Marriage as sacrament : baptism or the practice of faith of the spouses?

Abstract

There is gamut of unresolved issues, some of them of a pastoral nature, others theological, which provoke theologians and canonists to re-examine the doctrine about the sacramentality of marriage. One of these unclear and complex problems is the issue of the lack of faith of a great number of baptised persons who approach the Church for sacramental marriage. One may classify baptised persons under two categories: believers and nonbelievers. The basis of this theological distinction is the presence or absence of active personal faith. Nowadays, it is becoming more and more common that baptised non-believers opt for a Christian marriage not for religious reasons, but exclusively for motives that are social, familiar, of pure convenience, or because of the external glamour of the religious. This situation is triggering off a host of intriguing questions: Is every marriage between baptised persons ipso facto a sacramental marriage? Could lack of faith impede the marriage? Does lack of faith affect the fruitfulness of the sacrament or its validity? These questions, which have troubled the Catholic Church for the past two centuries, present a daunting challenge to both theologians and canon lawyers! [excerpt]