Marriage By Proxy

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Yesterday, a non-Catholic friend asked me how marriage by proxy works. Having never heard of this I had to inform him I didn’t know what he was talking about.

What is marriage by proxy? Do we have this in the Catholic Church? How do you get married by proxy? Why would you get married by proxy?
 
Yes, canon law allows for getting married by proxy:

Can. 1104 §1. To contract a marriage validly the contracting parties must be present together, either in person or by proxy.

§2. Those being married are to express matrimonial consent in words or, if they cannot speak, through equivalent signs.

Can. 1105 §1. To enter into a marriage validly by proxy it is required that:

1/ there is a special mandate to contract with a specific person;

2/ the proxy is designated by the one mandating and fulfills this function personally.

§2. To be valid the mandate must be signed by the one mandating and by the pastor or ordinary of the place where the mandate is given, or by a priest delegated by either of them, or at least by two witnesses, or it must be made by means of a document which is authentic according to the norm of civil law.

§3. If the one mandating cannot write, this is to be noted in the mandate itself and another witness is to be added who also signs the document; otherwise, the mandate is invalid.

§4. If the one mandating revokes the mandate or develops amentia before the proxy contracts in his or her name, the marriage is invalid even if the proxy or the other contracting party does not know this.
 
I’m not going to pretend that I know a lot about this subject, because I don’t, but I’d like to know more and wonder if it is still a practice in modern times. I know that it wasn’t unusual for royalty to be married by proxy. Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, for example, were initially married by proxy. A representative from the country would be there to represent the bride or groom and I believe it was a sign of good faith to the other power and to also ensure that other side couldn’t change up the the political and marriage contracts and agreement originally drawn up. I believe it was also binding, but I could be wrong with that. When the new bride came to her adopted country, they would then have an actual marriage between the true bride and true groom.

That’s about all I know of it from the bios I’ve read on different kings and queens. So, it would be interesting to learn more on it.
 
I know that it wasn’t unusual for royalty to be married by proxy. Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, for example, were initially married by proxy.
Ah, so that’s where the phrase “Let them eat wedding cake by proxy” came from. 😉
 
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