(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
|
|
Question 26: I overheard part of a conversation between a priest and a parishioner at my church where the priest said the Church frowned upon mixed marriages. Since when is the Church against marriages between different races?
Answer: It appears that you may have misunderstood the conversation. Mixed marriage refers only to a sacramental union between a Catholic and any baptized non-Catholic. In the 1917 Code of Canon Law it was referred to as marriage of mixed religion. Although the marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic is no longer an impediment in law (and no longer penalized when unlawfully contracted), it still is seriously prohibited and warrants the special pastoral care of the Church and the guidance of her law.
The Church in her experience is wisely reluctant to permit such a union, even in a more ecumenical contemporary society, since it is often harmful to the intimacy of the union and the happiness of the spouses, dangerous to the faith and sometimes the morals of the Catholic party and especially to the children because conducive to indifferentism. It is not as such forbidden by the divine law, except where there is true danger of perversion for the Catholic party and the offspring.
In recent years, the Church has eased certain restrictions pertaining to mixed marriages. Stemming from the ecumenical movement, and also from the new sense of identity among the non-Christian religions of the world, the Second Vatican Council first paved the way and then the Pope determined the norms that are to govern these mixed marital unions. As a Catholic reflects on their import, he may at first be scandalized at what perhaps appears to him a compromise with the integrity of the faith, or certainly an about-face in what had been the Church's practice regarding such marriages in the past.
In order to appreciate the significance of what has happened, and to place the matter into perspective, two things should be done. The reasons that led up to the changed posture should be examined; then the norms themselves can be stated, along with some crucial explanations.
Mixed marriages have always been a vital concern of the Church. But today she is constrained to give even greater attention to them, owing to the conditions of the modern age. In the past, Catholics were separated from members of other Christian confessions and from non-Christians, by their situation in the community or even by physical boundaries. But all of this is changing. Not only has the separation been reduced, but communication between and among people of different regions and religions has greatly developed, and as a result there has been a great increase in the number of mixed marriages in every country of the world. A contributing factor has been the growth and spread of civilization and industry, urbanization and consequent rural depopulation, migrations in great numbers, and the increase of exiles, as we might call them, everywhere.
What is the Church's position on mixed marriages in general? It has not essentially changed since biblical times: The Church is aware that mixed marriages, precisely because they admit differences of religion and are a consequence of the division among Christians, do not, except in some cases, help in reestablishing unity among Christians. There are many difficulties inherent in a mixed marriage, since a certain division is introduced into the living cell of the Church, as the Christian family is rightly called. Moreover, in the family itself the fulfillment of the Gospel teachings is more difficult because of diversities in matters of religion, especially with regard to those matters which concern worship and the education of children.
Having said all of this, however, the Church is also conscious that people have a natural right to marry and beget children---hence the dilemma that needs to be resolved. The Church seeks to make such arrangements that "on the one hand the principles of divine law are scrupulously observed and on the other hand the recognized right to contract marriage is respected."
Accordingly, the new provisions regarding mixed marriages are at once a tribute to the Church's pastoral care of the faithful and a witness of her fidelity to the revelation bequeathed by the Savior.
1. A marriage between two baptized persons, of whom one is a Catholic, while the
other is a non-Catholic, may not licitly be contracted without the previous
dispensation of the local Ordinary, since such a marriage is by its nature an
obstacle to the full spiritual communion of the married parties.
2. A marriage between two persons, of whom one has been baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, while the other is unbaptized, entered into without previous dispensation by the local bishop, is invalid.
3. The
Church, taking into account the nature and circumstances of times, places, and
persons, is prepared to dispense from both impediments, provided there is just
cause.
4. To obtain from the local bishop dispensation from an impediment, the Catholic
party shall declare that he or she is ready to remove all dangers of falling
away from the faith. He or she is also gravely bound to make a sincere promise
to do all in his power to have all the children baptized and brought up in the
Catholic Church.
5. At the opportune time, the non-Catholic party must be informed of these promises that the Catholic party has to make, so that it is clear that he or she is cognizant of the promise and obligation on the part of the Catholic.
6. Both parties are to be clearly instructed on the ends and essential properties of marriage, not to be excluded by either party.
7. The canonical form (priest and witnesses) is to be used for contracting mixed marriages and is required for validity. If serious difficulties stand in the way, local bishops have the right to dispense from the canonical form in any mixed marriage.
8. The celebration of marriage before a Catholic priest or deacon and a non-Catholic minister performing their respective rites together is forbidden; nor is it permitted to have another religious marriage ceremony before or after the Catholic ceremony, for the purpose of giving or renewing matrimonial consent.
9. Local bishops and parish priests shall see to it that the Catholic husband or wife and the children born of a mixed marriage do not lack spiritual assistance in fulfilling their duties of conscience. They shall encourage the Catholic husband or wife to keep ever in mind the divine gift of the Catholic faith and to bear witness to it with gentleness and reverence, and with a clear conscience. They are to aid the married couple to foster the unity of their conjugal and family life, a unity that, in the case of Christians, is based on their baptism too. To these ends it is to be desired that those pastors should establish relationships of sincere openness and enlightened confidence with ministers of other religious communities.
Since the percentage of mixed marriages in some countries is exceptionally high, approaching one half of all the marriages that Catholics enter, these directives of the Church are bound to have widespread implications. Doctrinally there is no problem. The essence of a matrimonial contract is the mutual exchange of consent between the contracting parties. If they are both baptized, whether professed Catholics or not, they certainly receive the sacrament of marriage and with it the title to all the graces that Christ confers on those who marry in his name. Since marriage is a "sacrament of the living," the graces of the sacrament demand the right disposition of soul. A person must be in the state of grace to receive the sacrament fruitfully.
A couple, therefore, preparing for an interfaith marriage need to know the difference between receiving a sacrament only, and receiving also the extraordinary blessings that Catholics believe are attached to the sacrament. Hence the value of both parties to such a marriage making their peace with God, by whatever means each believes are effective, before pronouncing the marriage vows.
Mixed marriages are generally frowned upon by churchmen who are not Catholic. The heart of the matter is concern about the encroachment of an "authoritarian" Church into the lives of their people. Responsive to this concern, the Catholic Church sincerely wishes to avoid giving needless offense to those who are Christians, indeed, but not Roman Catholic. Thus the new approach is to place the burden of responsibility on the shoulders of the Catholic partner to the marriage. He or she declares the readiness "to remove all dangers of falling away from the faith," and is "also gravely bound to make a sincere promise to do all in his power to have all the children baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church."
What the Church cannot dispense from is the obligations of the divine law affecting the Catholic party and his or her children. No one can give a dispensation from the duty of remaining loyal to the Catholic faith or the correlative duty of sharing this faith with flesh-and-blood offspring. Enlightened charity never has to compromise with the truth.
