Đề mục 7. Bí tích Hôn Nhân (Điều 1055-1165)

§1 The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of their whole life, and which of its own very nature is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children, has, between the baptised, been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.
§2 Consequently, a valid marriage contract cannot exist between baptised persons without its being by that very fact a sacrament. [On the relationship between faith and the sacrament of marriage see International Theological Commission, The Reciprocity between Faith and Sacraments in the Sacramental Economy (2020), nos. 132-182]

The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility; in Christian marriage they acquire a distinctive firmness by reason of the sacrament.

§1 A marriage is brought into being by the lawfully manifested consent of persons who are legally capable. This consent cannot be supplied by any human power.
§2 Matrimonial consent is an act of will by which a man and a woman by an irrevocable covenant mutually give and accept one another for the purpose of establishing a marriage.

All can contract marriage who are not prohibited by law.

The marriage of Catholics, even if only one party is baptised, is governed not only by divine law but also by canon law, without prejudice to the competence of the civil authority in respect of the merely civil effects of the marriage.

Marriage enjoys the favour of law. Consequently, in doubt the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven.

§1 A valid marriage between baptised persons is said to be merely ratified, if it is not consummated; ratified and consummated, if the spouses have in a human manner engaged together in a conjugal act in itself apt for the generation of offspring. To this act marriage is by its nature ordered and by it the spouses become one flesh.
§2 If the spouses have lived together after the celebration of their marriage, consummation is presumed until the contrary is proven.
§3 An invalid marriage is said to be putative if it has been celebrated in good faith by at least one party. It ceases to be such when both parties become certain of its nullity.

§1 A promise of marriage, whether unilateral or bilateral, called an engagement, is governed by the particular law which the Episcopal Conference has enacted, after consideration of such customs and civil laws as may exist.
§2 No right of action to request the celebration of marriage arises from a promise of marriage, but there does arise an action for such reparation of damages as may be due. CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE

Pastors of souls are obliged to ensure that their own church community provides for Christ’s faithful the assistance by which the married state is preserved in its Christian character and develops in perfection. This assistance is to be given principally:1° by preaching, by catechetical instruction adapted to children, young people and adults, indeed by the use of the means of social communication, so that Christ’s faithful are instructed in the meaning of Christian marriage and in the role of Christian spouses and parents;2° by personal preparation for entering marriage, so that the spouses are disposed to the holiness and the obligations of their new state;3° by the fruitful celebration of the marriage liturgy, so that it clearly emerges that the spouses manifest, and participate in, the mystery of the unity and fruitful love between Christ and the Church;4° by the help given to those who have entered marriage, so that by faithfully observing and protecting their conjugal covenant, they may day by day achieve a holier and a fuller family life.

It is the responsibility of the local Ordinary to ensure that this assistance is duly organised. If it is considered opportune, he should consult with men and women of proven experience and expertise.

§1 Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before being admitted to marriage, if this can be done without grave inconvenience.
§2 So that the sacrament of marriage may be fruitfully received, spouses are earnestly recommended that they approach the sacraments of penance and the blessed Eucharist.

Before a marriage takes place, it must be established that nothing stands in the way of its valid and lawful celebration.

The Episcopal Conference is to lay down norms concerning the questions to be asked of the parties, the publication of marriage banns, and the other appropriate means of enquiry to be carried out before marriage. Only when he has carefully observed these norms may the parish priest assist at a marriage. [According to an Authentic Interpretation of the former canon 1686 (pre-Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus), 11.VII.1984, the pre-nuptial process in cann. 1066-1067 is sufficient for proving the state of freedom of those who, although bound to the canonical form, attempted marriage before a civil official or non-Catholic minister; in such cases the documentary process is not required]

In danger of death, if other proofs are not available, it suffices, unless there are contrary indications, to have the assertion of the parties, sworn if need be, that they are baptised and free of any impediment.

Before the celebration of a marriage, all the faithful are bound to reveal to the parish priest or the local Ordinary such impediments as they may know about.

If someone other than the parish priest whose function it is to assist at the marriage has made the investigations, he is by an authentic document to inform that parish priest of the outcome of these enquiries as soon as possible.

§1 Except in a case of necessity, no one is to assist without the permission of the local Ordinary at:1° a marriage of vagi;2° a marriage which cannot be recognised by the civil law or celebrated in accordance with it;3° a marriage of a person for whom a previous union has created natural obligations towards a third party or towards children;4° a marriage of a person who has notoriously rejected the Catholic faith;5° a marriage of a person who is under censure;6° a marriage of a minor whose parents are either unaware of it or are reasonably opposed to it;7° a marriage to be entered by proxy, as mentioned in can. 1105.
§2 The local Ordinary is not to give permission to assist at the marriage of a person who has notoriously rejected the Catholic faith unless, with the appropriate adjustments, the norms of can. 1125 have been observed.

Pastors of souls are to see to it that they dissuade young people from entering marriage before the age customarily accepted in the region.

A diriment impediment renders a person incapable of validly contracting a marriage.

An impediment is said to be public, when it can be proved in the external forum; otherwise, it is occult.

§1 Only the supreme authority in the Church can authentically declare when the divine law prohibits or invalidates a marriage.
§2 Only the same supreme authority has the right to establish other impediments for those who are baptised.

A custom which introduces a new impediment, or is contrary to existing impediments, is to be reprobated.

§1 The local Ordinary can in a specific case forbid a marriage of his own subjects, wherever they are residing, or of any person actually present in his territory; he can do this only for a time, for a grave reason and while that reason persists. [A Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 18306/2024, 10.VII.2024, clarifies that only the diocesan bishop and not the judicial vicar may remove a vetitum. The tribunal which imposed the vetitum may be “consulted” regarding its removal, but does not have power to remove it: see also the Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 11248/2008, 21.IV.2008; and Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 17677/2022, 7.IV.2022, on the imposition of a vetitum according to can. 1077 and art. 251 of the Instruction Dignitas Connubi]
§2 Only the supreme authority in the Church can attach an invalidating clause to a prohibition.

§1 The local Ordinary can dispense his own subjects wherever they are residing, and all who are actually present in his territory, from all impediments of ecclesiastical law, except for those whose dispensation is reserved to the Apostolic See.
§2 The impediments whose dispensation is reserved to the Apostolic See are:1° the impediment arising from sacred orders or from a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute of pontifical right2° the impediment of crime mentioned in can. 1090.
§3 A dispensation is never given from the impediment of consanguinity in the direct line or in the second degree of the collateral line.

§1 When danger of death threatens, the local Ordinary can dispense his own subjects, wherever they are residing, and all who are actually present in his territory, both from the form to be observed in the celebration of marriage, and from each and every impediment of ecclesiastical law, whether public or occult, with the exception of the impediment arising from the sacred order of priesthood.
§2 In the same circumstances mentioned in
§1, but only for cases in which not even the local Ordinary can be approached, the same faculty of dispensation is possessed by the parish priest, by a properly delegated sacred minister, and by the priest or deacon who assists at the marriage in accordance with can. 1116
§2.
§3 In danger of death, the confessor has the power to dispense from occult impediments for the internal forum, whether within the act of sacramental confession or outside it.
§4 In the case mentioned in
§2, the local Ordinary is considered unable to be approached if he can be reached only by telegram or by telephone.

§1 Whenever an impediment is discovered after everything has already been prepared for a wedding and the marriage cannot without probable danger of grave harm be postponed until a dispensation is obtained from the competent authority, the power to dispense from all impediments, except those mentioned in can. 1078
§2, n. 1, is possessed by the local Ordinary and, provided the case is occult, by all those mentioned in can. 1079 §
§2-3, the conditions prescribed therein having been observed.
§2 This power applies also to the validation of a marriage when there is the same danger in delay and there is no time to have recourse to the Apostolic See or, in the case of impediments from which he can dispense, to the local Ordinary.

The parish priest or the priest or deacon mentioned in can. 1079
§2, should inform the local Ordinary immediately of a dispensation granted for the external forum, and this dispensation is to be recorded in the marriage register.

Unless a rescript of the Penitentiary provides otherwise, a dispensation from an occult impediment granted in the internal nonsacramental forum, is to be recorded in the book to be kept in the secret archive of the curia. No other dispensation for the external forum is necessary if at a later stage the occult impediment becomes public.

§1 A man cannot validly enter marriage before the completion of his sixteenth year of age, nor a woman before the completion of her fourteenth year.
§2 The Episcopal Conference may establish a higher age for the lawful celebration of marriage.

§1 Antecedent and perpetual impotence to have sexual intercourse, whether on the part of the man or on that of the woman, whether absolute or relative, by its very nature invalidates marriage.
§2 If the impediment of impotence is doubtful, whether the doubt be one of law or one of fact, the marriage is not to be prevented nor, while the doubt persists, is it to be declared null.
§3 Without prejudice to the provisions of can. 1098, sterility neither forbids nor invalidates a marriage.

§1 A person bound by the bond of a previous marriage, even if not consummated, invalidly attempts marriage.
§2 Even though the previous marriage is invalid or for any reason dissolved, it is not thereby lawful to contract another marriage before the nullity or the dissolution of the previous one has been established lawfully and with certainty.

§1 A marriage between two persons, one of whom was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, and the other of whom is not baptized, is invalid. [Revised wording according to m.p. Omnium in mentem, 26.X.2009]
§2 This impediment is not to be dispensed unless the conditions mentioned in cann. 1125 and 1126 have been fulfilled.
§3 If at the time the marriage was contracted one party was commonly understood to be baptised, or if his or her baptism was doubtful, the validity of the marriage is to be presumed in accordance with can. 1060, until it is established with certainty that one party was baptised and the other was not.

Those who are in sacred orders invalidly attempt marriage. [On the question of sacraments celebrated by a priest who has attempted marriage see Declaration of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, 19.V.1997]

Those who are bound by a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute invalidly attempt marriage.

No marriage can exist between a man and a woman who has been abducted, or at least detained, with a view to contracting a marriage with her, unless the woman, after she has been separated from her abductor and established in a safe and free place, chooses marriage of her own accord.

§1 One who, with a view to entering marriage with a particular person, has killed that person’s spouse, or his or her own spouse, invalidly attempts this marriage.
§2 They also invalidly attempt marriage with each other who, by mutual physical or moral action, brought about the death of either’s spouse.

§1 Marriage is invalid between those related by consanguinity in all degrees of the direct line, whether ascending or descending, legitimate or natural.
§2 In the collateral line, it is invalid up to the fourth degree inclusive.
§3 The impediment of consanguinity is not multiplied.
§4 A marriage is never to be permitted if a doubt exists as to whether the parties are related by consanguinity in any degree of the direct line, or in the second degree of the collateral line.

Affinity in any degree of the direct line invalidates marriage.

The impediment of public propriety arises when a couple live together after an invalid marriage, or from a notorious or public concubinage. It invalidates marriage in the first degree of the direct line between the man and those related by consanguinity to the woman, and vice versa.

Those who are legally related by reason of adoption cannot validly marry each other if their relationship is in the direct line or in the second degree of the collateral line.

The following are incapable of contracting marriage:1° those who lack sufficient use of reason;2° those who suffer from a grave lack of discretionary judgement concerning the essential matrimonial rights and obligations to be mutually given and accepted;3° those who, because of causes of a psychological nature, are unable to assume the essential obligations of marriage.

§1 For matrimonial consent to exist, it is necessary that the contracting parties be at least not ignorant of the fact that marriage is a permanent partnership between a man and a woman, ordered to the procreation of children through some form of sexual cooperation.
§2 This ignorance is not presumed after puberty.

§1 Error about a person renders a marriage invalid.
§2 Error about a quality of the person, even though it be the reason for the contract, does not render a marriage invalid unless this quality is directly and principally intended.

A person contracts invalidly who enters marriage inveigled by deceit, perpetrated in order to secure consent, concerning some quality of the other party, which of its very nature can seriously disrupt the partnership of conjugal life.

Provided it does not determine the will, error concerning the unity or the indissolubility or the sacramental dignity of marriage does not vitiate matrimonial consent.

Knowledge of or opinion about the nullity of a marriage does not necessarily exclude matrimonial consent.

§1 The internal consent of the mind is presumed to conform to the words or the signs used in the celebration of a marriage.
§2 If, however, either or both of the parties should by a positive act of will exclude marriage itself or any essential element of marriage or any essential property, such party contracts invalidly.

§1 Marriage cannot be validly contracted subject to a condition concerning the future.
§2 Marriage entered into subject to a condition concerning the past or the present is valid or not, according as whatever is the basis of the condition exists or not.
§3 However, a condition as mentioned in
§2 may not lawfully be attached except with the written permission of the local Ordinary.

A marriage is invalid which was entered into by reason of force or of grave fear imposed from outside, even if not purposely, from which the person has no escape other than by choosing marriage. [This defect of consent can be applied to marriages of non- Catholics: see Authentic Interpretation of canon 1103, 23.IV.1987]

§1 To contract marriage validly it is necessary that the contracting parties be present together, either personally or by proxy.
§2 The spouses are to express their matrimonial consent in words; if, however, they cannot speak, then by equivalent signs.

§1 For a marriage by proxy to be valid, it is required:1° that there be a special mandate to contract with a specific person;2° that the proxy be designated by the mandator and personally discharge this function;
§2 For the mandate to be valid, it is to be signed by the mandator, and also by the parish priest or local Ordinary of the place in which the mandate is given or by a priest delegated by either of them or by at least two witnesses, or it is to be drawn up in a document which is authentic according to the civil law.
§3 If the mandator cannot write, this is to be recorded in the mandate and another witness added who is also to sign the document; otherwise, the mandate is invalid.
§4 If the mandator revokes the mandate, or becomes insane, before the proxy contracts in his or her name, the marriage is invalid, even though the proxy or the other contracting party is unaware of the fact.

Marriage can be contracted through an interpreter, but the parish priest may not assist at such a marriage unless he is certain of the trustworthiness of the interpreter.

Even if a marriage has been entered into invalidly by reason of an impediment or defect of form, the consent given is presumed to persist until its withdrawal has been established. [See the annotation to canon 1161 (Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 18615/2025, 17.VII.2025)]

§1 Only those marriages are valid which are contracted in the presence of the local Ordinary or parish priest or of the priest or deacon delegated by either of them, who, in the presence of two witnesses, assists, in accordance however with the rules set out in the following canons, and without prejudice to the exceptions mentioned in cann. 144, 1112
§1, 1116 and 1127 §
§2-3. [See Authentic Interpretation of canon 87
§1, 5.VII.1985 which states that outside the case of urgent danger of death a bishop may not grant a dispensation from canonical form for the marriage of two Catholics] [On whether a transgender person or a homosexual who is cohabiting may be a witness to a marriage see Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Answers to several questions, 31.X.2023, nos. 3 and 6]
§2 Only that person who, being present, asks the contracting parties to manifest their consent and in the name of the Church receives it, is understood to assist at a marriage.
§3. Only a priest validly assists at the marriage between two Eastern parties or between one Latin party and one Eastern Catholic or non-Catholic party. [New paragraph added by m.p. De concordia inter Codices, 31.V.2016]

Unless the local ordinary and pastor have been excommunicated, interdicted, or suspended from office or declared such through a sentence or decree, by virtue of their office and within the confines of their territory they assist validly at the marriages not only of their subjects but also of those who are not their subjects, provided that at least one of the two parties is ascribed to the Latin Church. [Revised wording according to m.p. De concordia inter Codices, 31.V.2016]

A personal Ordinary and a personal parish priest by virtue of their office validly assist, within the confines of their jurisdiction, at the marriages only of those of whom at least one party is their subject.

§1 As long as they hold office validly, the local ordinary and the pastor can delegate to priests and deacons the faculty, even a general one, of assisting at marriages within the limits of their territory, without prejudice to the provision of can. 1108
§3. [Revised wording according to m.p. De concordia inter Codices, 31.V.2016] [A letter of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, 27.III.2017, authorizes Ordinaries to give permission for marriages of members of the Society of Saint Pius X to be validly and lawfully celebrated in the Catholic Church]
§2 In order that the delegation of the faculty to assist at marriages be valid, it must be expressly given to specific persons; if there is question of a special delegation, it is to be given for a specific marriage; if however there is question of a general delegation, it is to be given in writing.

§1 With the prior favourable opinion of the conference of bishops and after the permission of the Holy See has been obtained, the diocesan bishop can delegate lay persons to assist at marriages where priests or deacons are lacking, without prejudice to the provision of can. 1108
§3. [Revised wording according to m.p. De concordia inter Codices, 31.V.2016]
§2 A suitable lay person is to be selected, capable of giving instruction to those who are getting married, and fitted to conduct the marriage liturgy properly.

§1 Before a special delegation is granted, provision is to be made for all those matters which the law prescribes to establish the freedom to marry.

One who assists at a marriage acts unlawfully unless he has satisfied himself of the parties’ freedom to marry in accordance with the law and, whenever he assists by virtue of a general delegation, has satisfied himself of the parish priest’s permission, if this is possible.

Marriages are to be celebrated in the parish in which either of the contracting parties has a domicile or a quasi-domicile or a month’s residence or, if there is question of vagi, in the parish in which they are actually residing. With the permission of the proper Ordinary or the proper parish priest, marriages may be celebrated elsewhere.

§1 If one who, in accordance with the law, is competent to assist, cannot be present or be approached without grave inconvenience, those who intend to enter a true marriage can validly and lawfully contract in the presence of witnesses only:1° in danger of death;2° apart from danger of death, provided it is prudently foreseen that this state of affairs will continue for a month.
§2 In either case, if another priest or deacon is at hand who can be present, he must be called upon and, together with the witnesses, be present at the celebration of the marriage, without prejudice to the validity of the marriage in the presence of only the witnesses.
§3 In addition to the provisions established in
§1, nn. 1 and 2, the local ordinary can confer to any Catholic priest the faculty to bless the marriage of faithful Christians of the Eastern Churches who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church if they request it spontaneously, and provided there is nothing to preclude the valid and licit celebration of the marriage. The same priest, however, with the necessary prudence, shall inform the competent authority of the interested non-Catholic Church of the case. [New paragraph added by m.p. De concordia inter Codices, 31.V.2016]

The form prescribed above must be observed if at least one of the parties contracting the marriage was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 1127
§2. [Revised wording according to m.p. Omnium in mentem, 26.X.2009] [See Authentic Interpretation of canon 87
§1, 5.VII.1985 which states that outside the case of urgent danger of death a bishop may not grant a dispensation from canonical form for the marriage of two Catholics]

§1 A marriage between Catholics, or between a Catholic party and a baptised non-Catholic, is to be celebrated in the parish church. By permission of the local Ordinary or of the parish priest, it may be celebrated in another church or oratory.
§2 The local Ordinary can allow a marriage to be celebrated in another suitable place.
§3 A marriage between a Catholic party and an unbaptised party may be celebrated in a church or in another suitable place.

Apart from a case of necessity, in the celebration of marriage those rites are to be observed which are prescribed in the liturgical books approved by the Church, or which are acknowledged by lawful customs.

The Episcopal Conference can draw up its own rite of marriage, in keeping with those usages of place and people which accord with the Christian spirit; it is to be reviewed by the Holy See, and it is without prejudice to the law that the person who is present to assist at the marriage is to ask for and receive the expression of the consent of the contracting parties. [On the juridical nature and scope of the review (recognitio) see Explanatory Note of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, 28.IV.2006]

§1 As soon as possible after the celebration of a marriage, the parish priest of the place of celebration or whoever takes his place, even if neither has assisted at the marriage, is to record in the marriage register the names of the spouses, of the person who assisted and of the witnesses, and the place and date of the celebration of the marriage; this is to be done in the manner prescribed by the Episcopal Conference or by the diocesan Bishop.
§2 Whenever a marriage is contracted in accordance with can. 1116, the priest or deacon, if he was present at the celebration, otherwise the witnesses, are bound jointly with the contracting parties as soon as possible to inform the parish priest or the local Ordinary about the marriage entered into.
§3 In regard to a marriage contracted with a dispensation from the canonical form, the local Ordinary who granted the dispensation is to see to it that the dispensation and the celebration are recorded in the marriage register both of the curia, and of the proper parish of the Catholic party whose parish priest carried out the inquiries concerning the freedom to marry. The Catholic spouse is obliged as soon as possible to notify that same Ordinary and parish priest of the fact that the marriage was cele brated, indicating also the place of celebration and the public form whichwas observed.

§1 A marriage which has been contracted is to be recorded also in the baptismal registers in which the baptism of the spouses was entered.
§2 If a spouse contracted marriage elsewhere than in the parish of baptism, the parish priest of the place of celebration is to send a notification of the marriage as soon as possible to the parish priest of the place of baptism.

Whenever a marriage is validated for the external forum, or declared invalid, or lawfully dissolved other than by death, the parish priest of the place of the celebration of the marriage must be informed, so that an entry may be duly made in the registers of marriage and of baptism.

Marriage between two baptized persons, one of whom was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it after baptism, and the other a member of a Church or ecclesial community not in full communion with the Catholic Church, cannot be celebrated without the express permission of the competent authority. [Revised wording according to m.p. Omnium in mentem, 26.X.2009]

The local Ordinary can grant this permission if there is a just and reasonable cause. He is not to grant it unless the following conditions are fulfilled:1° the Catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the faith, and is to make a sincere promise to do all in his or her power in order that all the children be baptised and brought up in the Catholic Church;2° the other party is to be informed in good time of these promises to be made by the Catholic party, so that it is certain that he or she is truly aware of the promise and of the obligation of the Catholic party;3° both parties are to be instructed about the purposes and essential properties of marriage, which are not to be excluded by either contractant.

It is for the Episcopal Conference to prescribe the manner in which these declarations and promises, which are always required, are to be made, and to determine how they are to be established in the external forum, and how the non-Catholic party is to be informed of them.

§1 The prescripts of can. 1108 are to be observed for the form to be employed in a mixed marriage; if however a Catholic party contracts marriage with a non-Catholic party of an Eastern Rite, the canonical form of the celebration must be observed for liceity only; for validity, however, the presence of a priest is required notwithstanding whatever else is to be observed in accordance with the law. [Revised wording according to m.p. De concordia inter Codices, 31.V.2016]
§2 If there are grave difficulties in the way of observing the canonical form, the local Ordinary of the Catholic party has the right to dispense from it in individual cases, having however consulted the Ordinary of the place of the celebration of the marriage; for validity, however, some public form of celebration is required. It is for the Episcopal Conference to establish norms whereby this dispensation may be granted in a uniform manner.
§3 It is forbidden to have, either before or after the canonical celebration in accordance with
§1, another religious celebration of the same marriage for the purpose of giving or renewing matrimonial consent. Likewise, there is not to be a religious celebration in which the Catholic assistant and a non-Catholic minister, each performing his own rite, ask for the consent of the parties.

Local Ordinaries and other pastors of souls are to see to it that the Catholic spouse and the children born of a mixed marriage are not without the spiritual help needed to fulfil their obligations; they are also to assist the spouses to foster the unity of conjugal and family life.

The provisions of cann. 1127 and 1128 are to be applied also to marriages which are impeded by the impediment of disparity of worship mentioned in can. 1086
§1.

For a grave and urgent reason, the local Ordinary may permit that a marriage be celebrated in secret.

Permission to celebrate a marriage in secret involves:1° that the investigations to be made before the marriage are carried out in secret;2° that the secret in regard to the marriage which has been celebrated is observed by the local Ordinary, by whoever assists, by the witnesses and by the spouses.

The obligation of observing the secret mentioned in can. 1131 n. 2 ceases for the local Ordinary if from its observance a threat arises of grave scandal or of grave harm to the sanctity of marriage. This fact is to be made known to the parties before the celebration of the marriage.

A marriage celebrated in secret is to be recorded only in a special register which is to be kept in the secret archive of the curia.

From a valid marriage there arises between the spouses a bond which of its own nature is permanent and exclusive. Moreover, in Christian marriage the spouses are by a special sacrament strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and the dignity of their state.

Each spouse has an equal obligation and right to whatever pertains to the partnership of conjugal life.

Parents have the most grave obligation and the primary right to do all in their power to ensure their children’s physical, social, cultural, moral and religious upbringing.

Children who are conceived or born of a valid or of a putative marriage are legitimate.

§1 The father is he who is identified by a lawful marriage, unless by clear arguments the contrary is proven.
§2 Children are presumed legitimate who are born at least 180 days after the date the marriage was celebrated, or within 300 days from the date of the dissolution of conjugal life.

Illegitimate children are legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their parents, whether valid or putative, or by a rescript of the Holy See.

As far as canonical effects are concerned, legitimated children are equivalent to legitimate children in all respects, unless it is otherwise expressly provided by the law.

A marriage which is ratified and consummated cannot be dissolved by any human power or by any cause other than death.

A non-consummated marriage between baptised persons or between a baptised party and an unbaptised party can be dissolved by the Roman Pontiff for a just reason, at the request of both parties or of either party, even if the other is unwilling.

§1 In virtue of the pauline privilege, a marriage entered into by two unbaptised persons is dissolved in favour of the faith of the party who received baptism, by the very fact that a new marriage is contracted by that same party, provided the unbaptised party departs. [Regarding protocol for cases in favorem fidei see Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter, 24.X.2023]
§2 The unbaptised party is considered to depart if he or she is unwilling to live with the baptised party, or to live peacefully without offence to the Creator, unless the baptised party has, after the reception of baptism, given the other just cause to depart.

§1 For the baptised person validly to contract a new marriage, the unbaptised party must always be interpellated whether:1° he or she also wishes to receive baptism;2° he or she at least is willing to live peacefully with the baptised party without offence to the Creator.
§2 This interpellation is to be done after baptism. However, the local Ordinary can for a grave reason permit that the interpellation be done before baptism; indeed he can dispense from it, either before or after baptism, provided it is established, by at least a summary and extrajudicial procedure, that it cannot be made or that it would be useless.

§1 As a rule, the interpellation is to be done on the authority of the local Ordinary of the converted party. A period of time for reply is to be allowed by this Ordinary to the other party, if indeed he or she asks for it, warning the person however that if the period passes without any reply, silence will be taken as a negative response.
§2 Even an interpellation made privately by the converted party is valid, and indeed it is lawful if the form prescribed above cannot be observed.
§3 In both cases there must be lawful proof in the external forum of the interpellation having been done and of its outcome.

The baptised party has the right to contract a new marriage with a Catholic:1° if the other party has replied in the negative to the interpellation, or if the interpellation has been lawfully omitted;2° if the unbaptised person, whether already interpellated or not, who at first persevered in peaceful cohabitation without offence to the Creator, has subsequently departed without just cause, without prejudice to the provisions of cann. 1144 and 1145.

However, the local Ordinary can for a grave reason allow the baptised party, using the pauline privilege, to contract marriage with a non-Catholic party, whether baptised or unbaptised; in this case, the provisions of the canons on mixed marriages must also be observed.

§1 When an unbaptised man who simultaneously has a number of unbaptised wives, has received baptism in the Catholic Church, if it would be a hardship for him to remain with the first of the wives, he may retain one of them, having dismissed the others. The same applies to an unbaptised woman who simultaneously has a number of unbaptised husbands.
§2 In the cases mentioned in
§1, when baptism has been received, the marriage is to be contracted in the legal form, with due observance, if need be, of the provisions concerning mixed marriages and of other provisions of law.
§3 In the light of the moral, social and economic circumstances of place and person, the local Ordinary is to ensure that adequate provision is made, in accordance with the norms of justice, Christian charity and natural equity, for the needs of the first wife and of the others who have been dismissed.

An unbaptised person who, having received baptism in the Catholic Church, cannot re-establish cohabitation with his or her unbaptised spouse by reason of captivity or persecution, can contract another marriage, even if the other party has in the meantime received baptism, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 1141.

In a doubtful matter the privilege of the faith enjoys the favour of law.

Spouses have the obligation and the right to maintain their common conjugal life, unless a lawful reason excuses them.

§1 It is earnestly recommended that a spouse, motivated by Christian charity and solicitous for the good of the family, should not refuse to pardon an adulterous partner and should not sunder the conjugal life. Nevertheless, if that spouse has not either expressly or tacitly condoned the other’s fault, he or she has the right to sever the common conjugal life, provided he or she has not consented to the adultery, nor been the cause of it, nor also committed adultery.
§2 Tacit condonation occurs if the innocent spouse, after becoming aware of the adultery, has willingly engaged in a marital relationship with the other spouse; it is presumed, however, if the innocent spouse has maintained the common conjugal life for six months, and has not had recourse to ecclesiastical or to civil authority.
§3 Within six months of having spontaneously terminated the common conjugal life, the innocent spouse is to bring a case for separation to the competent ecclesiastical authority. Having examined all the circumstances, this authority is to consider whether the innocent spouse can be brought to condone the fault and not prolong the separation permanently.

§1 A spouse who occasions grave danger of soul or body to the other or to the children, or otherwise makes the common life unduly difficult, provides the other spouse with a reason to leave, either by a decree of the local Ordinary or, if there is danger in delay, even on his or her own authority.
§2 In all cases, when the reason for separation ceases, the common conjugal life is to be restored, unless otherwise provided by ecclesiastical authority.

When a separation of spouses has taken place, provision is always, and in good time, to be made for the due maintenance and upbringing of the children.

The innocent spouse may laudably readmit the other spouse to the conjugal life, in which case he or she renounces the right to separation.

§1 To validate a marriage which is invalid because of a diriment impediment, it is required that the impediment cease or be dispensed, and that at least the party aware of the impediment renews consent.
§2 This renewal is required by ecclesiastical law for the validity of the validation, even if at the beginning both parties had given consent and had not afterwards withdrawn it.

The renewal of consent must be a new act of will consenting to a marriage which the renewing party knows or thinks was invalid from the beginning.

§1 If the impediment is public, consent is to be renewed by both parties in the canonical form, without prejudice to the provision of can. 1127
§3.
§2 If the impediment cannot be proved, it is sufficient that consent be renewed privately and in secret, specifically by the party who is aware of the impediment provided the other party persists in the consent given, or by both parties if the impediment is known to both.

§1 A marriage invalid because of a defect of consent is validated if the party who did not consent, now does consent, provided the consent given by the other party persists.
§2 If the defect of the consent cannot be proven, it is sufficient that the party who did not consent, gives consent privately and in secret.
§3 If the defect of consent can be proven, it is necessary that consent be given in the canonical form.

For a marriage which is invalid because of defect of form to become valid, it must be contracted anew in the canonical form, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 1127
§2.

§1 The retroactive validation of an invalid marriage is its validation without the renewal of consent, granted by the competent authority. It involves a dispensation from an impediment if there is one and from the canonical form if it had not been observed, as well as a referral back to the past of the canonical effects.
§2 The validation takes place from the moment the favour is granted; the referral back, however, is understood to have been made to the moment the marriage was celebrated, unless it is otherwise expressly provided.
§3 A retroactive validation is not to be granted unless it is probable that the parties intend to persevere in conjugal life. [See the Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 18615/2025, 17.VII.2025, which clarifies that a sanatio in radice can be granted after careful discernment without presuming invalidity simply because the marriage was civil, provided the original consent persists and the conditions for validity are met. The diocesan bishop may grant this favour for marriages invalid on account of lack of canonical form, assessing freedom from impediments and ongoing consent on a case-by-case basis]

§1 If consent is lacking in either or both of the parties, a marriage cannot be rectified by a retroactive validation, whether consent was absent from the beginning or, though given at the beginning, was subsequently revoked.
§2 If the consent was indeed absent from the beginning but was subsequently given, a retroactive validation can be granted from the moment the consent was given.

§1 A marriage which is invalid because of an impediment or because of defect of the legal form, can be validated retroactively, provided the consent of both parties persists.
§2 A marriage which is invalid because of an impediment of the natural law or of the divine positive law, can be validated retroactively only after the impediment has ceased.

A retroactive validation may validly be granted even if one or both of the parties is unaware of it; it is not, however, to be granted except for a grave reason.

§1 Retroactive validation can be granted by the Apostolic See.
§2 It can be granted by the diocesan Bishop in individual cases, even if a number of reasons for nullity occur together in the same marriage, assuming that for a retroactive validation of a mixed marriage the conditions of can. 1125 will have been fulfilled. It cannot, however, be granted by him if there is an impediment whose dispensation is reserved to the Apostolic See in accordance with can. 1078
§2, or if there is question of an impediment of the natural law or of the divine positive law which has now ceased. [On the question of retroactive validation of a mixed marriage, see the Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 15814/2017, 24.IV.2017] [On the question of retroactive validation of a marriage between a Catholic and a non-baptised person, see the Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 15891/2017, 22.V.2017] [On the question of retroactive validation of a marriage between two Catholics which lacks canonical form, see the Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 16601/2019, 18.III.2019, and the Response of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to a particular question, Prot. 18121/2023, 17.XI.2023]