CCEO, can. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mark 10:11-12). Full knowledge (of the grave sinfulness). 141 Cf. Terms of Endearment. It is imperative to give suitable and timely instruction to young people, above all in the heart of their own families, about the dignity of married love, its role and its exercise, so that, having learned the value of chastity, they will be able at a suitable age to engage in honorable courtship and enter upon a marriage of their own.136. The temptation to religious indifference can then arise. . The Christian family is called the domestic church because the family manifests and lives out the communal and familial nature of the Church as the family of God. . 86 1 Cor 7:39; cf. A mixed marriage (between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) needs for liceity the permission of ecclesiastical authority. It excludes a union with … Their union has always been threatened by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation. 1629 For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed.132 In this case the contracting parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged.133. '"91, 1605 Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be alone. "144 The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with man: "Authentic married love is caught up into divine love. The presence of the Church's minister (and also of the witnesses) visibly expresses the fact that marriage is an ecclesial reality. Gal 6:2. A sacrament, as we know, is an outward sign that confers an inner grace. 144 GS 48 § 1. 1651 Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who often keep the faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian manner, priests and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude, so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate as baptized persons: CIC, can. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica.168 It is in the bosom of the family that parents are "by word and example . 1627 The consent consists in a "human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other": "I take you to be my wife" - "I take you to be my husband. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.". FC 19. 1141. LG 42; PC 12; OT 10. The "intimate union of marriage, as a mutual giving of two persons, and the good of the children, demand total fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable union between them."157. Their marriage can radiate a fruitfulness of charity, of hospitality, and of sacrifice. FC 13. 120 Cf. 150 Eph 5:21; cf. 1660 The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. In sacramental terms, the man and the woman are the ministers of the Sacrament of Marriage, not the priest or deacon who performs the ceremony; therefore, in entering into the sacrament, they need to intend by an act of the will to do what the Church intends in the sacrament: "Matrimonial consent is an act of the will by which a man and a woman mutually give and accept each other through … . Gen 2:22; 3:16b. 125 Cf. 138 Cf. 164 Cf. Consequently, they cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists. 1661 The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. 134 Cf. This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely, and can be more or less overcome according to the circumstances of cultures, eras, and individuals, but it does seem to have a universal character. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Eph 5:31-32. Because of original sin, which caused a rupture in the God-given communion between man and woman, the union of marriage is very often threatened by discord and infidelity. GS 47 § 2. In a case of disparity of cult (between a Catholic and a non-baptized person) a dispensation is required for validity. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement "until further notice." For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity. The nuptial covenant of God with Israel prepared for and prefigured the new covenant established by Jesus Christ the Son of God, with his spouse, the Church. the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children. "87 The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. What are the elements of marriage? 112 Cf. even in the eyes of society. 1645 "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to man and wife in mutual and unreserved affection. 110 Eph 5:25-26,31-32; Cf. 111 Cf. "149 Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,"150 and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. The ministers of the Sacrament of Matrimony in the Latin Rite are the bride and groom, and the priest and deacons are witnesses. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament (cf. So, even at a natural level, a lack of commitment to these four elements means that no marriage has taken place. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God." 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. 1644 The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses' community of persons, which embraces their entire life: "so they are no longer two, but one flesh. Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who often keep the faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian manner, priests and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude, so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate as baptized persons: Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the good of the parents themselves. God himself said: "It is not good that man should be alone," and "from the beginning [he] made them male and female"; wishing to associate them in a special way in his own creative work, God blessed man and woman with the words: "Be fruitful and multiply." 119 St. John Chrysostom, De virg. Mk 8:34; Mt 11:29-30. FC 28. It is by following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up their crosses that spouses will be able to "receive" the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help of Christ.109 This grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ's cross, the source of all Christian life. The spouses risk experiencing the tragedy of Christian disunity even in the heart of their own home. 4. 158 Cf. 156 Cf. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith. 1614 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.106 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."107. 171 GS 52 § 1. […] Where the flesh is one, one also is the spirit. 170 LG 10. They arise from the fact that the separation of Christians has not yet been overcome. The Catholic Church also has requirements before Catholics can be considered validly married in the eyes of the Church. To heal the wounds of sin, man and woman need the help of the grace that God in his infinite mercy never refuses them.99 Without his help man and woman cannot achieve the union of their lives for which God created them "in the beginning.". "153 They "are called to grow continually in their communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving. 1626 The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that "makes the marriage. The spouses are the ministers of the sacrament of marriage because the mark—the external sign—of the sacrament is not the wedding Mass or anything the priest might do but the marriage contract itself. The promise made between a man and a woman before God and the Church, which forms a binding bond unto death as a couple committed to each other Who administers the sacrament of Matrimony? The role of pastors and of the Christian community as the "family of God" is indispensable for the transmission of the human and Christian values of marriage and family,135 and much more so in our era when many young people experience broken homes which no longer sufficiently assure this initiation: Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath.111 which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist. 1606 Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. Their distinctions remain, and yet in their marriage we find that there is something there that is greater than the sum of the persons involved. 101 Cf. God instituted Matrimony for the special purpose of entrusting to the married couple the privilege of … 1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. 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