Catholic Views On Marriage And Divorce

In order to best understand marriage and divorce in the eyes of Catholicism, it is vital to understand how it is defined. According to catholicculture.org, a website run by a non-profit group of Catholics, marriage is defined as “the lasting union of a man and a woman who agree to give and receive rights over each other for the performance of the act of generation and for the fostering of their mutual love.” It further mentions that there is a set of terms that must be met in order for marriage to be genuine. In our modern day and age, individuals get married just with passing the requirements of state law, and often, many modern Catholics are just meeting these state law requirements without consulting those from their church. Faithful Catholics

This will be something we will be touching on later. The second requirement is that “it is a permanent union until the death of either spouse.” This signals that once one is married they will be with their partner until death. This means that there cannot be a divorce without a serious annulment judged by a priest. This is yet another controversy in modern times as many people opt for divorces. The third requirement of marriage is that “it is an exclusive union, so that extramarital acts are a violation of justice” This means that once married, you must be exclusive to your partner and not have any other type of relations with other individuals. The final requirement is that “its permanence and exclusiveness are guaranteed by contract; mere living together, without mutually binding themselves to do so, is concubinage and not

The first of these documents is written proof that both parties are free to marry. This is also helpful to have to ensure that neither party has been previously married, and if they have, to ensure that it was properly addressed along the lines that the church set in place. Another document that is required is a baptism certificate. This certificate, from the Catholic party, must be a recent certificate that was issued within the previous 6 months from the church in which the individual was baptized. The non-Catholic individual's certificate will also be required. The third, and final document required will be a confirmation certificate.

Now we will move on to the actual process in going about getting married within the Catholic Church. Catholics in general are required to marry by an authorized deacon or priest following the Catholic rite of marriage. Typically, marriage will take place inside of the church within the parish where the couple resides. If the couple resides in different areas governed by different parishes, then it is tradition for the bride's parish to be the default location. Having a Catholic wedding also requires a government issued registrar's certificate, so the wedding must be recorded under civil