Topics

Question 1

Impediments to Marital Consent

Answer 1

• Lack of age
• Prior bond (a previous valid marriage that has not been dissolved).
• Disparity of cult (marriage between a baptized Catholic and an unbaptized person without dispensation or willingness to raise children according to the faith).
• Sacred orders or public perpetual vow of chastity.
  Blood relationship
• Crime (i.e. killing the first spouse to avoid the annulment process)
  Impotence (inability to consummate the marriage, if antecedent and perpetual, like lack of physical faculties, same-sex relationships, etc).
• Intentionally not admitting to something that could cause a lack of consent (i.e. not admitting to being an addict, having a previous relationship, having past issues that impeded marriage)

Question 2

Marital Consent

Answer 2

• Free will
• Full knowledge
• Intent of permanence
• Openness to life
• Capacity to understand the responsibility of marriage (someone who has free will, full knowledge intent of permanence and openness to life but is mentally disabled to where they cannot understand the responsibility of the sacrament cannot be married)

Question 3

Exceptions to Exclusion of Divorced and Civilly Remarried from the Sacraments

Answer 3

• Traditionally, those in an objectively irregular marital situation (remarried without annulment) are asked to refrain from communion unless living in continence (cf. Familiaris Consortio 84).
• Amoris Laetitia (2016) permits case-by-case pastoral accompaniment, allowing possible admission after discernment in the internal forum, especially when continence is impractical for the good of children or an existing relationship.

Question 4

Helpful Ways to Resolve Marital Conflict

Answer 4

Helpful:
- Active listening and speaking without interruption.
- Clarify the real nature of the conflict (echo other’s feelings)
- Stick to the present issue.
- Be alert to other factors
- Avoid sarcasm and name-calling, Avoiding “you always” and “you never” language.
- Avoid “you statements” or power declarations
- If tempers flare take a break but continue discussion later
- Do not engage in the silent treatment or other passive aggressive practices
- Maintain privacy
- Show honor even in the face of disagreement
- Ask forgiveness for statements which give offense or cause hurt
- Seeking counseling or spiritual direction.

Question 5

Unhelpful Ways to Resolve Marital Conflict

Answer 5

Unhelpful:
- 4 false approaches: Fight, Flight, Fake, Fold
- Stonewalling, contempt, defensiveness (John Gottman’s “Four Horsemen”).
- Silent treatment, passive-aggression.
- Triangulation (bringing others into the argument).
- Escalation without de-escalation tools (being indirect in expressing feelings (women) or invalidating them (men).

Answer 6

• Recognize differences in communication patterns & thinking about intimacy
• Cultivate physical touch, Physical affection (non-sexually): non-sexual touch, thoughtful gestures
• Continue dating (weekly date nights, yearly getaways)
• Shared interests beyond kids and jobs (“male bonding”)
• Praying together (see Fr. Andrew Greeley, Faithful Attraction)
• Learn to speak spouse’s “love language”
• Practice “marital banking”
• Parallels in the spiritual life (consolation and desolation— cf. the advice of St. Ignatius of Loyola).

Question 7

Boundaries for Sex

Answer 7

• Within the bounds of a marriage
• Openness to life
• Have unitive and procreative ends
• Focused on the dignity of both individuals (cannot be solely seeking for pleasure, even of the act is not contracepted)
• Not on the study sheet but it might come up: Use of pornography for purposes of arousal, non-consensual marital sex (marital rape), and contraception and abortifacients are never permitted.

Question 8

Is Faith Necessary for a Sacramental Marriage?

Answer 8

• Church Teaching: No—if both parties are baptized, their marriage is ipso facto a sacrament, even if their faith is minimal or absent (CIC 1055 §2). The grace of the sacrament is conferred ex opere operato.
• Some argue, like Josef Ratzinger, that faith gives deeper access to grace and fruitfulness. But denying sacramentality based on weak faith undermines objective sacramental theology.

Question 9

Divorced and Remarried: Sacraments?

Answer 9

• Traditional practice: No access unless living in continence.
• Current pastoral application (Amoris Laetitia): Discernment and accompaniment may allow sacramental participation in some cases.
• Debate: Critics worry about doctrinal erosion; supporters see it as a return to pastoral mercy.

Question 10

Temporal vs. Eschatological Nature of Marriage

Answer 10

• Temporal: Jesus says marriage ends in the resurrection (Mt 22:30). No marriage in heaven.
• Eschatological sign: Marriage points to the eternal union of Christ and the Church. Celibacy is a “prophetic sign” of that reality.
• Marriage is a good for this world, but not ultimate in the West.
• The Orthodox Church also holds that the sacramental bond ends at death, but in practice, it often affirms the idea of a continuing spiritual connection between spouses even beyond death. Orthodox liturgical prayers and theology sometimes express hope for reunion in the age to come, without contradicting the belief that marriage is an earthly institution.

Question 11

Marriage vs. Cohabitation

Question 12

Marriage vs. Cohabitation

Answer 12

• Cohabitation lacks public commitment, sacramentality, and openness to grace. Often marked by instability.
• Marriage provides covenantal structure, grace, legal and social support.
• Studies show marriage better supports child well-being, long-term fidelity, and personal flourishing.
• Advantage to cohabitation: some argue it allows discernment—but this often undermines the very trust needed for full self-gift. It creates lack of seriousness in marriage metaphorically “leaving the door open” for a break up even after marriage

Question 13

Contraception vs. NFP: Moral Difference

Answer 13

• Contraception blocks procreation by artificial means, violates the unitive-procreative link (HV 14).
• NFP works with natural cycles to responsibly space births, while respecting the integrity of the marital act. It is natural, not artificial and requires no outside means
• The periodic continence necessary for effective NFP
• Moral difference lies in intention and means, not merely effect.

Question 14

Same-Sex Marriage vs. Traditional Marriage

Answer 14

• Traditional marriage: Covenant between man and woman, ordered toward children, symbolic of Christ-Church union.
• Same-sex unions: Lacking complementarity and procreative potential, cannot fulfill the natural or sacramental meaning of marriage.
• Justice vs. Truth: While all people deserve respect and legal protections, redefining marriage obscures its essential nature.

Question 15

How to Teach Chastity

Answer 15

• Positive vision: Chastity is not repression but integration and freedom.
• Age-appropriate formation: Teach dignity of the body, true love, purpose of sex.
• Witness: Parents, teachers, and clergy must live chastely.
• Compassion and clarity: Especially for those struggling with sexual sin or orientation.

Question 16

Symbiosis Between Catholic Sexual and Social Teaching (AL Ch. 9, Bachiochi)

Answer 16

• Both arise from the dignity of the person and the truth of love. Fights incorrect divide of marriage and family issues in the Church being “conservative” and justice being “justice”
• Sexual ethics (chastity, marriage) and social was justice (solidarity, economic justice) uphold human flourishing and the common good. Sexual morality is a prerequisite for authentic social justice.
• Cultural shifts toward contraception create a society without an incentive to marry and reduce social stigma in sex out of wedlock. This has commodified sex and led to an increase in single mothers. Single-parent households lead to less income for a family and disproportionately affect racial minority families.
• Both call for self-gift, not self-gratification or exploitation.
• Disregarding either damages the whole: e.g., sexual liberation harms the poor, and economic injustice destabilizes family life. Reinforced by poor couples losing welfare when married as their combined income increases. They are inseparable.
• Increase of disconnect between marriage and a family. Marriage is a personal fulfillment, not for the procreation of children and the good of the spouse.
• The lack of marriage among men has created a type of infantilization, allowing men to never grow up leading to higher crime rates, incorrect understandings of priorities, etc.
• Cultural shift would include an emphasis that couples stay together when they’re married, and that those who have sex are married AND willing to raise a child.