholic Christian party.<ref name="1983 Code of Canon Law - Can. 1124" />

==== Marriage with a non-Christian ====
{{See also|Natural marriage}}
The early Church did not consider invalid a Catholic's marriage with a non-Christian (someone not baptized), especially when the marriage had taken place before the Catholic's conversion to the faith. It was nevertheless hoped that the converted wife or husband would be the means of bringing the other party into the Church, or at least safeguarding the Catholic upbringing of the children of the union. With the growth of the Church, the need for such unions diminished and the objection to them grew stronger. More by custom than by church legislation, such marriages gradually came to be considered invalid and ''disparitas cultus'' came to be seen as an impediment to marriage by a Catholic.<ref name=CEmixed/> There were also enactments on a local level against marriages with pagans ([[Council of Carthage (397)]], and under [[Stephen I of Hungary]] in the early 11th century) and with Jews ([[Third Council of Toledo]] in 589).

When the [[Decretum of Gratian]] was published in the 12th century, this impediment became part of [[canon law]]. From that time forward, all marriages contracted between Catholics and non-Christians were held to be invalid unless a dispensation had been obtained from the ecclesiastical authority.<ref name=CEmixed/> 

A marriage between a Catholic and a non-Christian (someone not baptized) is seen by the Church as invalid unless a dispensation (called a dispensation from "disparity of cult", meaning a difference of worship) is granted from the law declaring such marriages invalid. This dispensation can only be granted under certain conditions.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NWYmWxijs8cC&pg=PA56 Rhidian Jones, ''The Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England''] (Continuum 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-56761641-8}}), p. 56</ref> If the dispensation is granted, the Church recognizes the marriage as valid, but [[natural marriage|natural]] rather than sacramental, since the sacraments can be validly received only by the baptized, and the non-Christian person is not baptized.<ref>[http://old.usccb.org/laity/marriage/marriagefaqs.shtml United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Frequently Asked Questions about Marriage"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901141441/http://old.usccb.org/laity/marriage/marriagefaqs.shtml |date=1 September 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Y.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=32xNrEuc70MC&pg=PA112 Ladislas Örsy, ''Marriage in Canon Law''] (Gracewing 1986 {{ISBN|978-0-89453651-9}}), pp. 112-113</ref>

=== Matrimonial Consent ===
According to Canon 1057 of the Code of Canon Law (1983), marriage is established through the consent of the parties legitimately manifested between persons who are capable, according to the law, of giving consent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dacanay, SJ |first1=Adolfo N. |title=Canon Law on Marriage:Introductory Notes and Comments |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |location=Quezon City, Philippines |isbn=971-92171-0-3 |page=5}}</ref> 

Consent, which no human power can replace, is the efficient cause of marriage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dacanay, SJ |first1=Adolfo N. |title=Canon Law on Marriage:Introductory Notes and Comments |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |location=Quezon City, Philippines |isbn=971-92171-0-3 |page=5}}</ref>  It is defined by Canon 1057.1 as an act of the will by which a man and a woman through an irrevocable personal covenant mutually give and accept each other for the purpose of establishing marriage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dacanay, SJ |first1=Adolfo N. |title=Canon Law on Marriage:Introductory Notes and Comments |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |location=Quezon City, Philippines |isbn=971-92171-0-3 |page=5}}</ref> 

Such consent, however, must be manifested in a legitimate manner, that is, in a manner that has been determined by the Church in the formal solemnities prescribed for the validity of marriage (the canonical form).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dacanay, SJ |first1=Adolfo N. |title=Canon Law on Marriage:Introductory Notes and Comments |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |location=Quezon City, Philippines |isbn=971-92171-0-3 |page=5}}</ref> 

The persons manifesting their consent must be capable of doing that according to the law.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dacanay, SJ |first1=Adolfo N. |title=Canon Law on Marriage:Introductory Notes and Comments |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |location=Quezon City, Philippines |isbn=971-92171-0-3 |page=5}}</ref> 

===Remarriage of widows or widowers===

The teaching of the Catholic Church is that a married couple commits themselves totally to one another until death.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P86.HTM#-2E6|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> The vows they make to each other in the wedding rite are a commitment "til death do us part".<ref>[http://www.ascensioncatholic.net/catechism/catechism_18.pdf Sacrament of Marriage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220142/http://www.ascensioncatholic.net/catechism/catechism_18.pdf |date=4 October 2013 }}</ref> After the death of one, the other is free to marry again or to remain single. Some choose to become priests or [[religious (Catholicism)|religious]]. This path was chosen by some even in the early Christian centuries by people such as [[Saint Marcella]], [[Saint Paula]], Saint [[Galla of Rome]] and Saint [[Olympias the Deaconess]].<ref>Mária Puskely, Károly Vörös, Vilmos Zsidi. A keresztény Európa szellemi gyökerei. Az öreg földrész hagiográfiája. (''The Spiritual Roots of Christian Europe. The Hagiography of the Old World''). Kairosz Kiadó, Budapest 2004. pp. 38–40, 59, 177–178</ref>

== Ministers of matrimony ==

=== Western Church ===
[[File:Our Lady Help of Christians 9-2-1961.jpg|thumb|Tridentine Nuptial Mass, 1961]]
[[File:Giulio Rosati 11.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Ceremony of Marriage'' ([[Giulio Rosati]])]]
The husband and wife must validly execute the marriage contract. In the [[Latin Church|Latin Catholic]] tradition, it is the spouses who are understood to confer marriage on each other. The spouses, as ministers of grace, naturally confer upon each other the [[sacraments (Catholic Church)|sacrament]] of matrimony, expressing their consent before the church.

This does not eliminate the need for church involvement in the marriage; under normal circumstances, canon law requires for validity the attendance of the local bishop or parish priest (or a priest or deacon delegated by either of them) and at least two witnesses. The priest has merely the role to "assist" the spouses in order to ensure that the marriage is contracted in accord with canon law, and is supposed to attend whenever it is possible. A competent layperson may be delegated by the Church, or may just attend in place of the priest, if it is impractical to have a priest attending. In the event that no competent layperson is found, the marriage is valid even if done in the presence of two witnesses alone.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P40.HTM canons 1108–1116]</ref> For example, in May 2017, the [[Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments]] granted a bishop's request that a nun be granted permission to officiate at a marriage ceremony in Quebec because of a shortage of priests.<ref>{{cite news | work = La Stampa | access-date = 20 August 2017 | url = http://www.lastampa.it/2017/07/28/vaticaninsider/eng/world-news/quebec-nun-ministers-a-catholic-wedding-YdUTH9dqnKZq6AHH0sbE8O/pagina.html | title= Quebec, Nun ministers a Catholic wedding | date = 28 July 2017 | first = Andrea | last = Tornieli}}</ref>

=== Eastern Churches ===
{{main|Mystery of Crowning}}
{{multiple image
 | width = 140
 | image1 = Crowning in Syro-Malabar Nasrani Wedding by Mar Gregory Karotemprel.jpg
 | alt1 = Crowning during Holy Matrimony in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
 | image2 = താലി.JPG
 | alt2 = Keralite-style Minnu Kettu
 | footer = [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church|Syro-Malabar]] crowning and [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church|Syro-Malankara]] ''Minnu Kettu''.
}}
[[Eastern Catholic churches]] share the tradition common throughout [[Eastern Christianity]], according to which the minister of the sacrament is the bishop or priest who "crowns the bridegroom and the bride as a sign of the marriage covenant", a ceremony that has led to the rite being called the [[Mystery of Crowning]].<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P52.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1623] For a fuller account of the rites of marriage in Eastern Christianity see [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrVDmaXP6HEC&pg=PA298 Paul F. Bradshaw, ''The New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship''] (Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-33402883-3}}), pp. 298-299 and [http://www.syromalabarmatrimony.org/resourcesFullDetail.php?ids===AUVVEeWtWOXJFbaNVTWJVU Syro-Malabar Matrimony] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202093729/http://www.syromalabarmatrimony.org/resourcesFullDetail.php?ids===AUVVEeWtWOXJFbaNVTWJVU |date=2 February 2014 }}</ref>

== Indissolubility ==
[[Catholic theology]] teaches that a validly contracted sacramental marriage is accompanied by divine ratification, creating a virtually indissoluble union until the couple [[consummate]], after which the sacramental marriage is dissoluble only by the death of a spouse. An unconsummated marriage can be dissolved by the [[Pope]], as Vicar of Christ.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19880628_pastor-bonus-roman-curia_en.html |title=Const. Ap, Pastor Bonus |author=Pope John Paul II |quote=Art 67 |date=28 June 1988 |access-date=22 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010223175311/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19880628_pastor-bonus-roman-curia_en.html |archive-date=23 February 2001 |author-link=Pope John Paul II }}</ref>

In the eyes of the Church, even validly contracted [[natural marriage]]s (marriages in which at least one of the parties is not baptized) cannot be dissolved by the will of the couple or by any action of the state.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6Rfp8NDrz0C&pg=PT45 Michael Smith Foster, ''Annulment, the Wedding that Was''] (Paulist Press 1999 {{ISBN|978-0-80913844-9}}), q. 27</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JmRvPmO6hKcC&pg=PA113 Robert Ricard, ''The Spiritual Conquest of Mexico''] (University of California Press 1974 {{ISBN|978-0-52002760-2}}), p. 113</ref> Accordingly, "the Catholic Church does not recognize or endorse civil divorce of a natural marriage, as of a sacramental marriage".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7V-kCDE-9_wC&pg=PA411 Sebastian S. Karambai, ''Ministers and Ministries in the Local Church''] (St Pauls BYB 2005 {{ISBN|978-81-7109725-8}}), p. 411, footnote 38</ref> However, a natural marriage, even if consummated, can be dissolved by the Church when to do so favours the maintenance of the faith on the part of a Christian, cases of what has been called [[Pauline privilege]] and [[Petrine privilege]]. In these cases, which require intervention by the [[Holy See]], the Church admits real divorce, the actual dissolution of a valid marriage, as distinct from the granting by merely human power of a divorce that, according to Catholic theology, does not really dissolve the marriage bond.

While the violation of some regulations may make a marriage illicit, but not invalid, some conditions are essential and their absence means that there is in fact no valid marriage, and the participants are considered not to be actually married. However, Canon 1137 states that children born to a "putative" marriage (defined in Canon 1061, sec. 3 as one that is not valid but was entered into in good faith by at least one spouse) are legitimate; therefore, the declaration that a marriage is null does not render the children of that marriage illegitimate.

=== Annulments ===
{{main article|Declaration of Nullity}}

The Catholic Church has consistently taken the position that, while the dissolution of a valid natural marriage, even if consummated, may be granted for the sake of someone's Christian faith ("''in favorem fidei''"), though not for other reasons, and that a valid sacramental marriage, [[ratum sed non consummatum|if not consummated, may be dissolved]], a valid sacramental consummated marriage is indissoluble. There is no divorce from such a marriage. However, what is referred to as a marriage annulment occurs when two competent ecclesiastical tribunals hand down concordant judgments that a particular marriage was not in fact a valid one.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P6N.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=eU2T0KQyfPoC&pg=PA15 Lawrence E. Mick, ''Marriage''] (Liturgical Press 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-81463190-4}}), p. 15</ref>

Requirements for the validity of marriage are listed in the Code of Canon Law under the headings "Diriment Impediments" (such as being too young, being impotent, being already married, being [[holy orders|ordained]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Y.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> "Matrimonial Consent" (which requires, for instance, sufficient use of reason, psychic ability to assume the essential obligations of marriage, and freedom from force and fear),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Z.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> and "The Form of the Celebration of Marriage" (normally requiring that it be contracted in the presence of the parish priest or his delegate and at least two other witnesses).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P40.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref>

An annulment is a declaration that the marriage was invalid (or [[null and void|null]]) at the time the vows were exchanged. Thus, an annulment is declared only when an ecclesial tribunal finds a lack of validity in the marriage at the time of the marital contract. Behaviour subsequent to the contract is not directly relevant, except as ''post factum'' evidence of the validity or invalidity of the contract. That is, behaviour subsequent to the contract cannot actually change the validity of the contract. For example, a marriage would be invalid if one of the parties, at the time of marriage, did not intend to honour the vow of fidelity. If the spouse did intend to be faithful at the time of the marriage but later committed adultery this does not invalidate the marriage.

The teaching of the Catholic church is that annulment and divorce therefore differ, both in rationale and effect; an annulment is a finding that a true marriage never existed, whereas a divorce is a dissolution of marriage.

In canon law there are numerous reasons for granting annulments of marriages that were entered into invalidly.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fqK8vdoFxSUC&q=%22Grounds+of+Annulment%22 Eileen F. Stuart, ''Dissolution and Annulment of Marriage by the Catholic Church''] (Federation Press 1994 {{ISBN|978-1-86287136-6}}), pp. 147-194</ref> MacCulloch has noted the "ingenuity" of Roman Catholic lawyers in deploying these in the historical context.<ref>Diarmaid MacCulloch, ''Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490–1700'', London, 2008</ref>

Annulments are not restricted to marriages. A similar process can lead to the annulment of an [[holy orders|ordination]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P6T.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BULp_AjYU3EC&pg=PT140 Michael Smith Foster, ''Annulment: The Wedding That Was''] (Paulist Press 1999 {{ISBN|978-1-61643175-4}}), q. 89</ref>

== Sins against marriage and conjugal chastity ==
{{Main article|Homosexuality and Roman Catholicism}}

The teaching of the Catholic Church is that marriage may only be between one man and one woman with each partner's free and willing consent for the good of each other and for the transmission of human life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marriageuniqueforareason.org/faq/#sec1q4|title=Marriage FAQ's – Marriage Unique for a Reason|first=Marriage Unique for a|last=Reason|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=34750|title=Dictionary : MARRIAGE|website=www.catholicculture.org|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref> The church believes adultery, divorce, remarriage after divorce, marriage without the intent to transmit life, polygamy, incest, child abuse, free union, and trial marriage are sins against the dignity of marriage.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2380-2391] Adultery refers to marital infidelity...Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law...[P]olygamy is not in accord with the moral law...Incest designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them...Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care...The expression "free union" is fallacious...Some today claim a "right to a trial marriage" where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who engage in premature sexual relations may be, "the fact is that such liaisons can scarcely ensure mutual sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man and a woman, nor, especially, can they protect it from inconstancy of desires or whim."</ref><ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 347 and 349] Adultery and polygamy are opposed to the sacrament of matrimony because they contradict the equal dignity of man and woman and the unity and exclusivity of married love. Other sins include the deliberate refusal of one’s procreative potential which deprives conjugal love of the gift of children and divorce which goes against the indissolubility of marriage...The Church, since she is faithful to her Lord, cannot recognize the union of people who are civilly divorced and remarried. </ref> The church also believes that chastity must be practiced by spouses,<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2348-2349] All the baptized are called to chastity... Married people are called to live conjugal chastity;...</ref> and that sins against chastity include lust, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, incest, child abuse, and homosexuality in any shape or form.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church 2351-2357] Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure..."Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action."...Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality...Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity...Prostitution does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure...Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person...Graver still is the rape of children committed by parents (incest) or those responsible for the education of the children entrusted to them...homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.</ref> 

The Catholic Church opposes the introduction of [[same-sex marriage|both civil and religious same-sex marriage]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/pope-repeats-that-same-sex-marriage-is-anthropological-regression|title=Pope Repeats that Same-Sex 'Marriage' is "Anthropological Regression"|work=National Catholic Register|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref><ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ''Considerations regarding proposals to give recognition to unions between homosexual persons'', 5] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613085642/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html |date=13 June 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html#CHAPTER%20FIVE|title=Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church|website=www.vatican.va|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/03/02/opponents-confident-that-same-sex-marriage-law-will-be-overturned-in-referendum/|title=Catholic Church Strongly Opposed To Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage In Md.|date=2012-03-02|access-date=2018-08-18|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2013/04/12/submission-constitutional-convention/|title=Submission to Constitutional Convention|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> The Church also holds that same-sex unions are an unfavourable environment for children and that the legalization of such unions damages society.<ref name="2003 letter">Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons, 2003, points 7 and 8</ref>
Leading figures in the Catholic hierarchy, including cardinals and bishops, have publicly voiced or actively opposed legislation of civil same-sex marriage<ref name="ReferenceC"/><ref name="Africareview.com"/><ref name="gaystarnews.com"/><ref name="Vatican condemns Spain gay bill"/><ref name="independent.ie"/><ref name="irishexaminer.com"/><ref name="Gay Star News"/> and encouraged others to do the same,<ref name="ReferenceC">Comment. "We cannot afford to indulge this madness". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2012</ref><ref name="Africareview.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.africareview.com/News/Cameroon-Catholic-lawyers-vow-to-uphold-anti-gay-laws/-/979180/1704056/-/g7erql/-/index.html |title=Cameroon Catholic lawyers vow to uphold anti-gay laws: News |publisher=Africareview.com |access-date=2 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="gaystarnews.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/nigerian-catholics-congratulate-president-making-same-sex-marriage-crime050214 |title=Nigerian Catholics congratulate President for making same-sex marriage a crime &#124; Gay Star News |access-date=15 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313095306/http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/nigerian-catholics-congratulate-president-making-same-sex-marriage-crime050214 |archive-date=13 March 2014 }}</ref><ref name="Vatican condemns Spain gay bill">"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4473001.stm Vatican condemns Spain gay bill]". BBC News. 22 April 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2007</ref><ref name="independent.ie">{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/bishops-vow-to-boycott-weddings-over-gay-marriage-29162066.html|title=Bishops vow to 'boycott' weddings over gay marriage - Independent.ie|work=Independent.ie|access-date=2018-08-18|language=en}}</ref><ref name="irishexaminer.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/bishops-issue-warning-over-bid-to-legalise-gay-marriages-226799.html|title=Bishops issue warning over bid to legalise gay marriages|date=29 March 2013|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="Gay Star News">{{cite web |url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/croatia-says-%E2%80%98i-do%E2%80%99-gay-civil-unions050813 |title=Croatia says 'I do' to gay civil unions |publisher=Gay Star News |date=5 August 2013 |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=24 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824201142/http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/croatia-says-%E2%80%98i-do%E2%80%99-gay-civil-unions050813 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="npr-marriage">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/06/06/154408067/deadline-nears-for-gay-marriage-referendum-in-washington|title=Seattle Catholics Divided On Repealing Gay Marriage|author=Liz Jones|agency=NPR|date=6 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="Patrick">{{cite web|last=Patrick |first=Joseph |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/04/16/archbishop-of-paris-warns-that-equal-marriage-will-lead-to-a-more-violent-society/ |title=France: Archbishop of Paris warns that equal marriage will lead to a more violent society |publisher=PinkNews.co.uk |access-date=2 September 2013|date=16 April 2013 }}</ref> and have done likewise with regard to same-sex [[civil unions]]<ref name="The Independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catholic-church-in-polygamy--attack-on-civil-unions-7965157.html |title=Catholic Church in polygamy attack on civil unions – Europe – World |work=The Independent |date=23 July 2012 |access-date=2 September 2013 |location=London |first=Michael |last=Day}}</ref><ref name="Catholic News Agency">{{cite news|title=Irish cardinal urges opposition to homosexual civil unions|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/16929/irish-cardinal-urges-opposition-to-homosexual-civil-unions|access-date=27 August 2013|newspaper=Catholic News Agency|date=25 August 2009|location=Armagh, Ireland}}</ref> and [[LGBT adoption|adoption by same-sex couples]].<ref name="2003 letter"/>

There are a growing number of Catholics globally who dissent from the official position of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and express support for civil unions or same-sex marriage. In some locations, for example North America, Northern and Western Europe, there is stronger support for [[LGBT rights]] (such as civil unions, civil same-sex marriage and protection against discrimination) among Catholics than the general population at large.<ref>See *{{cite web
 |author     = United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
 |url        = http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,PHL,4562d8cf2,440ed74ba,0.html
 |title      = Refworld &#124; Philippines: Treatment of homosexuals and state protection available (2000-2005)
 |publisher  = UNHCR
 |access-date = 2013-02-11
}}
* {{cite web
 |last       = Newport
 |first      = Frank
 |title      = For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage
 |url        = http://www.gallup.com/poll/147662/First-Time-Majority-Americans-Favor-Legal-Gay-Marriage.aspx
 |publisher  = [[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]]
 |access-date = 25 September 2012
|date = 20 May 2011
 }}
* {{cite web
 |title      = Survey&nbsp;– Generations at Odds: The Millennial Generation and the Future of Gay and Lesbian Rights
 |work = Public Religion Research Institute
 |date = 29 August 2011
 |url        = http://publicreligion.org/research/2011/08/generations-at-odds/
 |publisher  = [[Public Religion Research Institute]]
 |access-date = 25 September 2012
}}
* {{cite news
 |title      = Data Points: Support for Legal Same-Sex Marriage
 |url        = http://chronicle.com/article/Chart-Support-for-Legal/64683/
 |access-date = 25 September 2012
 |newspaper  = [[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]
 |date       = 16 March 2010
}}
* {{cite web
 |title       = Pew Forum Part 2: Public Opinion on Gay Marriage
 |url         = http://www.pewforum.org/PublicationPage.aspx?id=647
 |publisher   = [[Pew Research Center]]
 |access-date  = 25 September 2012
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120910053311/http://www.pewforum.org/PublicationPage.aspx?id=647
 |archive-date = 10 September 2012
}}
* {{cite news
 |title      = Most Irish people support gay marriage, poll says
 |url        = http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/02/24/most-irish-people-support-gay-marriage-poll-says/
 |access-date = 25 September 2012
 |newspaper  = PinkNews
 |date       = 24 February 2011
}}
* {{cite news
 |last       = Jowit
 |first      = Juliette
 |title      = Gay marriage gets ministerial approval
 |url        = https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/jun/12/gay-marriage-receive-ministerial-approval
 |access-date = 25 September 2012
 |newspaper  = [[The Guardian]]
 |date       = 12 June 2012
 |location   = London
}}
* {{cite web
 |url        = http://www.ifop.com/?option=com_publication&type=poll&id=1956
 |title      = Les Français, les catholiques et les droits des couples homosexuels
 |publisher  = Ifop.com
 |date       = 2012-08-14
 |access-date = 2013-02-11
}}
* [http://publicreligion.org/research/2011/03/for-catholics-open-attitudes-on-gay-issues/ Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403045736/http://publicreligion.org/research/2011/03/for-catholics-open-attitudes-on-gay-issues/ |date=April 3, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="USAtoday">{{Cite news |work=USA Today |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2011/03/gay-marriage-catholic-church-/1 |title=U.S. Catholics break with church on gay relationships |date=March 23, 2011 |first=Cathy Lynn |last=Grossman}}</ref>

In 2021, the Catholic Church reaffirmed its position: That "the Church does not have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons the same sex".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex|url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2021/03/15/210315b.html|access-date=2022-02-03|website=press.vatican.va}}</ref> In 2023 the [[Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith#:~:text=It is still informally known,of new and unacceptable doctrines."|Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith]] clarified that individual sinners may be blessed in non-liturgical settings that do not confuse the simple blessing with sacramental marriage [[Fiducia supplicans|in a decree called Fiducia Supplicans]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vatican says priests can bless same-sex couples without condoning their lifestyles|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256308/vatican-says-priests-can-bless-same-sex-couples-without-condoning-their-lifestyles|access-date=2023-12-22|website=catholic news agency.com}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Catholicism}}
{{div col}}
* [[Banns of marriage]]
* [[Nuptial Mass]]
* [[Christian views of marriage]]
* [[Christian views on divorce]]
* [[Declaration of nullity]]
* [[Defender of the Bond]]
* [[Impediment of crime]]
* [[Matrimonial dispensation]]
* [[Natural marriage]]
* [[Pauline privilege]]
* [[Vetitum]]
* [[Parish register]]
{{div col end|2}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101023213813/http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/getsection.cfm?partnum=2&SecNum=2&ChapNum=3&articlenum=7&ParSecNum=0&subSecNum=0&headernum=0&ParNum=1601&ParType=4 ''Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Sacrament of Matrimony''] An authoritative summary of Church teaching on marriage, including the main requirements for the celebration of the sacrament of Marriage.
* [http://www.catholicweddinghelp.com/topics/order-wedding-with-mass.htm ''Order of the Rite for Celebrating Marriage During Mass''] Order of a Catholic wedding during Mass, with links to official texts from the Rite of Marriage
* [https://archive.today/20130107100945/http://solages.site.voila.fr/everyd/canon_law_sacraments_en.xhtml%23mariage Liberté plus haute…] The canon law for dummies.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090622095840/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_10021880_arcanum_en.html ''Arcanum''] Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Christian Marriage
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Moral and Canonical Aspect of Marriage}}
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Ritual of Marriage}}
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Sacrament of Marriage}}

{{Types of marriages}}
{{Seven Sacraments}}
{{Catholicism}}

[[Category:Marriage in the Catholic Church| ]]