Union, Unity, Confusion

If someone claims a marriage is invalid because either the bride or groom couldn’t do ‘unity’ or simulated  ‘unity’, then you should challenge the person to define unity.

In the context of annulments (study of whether a marriage is invalid) if someone says ‘unity’ means anything besides “no polygamy,” then the person is confusing marriage invalidity terminology with meanings used for counseling, moral theology, pastoral outreach, poetry, or otherwise.

The Code of Canon Law specifies “The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility, which in Christian marriage obtain a special firmness by reason of the sacrament” (c. 1056). Unity, in this context, which is the only context relevant to invalidity, means ONE (1) UNO spouse at a time.  An essential property of marriage is that one man has one wife, not two or more wives. One woman has one husband, not two or more.

The use of the word union in Church documents does not usually refer to juridical concepts relevant to invalidity. For example see the following:

In 1930, Casti Connubii stated “By matrimony, therefore, the souls of the contracting parties are joined and knit together more directly and more intimately than are their bodies, and that not by any passing affection of sense or spirit, but by a deliberate and firm act of the will; and from this union of souls by God’s decree, a sacred and inviolable bond arises.”

In 1965, Gaudium et Spes (no. 49) stated, “As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness between them.”

In 1968, Humanae Vitae stated, “As a consequence, husband and wife, through that mutual gift of themselves, which is specific and exclusive to them alone, develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives.”

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