MARRIAGE

By Bishop G. G. Dunia (Bishop Catholic Diocese of Auchi)

In the Catholic Church, it is simple understood that a marriage is the matrimonial covenant by which a capable person (who must be a man) and another capable person (who must be a woman) establish between themselves a partnership of their whole life, till death separates them. The fundamental purpose of the sacrament of marriage is twofold: by nature marriage is ordered to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children (cf canon 1055 & 1).

Although, the institution of marriage predated the coming of Christ on earth, it has been raised by Jesus Christ to the dignity of a sacrament between two baptised man and woman (cf cannon 1055 & 1).

The sacrament of marriage is also marked by certain unique attributes. These attributes are:

(a) Total and perpetual fidelity or unity.

(b) Indissolubility, all things being equal till death. This means that once the marital or matrimonial covenant is validly and licitly established between a baptised man and a baptised woman, the two (spouses) are obliged to remain totally faithful to each other for life until death comes to do them part.

The consent of the two parties which is legitimately manifested between the man and the woman who are qualified by law is that, which makes a marriage; no other human power outside the two parties involved can supply this consent (cf. cannon 1057 & 1).

Matrimonial consent is an act of the will by which a man and a woman who are legally and psychologically qualified also by an irrevocable covenant mutually give and accept each other for the purpose of establishing a marriage for life (cf. 1057 & 2).

Once matrimonial consent is validly and licitly given, accepted by both parties and consummated by sexual intercourse, it cannot be dissolved by any power on earth.

For a valid reception of the sacrament of marriage, it is necessary that both parties (the man and the woman) are free from impediment. If impediment exists, it must either be removed, where and when it is possible, or dispensed if it is that which can be dispensed from, since it is not all impediments that can be dispensed from.

Secondly, the spouses must have the physical capacity for marriage. That is the parties must be a man and a woman who have the ability to complete the procreative sexual act. This is important because marriage is ordered, apart from the good of the spouses, to the procreation and education of the offspring. Also, since the sexual act is a deep manifestation of conjugal love, it is essential to t he whole marital relationship.

Thirdly, the spouses must possess mental/psychological capacity for fulfilling the fundamental marital obligations as well as moral capacity for living out the demands of marriage in accordance with the prescription of the Church.

Fourthly and very importantly, the spouses must express their consent in an atmosphere of total freedom and without being mutilated, as it were, by one impediment or the other.

Fifthly, matrimonial consent must be expressed by all Catholic parties involved in marriage, in accordance with canonical form. This means that the two parties, man and woman, must declare their consent before a sacred minister and two witnesses.