Quick question on Marriage in the Church

[TheLittleLady]

Here is what the American counsel of bishops says (easier than interpreting cannons 1055-1165):

" Just as individual states have certain requirements for civil marriage (e.g., a marriage license, blood tests), the Catholic Church also has requirements before Catholics can be considered validly married in the eyes of the Church. A valid Catholic marriage results from four elements: (1) the spouses are free to marry; (2) they freely exchange their consent; (3) in consenting to marry, they have the intention to marry for life, to be faithful to one another and be open to children; and (4) their consent is given in the presence of two witnesses and before a properly authorized Church minister. Exceptions to the last requirement must be approved by church authority."

Would you please link to the source for this.

The Catholics in the US fall under the “United States Council of Catholic Bishops” aka “USCCB”. I have done searches on their documents and cannot find this quote. I would like to read it on context.

 

[Vico]

…
what is the church teaching on those catholic’s who want to marry but not have children
…
for those who are Catholic that want to marry outside of the faith, is it correct or not , that there needs to be some sort of marriage in good faith, approved by ones local bishop,
…

The will cannot be willfully opposed to accepting children if they occur. The couple are giving the total donation of themselves to each other that it may be fruitful, but there many be reasons that will make it morally acceptable to abstain from marital relations (or use natural family planning) for the entire duration of the marriage. (See Pope Pius XII, Address to Midwives).

• supposed (adverb): generally assumed or believed to be the case, but not necessarily so.

Yes, Catholics are supposed to marry Catholics and others only as an exception (which canon law specifies). Permission from the bishop is required for a Catholic to marry a baptized non-Catholic and a dispensation is required from the bishop is required for a Catholic to marry a non-baptized person. The fact that it is a dispensation and not merely permission, shows the relative gravity of it. It could endanger a person’s Catholic faith. (CIC Can. 1086 gives the impediment and how it can be dispensed.)

 

[LittleFlower378]

Every valid marriage(Catholic, Protestant, Muslim,Jewish, doesn’t matter, this is Jesus universal law on marriage)the couple(both man and woman) has to be open to life and want children, even if the couple is past childbearing age and it is not likely they will concieve. Every sexual act within the marriage has to be open to life or the act is a sin. If one or both of the couple do not intend to be open to life before they get married, then the marriage is invalid.

The Church is generally against mixed marriages but does allow exceptions.