Marriage vow questions regarding fidelity

[Ben_Sinner]

During the vows, the spouses make a promise to stay exclusive and faithful to each other for the rest of their lives.

If one of the spouses were aware that there are near occasions of sin out there for them that would lead to adultery, if the spouse didn’t avoid them…but still promised to remain faithful…Would that spouse’s vows be void?..since they can’t promise to be forever faithful to the spouse, knowing that there are near occasions out there?

I need to point out that the spouse DOES NOT want to fall into adultery or get into those near occasions, but they are aware that if they ever got into one of those situations, they would eventually fall into adultery.

My follow up question would be, if that doesn’t make the vows void, then what is the difference between that and someone coming in with the attitude “Well if this marriage doesn’t work out the way I wanted it to, I’ll just get divorced.”?

 

[CB_Catholic]

During the vows, the spouses make a promise to stay exclusive and faithful to each other for the rest of their lives.

If one of the spouses were aware that there are near occasions of sin out there for them that would lead to adultery, if the spouse didn’t avoid them…but still promised to remain faithful…Would that spouse’s vows be void?..since they can’t promise to be forever faithful to the spouse, knowing that there are near occasions out there?

I need to point out that the spouse DOES NOT want to fall into adultery or get into those near occasions, but they are aware that if they ever got into one of those situations, they would eventually fall into adultery.

My follow up question would be, if that doesn’t make the vows void, then what is the difference between that and someone coming in with the attitude “Well if this marriage doesn’t work out the way I wanted it to, I’ll just get divorced.”?

There might be a better answer, but I would say that if the spouse intends to stay faithful, the marriage is valid. The potential for sin is always present for every one of us, and we all know there will always be opportunities in our life to commit a sin. The most any of us, including the one in the scenario, can do is rely on God’s grace to help us through the temptation. People change all the time and nobody can predict the future. so no one can be sure they will sin or not sin in a particular manner in some distant future. I will point out. though, that infidelity in a marriage in itself is not grounds to declare the marriage null.

The difference is that the second person is putting conditions on the marriage from the beginning, at the time of consent. “If this doesn’t work out, I’ll get a divorce” is saying that there is no intention to stay married if things get rough, rather than committing oneself to stay married for better or worse. The spouses give themselves to each other unconditionally. In the second instance, the person’s intention is not honest, there is deceit going on. The first spouse does not have the intention to commit adultery at the time of the marriage consent, but recognizes only the possibility they might sin in this manner.

Now I will gladly defer to any canon lawyer or priest who undoubtedly knows more about the matter than me, as I am neither, but this is my understanding of the situation from what I have read. There has to be some defect in consent at the time of the marriage.

 

[e_c]

A man could intend to go to the gentleman’s club for his viewing pleasure immediately after the wedding. That does not invalidate the marriage on its own. Simply intending to expose oneself to occasions of sin, or even intending to actually sin, without intending to at least allow oneself to commit “complete” adultery, does not pass the test for an intention against fidelity in itself.

It could, however, be part of a larger problem that might invalidate it. And in such a case as I have described, it almost definitely would be.