marriage

[billcu1]

I know marriage will not be done for someone who is impotent I’m not quite sure why but what if someone just isn’t sure they want kids?

 

[EasterJoy]

***Can. 1061 §1. **A valid marriage between the baptized is called ratum tantum if it has not been consummated; it is called ratum et consummatum if the spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh.

Can. 1084 §1. Antecedent and perpetual impotence to have intercourse, whether on the part of the man or the woman, whether absolute or relative, nullifies marriage by its very nature.*

It is not the achievement of procreation that makes a marriage, but the marital act that makes procreation possible that is necessary for marriage. That act and everything it means between a man and a woman to have engaged in it is the reason for marriage.

IOW, the achievement of a marriage requires not just vows, but the achievement of the consummating act of marriage “by which the spouses become one flesh.” The act of intercourse is a necessary ratifying act, without which there is no marriage.

 

[JackieMom]

I know marriage will not be done for someone who is impotent I’m not quite sure why but what if someone just isn’t sure they want kids?

All marriages have to be open to welcoming children. There is a difference between not “wanting” kids and not being open to having them. The couple in question would need to speak with their priest to accurately discern where the real issue lies and if a valid wedding can be held.

 

[Regina_Love]

I know marriage will not be done for someone who is impotent I’m not quite sure why but what if someone just isn’t sure they want kids?

Marriage is a vocation to parenting children with your spouse. If you don’t want kids you are not called to marriage.

 

[EasterJoy]

Marriage is a vocation to parenting children with your spouse. If you don’t want kids you are not called to marriage.

That’s a little simplistic. People who are capable of sex but not capable of procreation can be called to marriage, and whether or not they want children is besides the point. Rather, if you are not open to all that the duties of marriage might bring you, then you are not called to marriage. You don’t have to want everything that goes with marriage, but you do have to want to be faithful to whatever marriage asks of you. That is true with any vocation, and we need to be careful that we don’t scare people off from what they are called to do because they feel some shrinking from what they are nevertheless ready to do.

 

[RoseMary131]

… what if someone just isn’t sure they want kids?

Marriage includes sexual relations between the husband and wife. All sexual acts are to be open to new life, meaning not hampering the conception of a child.

Part of the vows for the Sacrament of Matrimony is “Will you accept children lovingly from God?” to which the couple needs to reply.

If a couple is not sure if they are ready to be parents, then they are not ready for marriage.

How would they be open to new life during their sexual relationships if they were not sure they wanted to conceive children?