THE CATECHISM OF
THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
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1601 "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish
between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature
ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education
of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by
Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."[84]
1602 Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the
image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the
wedding-feast of the Lamb."[85] Scripture speaks throughout of marriage
and its "mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its
origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of
salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal "in the Lord"
in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church.[86]
Marriage in the order of creation
1603 "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the
married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with
its own proper laws.... God himself is the author of marriage."[87] The
vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as
they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human
institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the
centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual
attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and
permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not
transparent everywhere with the same clarity,[88] some sense of the
greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being
of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is
closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life."[89]
1604 God who created man out of love also calls him to love the
fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created
in the image and likeness of God who is himself love.[90] Since God
created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the
absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very
good, in the Creator's eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended
to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over
creation: "And God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'"[91]
1605 Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one
another: "It is not good that the man should be alone."[92] The woman,
"flesh of his flesh," i.e., his counterpart, his equal, his nearest in all
things, is given to him by God as a "helpmate"; she thus represents God
from whom comes our help.[93] "Therefore a man leaves his father and his
mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh."[94] The Lord
himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives
by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been "in the beginning": "So
they are no longer two, but one flesh."[95]
Marriage under the regime of sin
1606 Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. This
experience makes itself felt in the relationships between man and woman.
Their union has always been threatened by discord, a spirit of domination,
infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and
separation. This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely, and
can be more or less overcome according to the circumstances of cultures,
eras, and individuals, but it does seem to have a universal character.
1607 According to faith the disorder we notice so painfully does not stem
from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations,
but from sin. As a break with God, the first sin had for its first
consequence the rupture of the original communion between man and woman.
Their relations were distorted by mutual recriminations;[96] their mutual
attraction, the Creator's own gift, changed into a relationship of
domination and lust;[97] and the beautiful vocation of man and woman to be
fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth was burdened by the pain of
childbirth and the toil of work.[98]
1608 Nevertheless, the order of creation persists, though seriously
disturbed. To heal the wounds of sin, man and woman need the help of the
grace that God in his infinite mercy never refuses them.[99] Without his
help man and woman cannot achieve the union of their lives for which God
created them "in the beginning."
Marriage under the pedagogy of the Law
1609 In his mercy God has not forsaken sinful man. The punishments
consequent upon sin, "pain in childbearing" and toil "in the sweat of your
brow,"[100] also embody remedies that limit the damaging effects of sin.
After the fall, marriage helps to overcome self-absorption, egoism,
pursuit of one's own pleasure, and to open oneself to the other, to mutual
aid and to self-giving.
1610 Moral conscience concerning the unity and indissolubility of marriage
developed under the pedagogy of the old law. In the Old Testament the
polygamy of patriarchs and kings is not yet explicitly rejected.
Nevertheless, the law given to Moses aims at protecting the wife from
arbitrary domination by the husband, even though according to the Lord's
words it still carries traces of man's "hardness of heart" which was the
reason Moses permitted men to divorce their wives.[101]
1611 Seeing God's covenant with Israel in the image of exclusive and
faithful married love, the prophets prepared the Chosen People's
conscience for a deepened understanding of the unity and indissolubility
of marriage.[102] The books of Ruth and Tobit bear moving witness to an
elevated sense of marriage and to the fidelity and tenderness of spouses.
Tradition has always seen in the Song of Solomon a unique expression of
human love, a pure reflection of God's love - a love "strong as death"
that "many waters cannot quench."[103]
Marriage in the Lord
1612 The nuptial covenant between God and his people Israel had prepared
the way for the new and everlasting covenant in which the Son of God, by
becoming incarnate and giving his life, has united to himself in a certain
way all mankind saved by him, thus preparing for "the wedding-feast of the
Lamb."[104]
1613 On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign -
at his mother's request - during a wedding feast.[105] The Church attaches
great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it
the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that
thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence.
1614 In his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of
the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning
permission given by Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the
hardness of hearts.[106] The matrimonial union of man and woman is
indissoluble: God himself has determined it "what therefore God has joined
together, let no man put asunder."[107]
1615 This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage
bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible
to realize. However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible
to bear, or too heavy - heavier than the Law of Moses.[108] By coming to
restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives
the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign
of God. It is by following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up
their crosses that spouses will be able to "receive" the original meaning
of marriage and live it with the help of Christ.[109] This grace of
Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ's cross, the source of all
Christian life.
1616 This is what the Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands,
love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
that he might sanctify her," adding at once: "'For this reason a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall
become one. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and
the Church."[110]
1617 The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of
Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God,
is a nuptial mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath[111] which
precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist. Christian marriage in its turn
becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of the covenant of Christ and
the Church. Since it signifies and communicates grace, marriage between
baptized persons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant.[112]
Virginity for the sake of the Kingdom
1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes
precedence over all other bonds, familial or social.[113] From the very
beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced
the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, to be
intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to
meet the Bridegroom who is coming.[114] Christ himself has invited certain
persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model:
"For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs
who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made
themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able
to receive this, let him receive it."[115]
1619 Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of
baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ
and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls
that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away.[116]
1620 Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God
come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants
them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity
with his will.[117] Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom[118]
and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they
reinforce each other:
Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity.
Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What
appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The
most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be
good.[119]
1621 In the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholic
faithful normally takes place during Holy Mass, because of the connection
of all the sacraments with the Paschal mystery of Christ.[120] In the
Eucharist the memorial of the New Covenant is realized, the New Covenant
in which Christ has united himself for ever to the Church, his beloved
bride for whom he gave himself up.[121] It is therefore fitting that the
spouses should seal their consent to give themselves to each other through
the offering of their own lives by uniting it to the offering of Christ
for his Church made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving
the Eucharist so that, communicating in the same Body and the same Blood
of Christ, they may form but "one body" in Christ.[122]
1622 "Inasmuch as it is a sacramental action of sanctification, the
liturgical celebration of marriage . . . must be, per se, valid, worthy,
and fruitful."[123] It is therefore appropriate for the bride and groom to
prepare themselves for the celebration of their marriage by receiving the
sacrament of penance.
1623 In the Latin Church, it is ordinarily understood that the spouses, as
ministers of Christ's grace, mutually confer upon each other the sacrament
of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church. In the Eastern
liturgies the minister of this sacrament (which is called "Crowning") is
the priest or bishop who, after receiving the mutual consent of the
spouses, successively crowns the bridegroom and the bride as a sign of the
marriage covenant.
1624 The various liturgies abound in prayers of blessing and epiclesis
asking God's grace and blessing on the new couple, especially the bride.
In the epiclesis of this sacrament the spouses receive the Holy Spirit as
the communion of love of Christ and the Church.[124] The Holy Spirit is
the seal of their covenant, the ever available source of their love and
the strength to renew their fidelity.
1625 The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman, free
to contract marriage, who freely express their consent; "to be free"
means:
- not being under constraint;
- not impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical law.
1626 The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be
the indispensable element that "makes the marriage."[125] If consent is
lacking there is no marriage.
1627 The consent consists in a "human act by which the partners mutually
give themselves to each other": "I take you to be my wife" - "I take you
to be my husband."[126] This consent that binds the spouses to each other
finds its fulfillment in the two "becoming one flesh."[127]
1628 The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting
parties, free of coercion or grave external fear.[128] No human power can
substitute for this consent.[129] If this freedom is lacking the marriage
is invalid.
1629 For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null
and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the
competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage,
i.e., that the marriage never existed.[130] In this case the contracting
parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous
union are discharged.[131]
1630 The priest (or deacon) who assists at the celebration of a marriage
receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the Church and gives
the blessing of the Church. The presence of the Church's minister (and
also of the witnesses) visibly expresses the fact that marriage is an
ecclesial reality.
1631 This is the reason why the Church normally requires that the faithful
contract marriage according to the ecclesiastical form. Several reasons
converge to explain this requirement:[132]
- Sacramental marriage is a liturgical act. It is therefore appropriate
that it should be celebrated in the public liturgy of the Church;
- Marriage introduces one into an ecclesial order, and creates rights and
duties in the Church between the spouses and towards their children;
- Since marriage is a state of life in the Church, certainty about it is
necessary (hence the obligation to have witnesses);
- The public character of the consent protects the "I do" once given and
helps the spouses remain faithful to it.
1632 So that the "I do" of the spouses may be a free and responsible act
and so that the marriage covenant may have solid and lasting human and
Christian foundations, preparation for marriage is of prime importance.
The example and teaching given by parents and families remain the special
form of this preparation.
The role of pastors and of the Christian community as the "family of God"
is indispensable for the transmission of the human and Christian values of
marriage and family,[133] and much more so in our era when many young
people experience broken homes which no longer sufficiently assure this
initiation:
It is imperative to give suitable and timely instruction to young people,
above all in the heart of their own families, about the dignity of married
love, its role and its exercise, so that, having learned the value of
chastity, they will be able at a suitable age to engage in honorable
courtship and enter upon a marriage of their own.[134]
Mixed marriages and disparity of cult
1633 In many countries the situation of a mixed marriage (marriage between
a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) often arises. It requires
particular attention on the part of couples and their pastors. A case of
marriage with disparity of cult (between a Catholic and a nonbaptized
person) requires even greater circumspection.
1634 Difference of confession between the spouses does not constitute an
insurmountable obstacle for marriage, when they succeed in placing in
common what they have received from their respective communities, and
learn from each other the way in which each lives in fidelity to Christ.
But the difficulties of mixed marriages must not be underestimated. They
arise from the fact that the separation of Christians has not yet been
overcome. The spouses risk experiencing the tragedy of Christian disunity
even in the heart of their own home. Disparity of cult can further
aggravate these difficulties. Differences about faith and the very notion
of marriage, but also different religious mentalities, can become sources
of tension in marriage, especially as regards the education of children.
The temptation to religious indifference can then arise.
1635 According to the law in force in the Latin Church, a mixed marriage
needs for liceity the express permission of ecclesiastical authority.[135]
In case of disparity of cult an express dispensation from this impediment
is required for the validity of the marriage.[136] This permission or
dispensation presupposes that both parties know and do not exclude the
essential ends and properties of marriage and the obligations assumed by
the Catholic party concerning the baptism and education of the children in
the Catholic Church.[137]
1636 Through ecumenical dialogue Christian communities in many regions
have been able to put into effect a common pastoral practice for mixed
marriages. Its task is to help such couples live out their particular
situation in the light of faith, overcome the tensions between the
couple's obligations to each other and towards their ecclesial
communities, and encourage the flowering of what is common to them in
faith and respect for what separates them.
1637 In marriages with disparity of cult the Catholic spouse has a
particular task: "For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his
wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband."[138]
It is a great joy for the Christian spouse and for the Church if this
"consecration" should lead to the free conversion of the other spouse to
the Christian faith.[139] Sincere married love, the humble and patient
practice of the family virtues, and perseverance in prayer can prepare the
non-believing spouse to accept the grace of conversion.
1638 "From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its
very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian
marriage the spouses are strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the
duties and the dignity of their state by a special sacrament."[140]
The marriage bond
1639 The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one
another is sealed by God himself.[141] From their covenant arises "an
institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes of
society."[142] The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's
covenant with man: "Authentic married love is caught up into divine
love."[143]
1640 Thus the marriage bond has been established by God himself in such a
way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can
never be dissolved. This bond, which results from the free human act of
the spouses and their consummation of the marriage, is a reality,
henceforth irrevocable, and gives rise to a covenant guaranteed by God's
fidelity. The Church does not have the power to contravene this
disposition of divine wisdom.[144]
The grace of the sacrament of Matrimony
1641 "By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian
spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God."[145] This
grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the
couple's love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace
they "help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in
welcoming and educating their children."[146]
1642 Christ is the source of this grace. "Just as of old God encountered
his people with a covenant of love and fidelity, so our Savior, the spouse
of the Church, now encounters Christian spouses through the sacrament of
Matrimony."[147] Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take
up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen,
to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to
one another out of reverence for Christ,"[148] and to love one another
with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love
and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding
feast of the Lamb:
How can I ever express the happiness of a marriage joined by the Church,
strengthened by an offering, sealed by a blessing, announced by angels,
and ratified by the Father? . . . How wonderful the bond between two
believers, now one in hope, one in desire, one in discipline, one in the
same service! They are both children of one Father and servants of the
same Master, undivided in spirit and flesh, truly two in one flesh. Where
the flesh is one, one also is the spirit.[149]
1643 "Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the
person enter - appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and
affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply
personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming
one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in
definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility. In a word it is a
question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but
with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but
raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically
Christian values."[150]
The unity and indissolubility of marriage
1644 The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and
indissolubility of the spouses' community of persons, which embraces their
entire life: "so they are no longer two, but one flesh."[151] They "are
called to grow continually in their communion through day-to-day fidelity
to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving."[152] This human
communion is confirmed, purified, and completed by communion in Jesus
Christ, given through the sacrament of Matrimony. It is deepened by lives
of the common faith and by the Eucharist received together.
1645 "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made
clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to man and wife
in mutual and unreserved affection."[153] Polygamy is contrary to conjugal
love which is undivided and exclusive.[154]
The fidelity of conjugal love
1646 By its very nature conjugal love requires the inviolable fidelity of
the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of themselves which they
make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an
arrangement "until further notice." The "intimate union of marriage, as a
mutual giving of two persons, and the good of the children, demand total
fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable union between
them."[155]
1647 The deepest reason is found in the fidelity of God to his covenant,
in that of Christ to his Church. Through the sacrament of Matrimony the
spouses are enabled to represent this fidelity and witness to it. Through
the sacrament, the indissolubility of marriage receives a new and deeper
meaning.
1648 It can seem difficult, even impossible, to bind oneself for life to
another human being. This makes it all the more important to proclaim the
Good News that God loves us with a definitive and irrevocable love, that
married couples share in this love, that it supports and sustains them,
and that by their own faithfulness they can be witnesses to God's faithful
love. Spouses who with God's grace give this witness, often in very
difficult conditions, deserve the gratitude and support of the ecclesial
community.[156]
1649 Yet there are some situations in which living together becomes
practically impossible for a variety of reasons. In such cases the Church
permits the physical separation of the couple and their living apart. The
spouses do not cease to be husband and wife before God and so are not free
to contract a new union. In this difficult situation, the best solution
would be, if possible, reconciliation. The Christian community is called
to help these persons live out their situation in a Christian manner and
in fidelity to their marriage bond which remains indissoluble.[157]
1650 Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have
recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity to
the words of Jesus Christ - "Whoever divorces his wife and marries
another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and
marries another, she commits adultery"[158] the Church maintains that a
new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was. If the
divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that
objectively contravenes God's law. Consequently, they cannot receive
Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists. For the same
reason, they cannot exercise certain ecclesial responsibilities.
Reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to
those who have repented for having violated the sign of the covenant and
of fidelity to Christ, and who are committed to living in complete
continence.
1651 Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who often keep the
faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian manner, priests
and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude, so that
they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life
they can and must participate as baptized persons:
They should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to attend the
Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of
charity and to community efforts for justice, to bring up their children
in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance
and thus implore, day by day, God's grace.[159]
The openness to fertility
1652 "By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is
ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in
them that it finds its crowning glory."[160]
Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the
good of the parents themselves. God himself said: "It is not good that man
should be alone," and "from the beginning [he] made them male and female";
wishing to associate them in a special way in his own creative work, God
blessed man and woman with the words: "Be fruitful and multiply." Hence,
true married love and the whole structure of family life which results
from it, without diminishment of the other ends of marriage, are directed
to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiantly with the love of the
Creator and Savior, who through them will increase and enrich his family
from day to day.[161]
1653 The fruitfulness of conjugal love extends to the fruits of the moral,
spiritual, and supernatural life that parents hand on to their children by
education. Parents are the principal and first educators of their
children.[162] In this sense the fundamental task of marriage and family
is to be at the service of life.[163]
1654 Spouses to whom God has not granted children can nevertheless have a
conjugal life full of meaning, in both human and Christian terms. Their
marriage can radiate a fruitfulness of charity, of hospitality, and of
sacrifice.
1655 Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family
of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God."
From the beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those
who had become believers "together with all [their] household."[164] When
they were converted, they desired that "their whole household" should also
be saved.[165] These families who became believers were islands of
Christian life in an unbelieving world.
1656 In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith,
believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant
faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient
expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica.[166] It is in the
bosom of the family that parents are "by word and example . . . the first
heralds of the faith with regard to their children. They should encourage
them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special
care any religious vocation."[167]
1657 It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and
all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a
privileged way "by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and
thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active
charity."[168] Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a
school for human enrichment."[169] Here one learns endurance and the joy
of work, fraternal love, generous - even repeated - forgiveness, and above
all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life.
1658 We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because
of the particular circumstances in which they have to live - often not of
their choosing - are especially close to Jesus' heart and therefore
deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church,
especially of pastors. Many remain without a human family often due to
conditions of poverty. Some live their situation in the spirit of the
Beatitudes, serving God and neighbor in exemplary fashion. The doors of
homes, the "domestic churches," and of the great family which is the
Church must be open to all of them. "No one is without a family in this
world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who
'labor and are heavy laden.'"[170]
IN BRIEF
1659 St. Paul said: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the
Church.... This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and
the Church" (Eph 5:25, 32).
1660 The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each
other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed
with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered
to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of
children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the
dignity of a sacrament (cf. CIC, can. 1055 # 1; cf. GS 48 # 1).
1661 The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the
Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with
which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus
perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble
unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life (cf. Council of
Trent: DS 1799).
1662 Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is,
on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and
definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love.
1663 Since marriage establishes the couple in a public state of life in
the Church, it is fitting that its celebration be public, in the framework
of a liturgical celebration, before the priest (or a witness authorized by
the Church), the witnesses, and the assembly of the faithful.
1664 Unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to
marriage. Polygamy is incompatible with the unity of marriage; divorce
separates what God has joined together; the refusal of fertility turns
married life away from its "supreme gift," the child (GS 50 # 1).
1665 The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse
contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not
separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion.
They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in
the faith.
1666 The Christian home is the place where children receive the first
proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly
called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of
human virtues and of Christian charity.
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