Canon Law Notes—Saturday, May 17, 2008

Canon Law Notes—Saturday, May 17, 2008

[Summer program: Next meeting: June 21 @ St. Leo’s. AM is RCIA; PM is the last session of Canon Law.
June 7: Ordination of Transitional deacons at the Cathedral (we are invited)
June 14: Ordination of priests at the Cathedral (we are welcome)
In July: Only one meeting: the 3rd Saturday of July. (1st Saturday is July 4 weekend!)
In August: 1st and 3rd Saturdays.
Possibility of field assignments to different apostolates, e.g. sick/hospital/nursing homes; marriage prep; CCD classes; prison ministry, etc.

Sacraments and sacramentals.

Course notes:
Father Rippy on matrimony—A union of a baptized man and woman who freely enter into a union with each other under Christ.
Impediments: There are 12 of them. Know them for the take-home test. Age/impotency/prior marriage, etc. (See notes from Fr. Rippy’s first session.)
With a dispensation, you can marry your wife’s sister.
Public propriety: Invalid due to long living together or public concubinage.

Today:
Consent makes the marriage
A defect in the consent invalidates the marriage
• Canon 1095: Deals with people who are incapable of contracting a marriage.
Substantial defects in the consent can render a marriage invalid. An act of the will—what we intend is important.

Consent is an act of the will, therefore all defects of consent can invalidate the marriage.
• Canon 1095 lists those who cannot contract a marriage. Psychology and psychiatry have been of aid to tribunals.):

1. Those who lack sufficient use of reason. The church only requires the absolute minimal use of reason. Someone who is severely retarded cannot contract marriage.
2. Defect of discretion in judgment concerning material rights and duties. There are 3 obligations of marriage according to St. Augustine: (a) Fidelity; (b) Permanency, and (c) Unity of life and love, including especially an openness to children.

Obligations must be (1) understood and (2) are entered into freely and willingly. Understanding (obligation (1)) means the details of being married for this particular reason at this particular time. The will must be able to order the decision into execution.
• Canon 1096: Must know marriage is permanent and for the procreation of children.
• Canon 1097: §1 An error concerning the person being married invalidates the marriage. (If you somehow marry the wrong person (e.g. an identical twin), the marriage is invalid.
§2: If you “marry for money” and the money isn’t there, that does not invalidate the marriage.
• Canon 1098: Fraud or imposed error can invalidate the marriage.
• Canon 1101: Simulation of consent, i.e. consent but are not open to the procreation of children. Merely going through the motions to win the assent of the intended spouse. Financial information must be discussed prior to a marriage. (Pre-nuptial agreements regarding finances can rarely be used to invalidate a marriage.)
• Canon 1102: § 1: A marriage subject to a condition about the future cannot be contracted validly.

§§ 2 and 3 deal with past or present conditions.
• Canon 1103: Force or grave fear renders a wedding invalid.
--“Shotgun weddings” are rare
--“Arranged marriages,” which exist in some cultures, are more likely to be encountered, but do not automatically invalidate a marriage.
--The threats must be external.
• Canon 1104: To contract a valid marriage, you must be present in person or in proxy. Assent must be in words or, in the case of those unable to speak, by equivalent signs, e.g. signing for the deaf.
(Use of a proxy in a marriage is rarely done.)
Canon 1106: Marriage can be contracted by use of an interpreter.

SECOND HOUR
Chapter V: Forms of Marriage
A baptized Catholic who marries; marriage must be:
1) Witnessed by a bishop/priest/deacon, who is
2) Properly delegated to perform the marriage.
3) Two witnesses must be present, and
4) The marriage must occur in a sacred place.

If someone is Catholic, they are always bound to the canonical form of marriage.
The Canonical forms are the 4 items noted above:
1) Witnessed by a bishop/priest/deacon (explanation obvious)
2) Properly delegated, meaning given proper faculties to perform the marriage by their bishop. These faculties are granted for life. (Even laicized priests and deacons have this faculty, they just cannot use it.). (The Church has established these laws to protect the faithful.)

Clergy who desire to perform a wedding outside their own diocese, even a bishop, need delegation to perform that wedding from the resident bishop of the diocese in which the wedding will occur. At least one must be a Latin rite Catholic getting married.
3) Two witnesses: Must be above the age of reason, 7 years old. Generally, the best man and maid of honor, but not required. Witnesses can be 2 men or 2 women, but there must be 2 in number. They do not have to be Catholic.
4) In a sacred place: There are ex captions. In the case of a marriage between a Catholic and a Jew, Buddhist, Moslem, etc., who would be affronted by entering a Catholic Church, a dispensation can be granted by the bishop to get married in a neutral place, e.g. a hotel room.
Civilly, for Virginia, an ordained minister must be licensed to perform marriages. The District of Columbia also requires a license, but Maryland does not. Licenses are issued by your county clerk. Be certain to memorize the date of your license to perform marriages, since you will be required to enter that on every Va. marriage certificate you sign as the officiating minister.
Domicile/quasi-domicile must be established for the person marrying. Military stationed in Virginia can be married here because they have “quasi-domicile” even though they are not Virginia residents officially.

[Father sped quickly past Canons 1109 through 1111].
• Canon 1112: Lay persons can assist at a marriage where there are insufficient priests/deacons.
• Canon 1113: “Free status” of a party to marry must be proven. Must ask “Have you ever been married before?” by anyone—a priest, minister, Justice of the Peace, civil official, etc.

Affidavits of “free status” are required in the Arlington Diocese.
“Prior bond” is an impediment to marriage.
• Canon 1115: Marriages may be celebrated in a parish where one of the parties has a domicile/quasi-domicile or month-long residence.
• Canon 1116: Extraordinary canonical form, e.g. a dieing person can get married in a hospital room.
• Canon 1117: Any baptized Catholic being married must observe the proper form of marriage.
• Canon 1118: Place where marriage can be celebrated.
• There is no dispensation from canonical form for 2 Catholics getting married.
• Shrines are not considered a parish church for the sake of determining where a marriage may occur. (Some shrines are also parish churches, however, and marriages may occur there.) (Virtually no weddings occur in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for this reason.)
• Canon 1119: Liturgical form of marriage. You cannot have a marriage within a Mass between a Catholic and a non-baptized person.

The couple cannot write their own vows. You must follow the forms. Only 2 sets of vows appear in the Book of Marriages, and those being wed must pick one of these.
• Canon 1121: Marriages must be recorded. Deacons may record marriages, but don’t anger the Church secretary who may have been recording those marriages for decades.

THIRD HOUR

Chapter VI: Mixed Marriage—A marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic
• Canon 1124: Mixed marriages are prohibited without permission from the competent authority, i.e. the bishop or the Vicar General.
• Canon 1125: Conditions for granting permission for a mixed marriage.
• Be particularly careful when an Eastern Rite Catholic is involved. (For purposes of this discussion about marriages, Eastern Orthodox are considered non-Catholics. Eastern Rite Catholics are Catholics who worship using forms of the various Eastern Rites.)
• In the Eastern Rites, a man in a marriage who is of the Eastern rite must have their marriage witnessed by a priest in one of their own churches or must have permission granted by their Eparch to have it performed in a Roman Catholic Church. If these conditions are not met, their marriage is considered invalid in the eyes of the Eastern Church. This does not apply to an Eastern Rite woman.
• Canon 1127: §2: Dispensation from canonical form can be granted by a local bishop for a valid reason, e.g.
--danger of civil marriage
--long time relation with a particular church
• Once a dispensation from form has been granted, the marriage can be done anywhere by anyone.
• Canon 1129: Disparity of cult: A Catholic marries a non-baptized person. This requires a dispensation and lacking the dispensation, there is not a valid marriage. The dispensation should be granted at least a month before the date of the marriage.

Chapter VIII: Effects of Marriage
• Canon 1137: Children of a marriage that is later annulled are not made illegitimate children as a result of the annulment.
Prior marriage issues must be asked before the marriage:

1) Where did the prior marriage take place?
2) What is your religion? Are you baptized? Baptized into which Christian denomination?

4 types of annulments:
1) Absence of form
2) Formal case
3) Presence of ligament
4) Lack of baptism
Exception: If the person who did the marrying was not properly delegated, that is a loophole and a marriage can be declared null very rapidly.

1) Absence of form: A person was a Catholic who married an Episcopalian in front of a justice of the peace. This is the easiest form of annulment—very quick.
2) Formal case: Takes 12-18 months or longer. Involves two people who got validly married. A baptized Catholic married a Baptized Episcopalian in an Episcopal Church.
--Ask, is this your first marriage?
--No requirement for canonical form
{Never set a new wedding date if an annulment of any kind is involved.]
3) Presence of ligament: Man is a baptized Episcopalian and is married to a baptized Presbyterian—and he says he has been previously married to an Episcopalian woman, and that was her third marriage to him—you must investigate.
4) Non-baptism of the party: A baptized Catholic woman is married to a non-baptized Buddhist. The pope may dissolve this marriage in favor of the Catholic man the woman wants to marry. This is sometimes called a “privilege of the faith” case. We must here investigate and confirm the fact that the first husband has never been married. (Usually takes 3-6 months.)
• Canon 1143: Pauline Privilege: Granted by the judicial vicar of diocese, through the tribunal of the diocese. Very rarely done.
Ratum sed non consummatum marriage: A marriage made but never consummated.
• Canons 1156-1165: These deal with convalidation of a civil marriage. Example: Two Catholics ran off and got married by a justice of the peace. It is the first marriage for both. This is easy: there is no annulment necessary. They fill out forms. No dispensations or permissions are needed. A con-validation of a civil union. Investigate the perduring of the consent. Set a date for the church wedding—have 2 witnesses. This should be a simple, small ceremony.
Radical sanation: A couple that married in good faith but lacked the proper dispensation and are therefore invalidly married form the subject of this practice. This marriage can be “radically sanated,” i.e. cleansed from the root (radix) of the marriage which was invalidly celebrated.