Can sterile people marry?

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TraderTif

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Ok, I’ve always wondered about this. I thought, for a marriage to be valid, one has to be “open to new life”.

Well, what if someone is completely infertile? Say they’ve had a hysterectomy or something. No chance of ever having children.

Can they still get married?

Tif =8-)
 
Sterility is not an impediment to marriage. A total inability to engage in sexual relations (i.e. impotence) would be an impediment, but sterility in itself is not a bar to marriage.

Although sterile, if a couple does nothing to actively prevent conception, they are at least open to life.
 
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JimG:
Sterility is not an impediment to marriage. A total inability to engage in sexual relations (i.e. impotence) would be an impediment, but sterility in itself is not a bar to marriage.
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Why is impotence an impediment? I’ve never heard before that it is.
 
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Ace86:
Why is impotence an impediment? I’ve never heard before that it is.
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Because marriage is ratified through consummation, in the conjugal act. If a spouse is permanently and totally impotent, the marriage can never be physically ratified.

Another way of putting it is that, in the marriage vows, the spouses promise their bodies to each other for marital union. In the case of impotence, one would be making a promise which could not be kept.
 
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JimG:
Because marriage is ratified through consummation, in the conjugal act. If a spouse is permanently and totally impotent, the marriage can never be physically ratified.
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That seems kinda unfair to those that are impotent. But if the Church says so then I’ll accept it. I mean, they can’t help it. Of course, I guess that means for them that they should live celibately and chastely as a single.
 
It may seem unfair, but marriage is a vocation and not all are called to it…
 
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Ace86:
That seems kinda unfair to those that are impotent. But if the Church says so then I’ll accept it. I mean, they can’t help it. Of course, I guess that means for them that they should live celibately and chastely as a single.
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It may be unfair. But it’s unfair in the same way it’s unfair that a blind person can’t see. We can say things like the person can ‘see’ with her hands. But the fact remains that the person cannot see. Seeing must be done via the eyes so if they don’t work the person doesn’t see.

Likewise, an impotent person cannot marry. We can call something a marriage, but that doesn’t make it a marriage. An impotent person cannot marry any more than a blind person can see.
 
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JimG:
Because marriage is ratified through consummation, in the conjugal act. If a spouse is permanently and totally impotent, the marriage can never be physically ratified.

Another way of putting it is that, in the marriage vows, the spouses promise their bodies to each other for marital union. In the case of impotence, one would be making a promise which could not be kept.
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I’d like to see a reference on this one. If some man has prostate surgery and the result is impotence, yet he falls in love with a woman and wants to marry her, you’re saying they can’t?
 
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mikew262:
I’d like to see a reference on this one. If some man has prostate surgery and the result is impotence, yet he falls in love with a woman and wants to marry her, you’re saying they can’t?
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Canon 1084.1 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.
 
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jrabs:
Canon 1084.1 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.
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I should not have asked. Now you gave me something else to disagree with the church about.
 
GAH! Why can’t you just… set aside your own arrogance and believe the church?

When the going gets tough… do you quit?

Faith is not easy.
 
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mikew262:
I’d like to see a reference on this one. If some man has prostate surgery and the result is impotence, yet he falls in love with a woman and wants to marry her, you’re saying they can’t?
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Falling in love with someone does not mean that one can or should get married to a person. I could fall in love with someone who does not want a family and decide not to marry him because I do want a family.

Likewise I could fall in love with someone who cannot get married. Understanding the sacrament of marriage the way the Church does, means that someone who is impotent is not eligible for marriage. I could also fall in love with someone who is already married. That person is also ineligible for marriage.
 
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Ace86:
That seems kinda unfair to those that are impotent. But if the Church says so then I’ll accept it. I mean, they can’t help it. Of course, I guess that means for them that they should live celibately and chastely as a single.
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Well, if they were permanently and irreversibly impotent (the only type which would be an impediment to marriage) they would have no choice but to be celibate, at least in the sense of being incapable of having sexual relations.
 
Even in the eyes of the State, consummation of marriage is regarded as essential for legality.
 
Hmm. I guess I never realized that the basis of marriage is sexual intercourse. I didn’t know the State recognized it either. I’ll grudgingly agree with the Church on this one though.
 
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Ace86:
Hmm. I guess I never realized that the basis of marriage is sexual intercourse. I didn’t know the State recognized it either. I’ll grudgingly agree with the Church on this one though.
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Yep, in most states a marriage that has not been consummated can be civilly annulled quite easily. If consummation has taken place it must have a lot of other criteria to qualify for civil annulment rather than divorce.
 
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mikew262:
I should not have asked. Now you gave me something else to disagree with the church about.
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Just making sure the understanding is clear here. If a person becomes impotent the marriage is still valid. It is only if the marriage is entered with impotency that it is invalid.

I know a couple, non-Catholic, who entered into an impotent marriage while convincing others it would be fine. They were wrong and know it now. This teaching would have saved them heartache.
 
welcome to the forums

try a search on this topic, we seem to discuss it at least once a month
 
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SMHW:
It may be unfair. But it’s unfair in the same way it’s unfair that a blind person can’t see. We can say things like the person can ‘see’ with her hands. But the fact remains that the person cannot see. Seeing must be done via the eyes so if they don’t work the person doesn’t see.

Likewise, an impotent person cannot marry. We can call something a marriage, but that doesn’t make it a marriage. An impotent person cannot marry any more than a blind person can see.
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You raise an interesting point … using the example of the blind person. A few years ago, handicapped rights people were INSISTING that handicapped people get airline seats next to emergency overwing exits. It is the airline’s safety responsibility that in case of a crash that the person next to the emergency exit be physically able to operate the door which requires some physical strength and manipulation of the latching mechanism, etc.

So, the discussion of basic physical capability - the ability to engage in the activity under consideration - is an essential issue in many situations. It is very maudlin and sentimental that EVERYONE have the right to do whatever they have a desire to do. But some things require capability.
 
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