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The Sacrament of Marriage As Something Unique to the Catholic Church: Thoughts About Separating Nature, Contract and Sacrament

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The Sacrament of Marriage As Something Unique to the Catholic Church: Thoughts About Separating Nature, Contract and Sacrament Thomas Ruster The Sacrament of Marriage as Something Unique to the Catholic Church: Thoughts about Separating Nature, Contract and Sacrament Divorced Christians who enter into a new mar- another “till death do us part”. Legally speaking, riage first of all act against the will of Jesus they are guilty of a breach of contract. How Christ: “What God hath joined together, let no could they be allowed to make such a promise man put asunder.” They commit adultery, as the again, after having broken their first vow? words of Christ indicate very clearly (Mk 10,9- What has been outlined so far encompasses 12). They also deny the faithful union between the Church’s teaching concerning matrimony. If Christ and his Church, for according to Ephe- we want to theologically pave the way for the sians 5,21-32, the bond of matrimony is based on acceptance of marriages between divorced Chris- and represents the union between Christ and his tians, we have to overcome this teaching. Its Church, which means that the dissolution of a strength lies in the connection it establishes marriage includes the denial of the fidelity of between the three elements mentioned before: Christ. They thus reject the sacrament, God’s sacrament – nature – contract. These elements gift of grace. support each other, no matter with which one Secondly, they act against the order of crea- you start: The sacrament is based on the natural tion which was revealed to Reason in natural law institution and the respective couple enters freely and which is being authentically interpreted by into it. In the marriage contract the partners the Church’s Magisterium: In his creation God accept the order of creation and Christ raises this has instituted marriage and family as the frame- contract to the dignity of a sacrament. The sac- work for the union of man and woman. Marriage rament leads the natural and contractual dimen- and family constitute the fundamental unit of sion of marriage to a higher level. Matrimony is society. The wellbeing of spouses and children more than just a socially acceptable way of living is secured best within marriage and family. More- together. It is also more than a union solely des- over, thinking more deeply about the nature of tined for procreation, even if on the level of love, we may come to realize that exclusiveness natural order it helps to strip human sexuality and indissolubility are paramount to it, because off its self-referential desire. The marriage bond every true love wishes for absoluteness and eter- is a gift of grace, visibly representing God’s wish nity. Within the bodily and spiritual union of to be united with us. It is a spiritual reality. love, called marriage, the true meaning of human According to legal practitioner and historian sexuality is fulfilled, particularly in its relation to John Witte the Catholic model of marriage procreation. developed in the thirteenth century is “the work Thirdly, they fail to keep the promise they of a genius”.1 What was so brilliant about it is made to each other in freedom and self-determi- precisely the combination of the three dimen- nation – to respect their marriage partner, to sions sacrament, nature and contract. It has given remain faithful through good times and bad, in plausibility and stability to this model for many sickness and in health, to love and to cherish one centuries. If against the backdrop of sociological 4 INTAMS review 19, 4-12. doi: 10.2143/INT.19.1.3007291 © 2013 by INTAMS review. All rights reserved 996915.indb6915.indb 4 99/01/14/01/14 008:218:21 T. Ruster upheavals, altered attachment behaviour etc. the creation and nature? Or can the Church also Catholic Church nowadays faces the challenge approve of relationships which do not possess of how to deal with divorced Christians who these characteristics? have remarried, or, in other words, if we are These two questions are connected to each forced to live in an age that is hostile towards other, because the traditional ecclesiastical teach- the institution of marriage and puts lifelong rela- ings on matrimony also assigned indissolubility tionships to the test, we must ask this theological to natural marriage. According to that, a mar- question: How can we further develop this model riage contract constitutes an indissoluble mar- of marriage towards a more contemporary one, riage, even if it does not lead to a sacramental a model applicable to modern times? However, marriage. However, if one could show that not giving up on the indissolubility of sacramental all marriages have to be naturally indissoluble, marriage is out of the question. In this respect this would pave the way for marriages which are the Church cannot ignore Christ’s statement. non-sacramental and dissoluble. And even if there are exegetes who quite reason- Subsequently I will try to prove that we could ably inquire whether Jesus actually intended to give up the connections subsisting between sacra- make a normative statement to be valid forever, ment and contract as well as those between sac- these doubts cannot challenge a Church which ramental and natural marriage without damaging believes that scriptures and tradition bear witness the sacrament of Christian marriage. The sacra- to the divine revelation. From the very beginning ment of marriage would thus stand alone, with- the Catholic Church concluded from Christ’s out the connections mentioned before. Conse- statement that marriage should be indissoluble, quently, the sacramental marriage would be which means that the Church cannot revise this something unique to the Catholic Church in the interpretation today without contradicting its midst of a great variety of other relationships. own understanding of the Revelation. And as the This would also have consequences for the form Church, according to Ephesians 5, understands of administering the marriage sacrament which marriage as a sacrament, i.e. as a visible expres- would have to be discussed. Then the following sion of the union between God and mankind, it question remains: What is the Church’s position cannot change this interpretation without calling towards Christians who engage in another, non- God’s fidelity into question. The Church does sacramental relationship before or after living in not have this option, if it does not want to give a sacramental marriage? itself up since the Church itself is founded on God’s fidelity; this is the reason for its existence. But we can point out the question whether 1. Contract and Sacrament the connections established by the Catholic model of marriage between sacrament and mar- A clearly negative response to our first question riage contract on the one hand and between sac- can be found in canon 1055 §2 of the 1983 CIC: rament and nature (order of creation) on the It states that “a valid matrimonial contract can- other hand need to be preserved. To be precise, not exist between the baptized without it being we would have to take a closer look at the fol- lowing points: 1. Does every marriage contract between baptized Christians inevitably constitute 1 J. Witte: Vom Vertrag zum Sakrament: Ehe, Religion und Recht in der abendländischen Tradition, ed. the sacrament of matrimony? Or could non- W. Huber et al., Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlag-Haus, sacramental marriages between baptized persons 2008 (Öffentliche Theologie; 15), 45; originally pub- exist without the characteristic indissolubility? lished is English as: From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western tradition, 2. Is the sacramental marriage characterized by Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1997 unity and indissolubility as part of the order of (The Family, Religion, and Culture). 5 996915.indb6915.indb 5 99/01/14/01/14 008:218:21 INTAMS review 19 (2013) by that fact a sacrament”. When a baptized sary for the gift of the marriage sacrament – a woman and a baptized man enter into a marriage condition not fulfilled in the above mentioned covenant, this covenant has “been raised by cases. This concept did not prevail in the Middle Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament”, Ages because it was contrary to general custom. as it says in §1 of that same canon, without the Marriages were frequently concluded and con- couple necessarily intending to receive a sacra- summated without the blessing of the Church; ment. The problems related to this canonical it was simply impossible to conclude all marriages statement nowadays are obvious. Even persons with the assistance of the Church.3 Melchior who are baptized but do not really intend to Cano (1509-1560), a very influential theologian, enter into a sacramental marriage with all its was the first to systematically defend the thesis consequences or who do not know what this that in marriages concluded without the Church’s implies, i.e. the so-called “baptized nonbelievers” blessing a valid marriage contract is established of whom there are many these days, in fact enter – based on the consent of the couple – but no into a sacramental marriage. And there is an even sacrament received. In his opinion the instrument more serious aspect: Baptized Christians from and reason for receiving the sacrament is consti- Church communities which expressively object tuted by the priest’s blessing, in line with the to the sacramental character of matrimony, from scholastic sacramental theology. Within the the point of view of the Catholic Church never- framework of scholastic terms Cano pointed out theless enter into a sacramental marriage, pro- that a mere legal act, the declaration of consent, vided that the Catholic Church recognizes the cannot be enough for receiving a sacrament. How baptism practiced in these communities.
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