Is civil marriage okay if the couple lives chastely?

[TweetyBird]

Is it permissible to contact civil marriage, say for the purpose of insurance benefits, property rights, or other “civil” purposes, if the couple does not live together and remains chaste toward one another, recognizing they are not validly married in the eyes of the Church?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

No. While people do sometimes choose to marry one another to further temporal goals – and while there is nothing wrong with that so long as the couple are free to marry each other, marry validly, and are faithful to the duties of marriage – a couple cannot choose to deliberately contract a marriage they know will be considered invalid in the eyes of the Church simply to make their financial lives easier. Marriage is a sacrament of the Church and to deliberately abuse a sacrament is sacrilege.