Men and women have a natural
right to marry, but that does not mean they have a right to a Catholic
wedding, Pope Benedict XVI said.
For the Catholic Church, marriage is a sacrament that is witnessed by a
priest or deacon, but performed by the couple who pledge their union
will be forever and that they will be open to having and educating
children, the pope said.
"The right to contract marriage presupposes that one is able to and
intends to truly celebrate it, that is, in the truth of its essence as
taught by the church," Pope Benedict said Jan. 22 when he met with
members of the Roman Rota, a Vatican-based tribunal that deals mainly
with marriage cases.
Because the church has a very specific religious understanding of what
marriage is, "no one can claim the right to a marriage ceremony" in the
church, the pope said.
In his annual meeting with the tribunal officials, Pope Benedict said he
wanted to focus on the legal or juridical aspect of Catholic marriage
preparation programs, because too often engaged couples -- and even
those preparing them for marriage -- consider the courses simply a
bureaucratic hurdle to overcome before the wedding.
"In fact, often it is assumed that the priest must act with largesse,
since the natural right of persons to marry is at stake," the pope said,
but for the Catholic Church, there exists only one kind of marriage --
sacramental -- and the right of Catholic couples to celebrate the
sacrament can be exercised only if they fully understand what they are
doing.
Pope Benedict said anyone involved in marriage preparation programs, but
especially the priest or other pastoral worker conducting the
obligatory pre-marriage interviews with the potential bride and
potential groom, has an obligation to ensure there is nothing standing
in the way of a valid and licit celebration of the sacrament. For the
marriage to be valid, the couple must understand the commitment being
undertaken, he said.
Pastoral workers and marriage tribunal officials together "must work to
interrupt to the extent possible the vicious cycle frequently noted of
too easily allowing couples to marry without adequate preparation" and
"the sometimes equally easy judicial declaration" that a marriage is
invalid, the pope said.
Both approaches give people a sense that the
Catholic Church no longer sees marriage as truly being binding forever,
he said.
SIC: CNS/INT'L