Marriage of conscience
A marriage of conscience is a sexual union, which is entered into without civil notarization and without ecclesiastical blessing , but by both parties with the intention of considering each other as real spouses and to submit to all obligations arising therefrom. Such a marriage of conscience only appears legally as a cohabitation and precisely for that reason as not a marriage in the sense of the law. It used to happen in some countries that the Protestant sovereign granted a dispensation from church weddings ; but the legal validity of such a marriage of conscience was not undisputed.
Marriage of conscience in Catholicism
Also in marriage law of the Catholic Church there was a marriage of conscience granted with episcopal approval until 1983, which was only concluded before God, but not before the public and the state (cann. 1104–1107 CIC / 17 ).
One of the most famous cases of such a secret marriage in history is the secret marriage between Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragón , the later Catholic kings of Spain , on October 19, 1469. Emperor Franz Joseph and Katharina Schratt also entered into a marriage of conscience , as did several others affidavits is documented. The relevant documents in the archiepiscopal archive in Vienna were destroyed shortly before the annexation of Austria .
In the current canon law according to the ecclesiastical code of law ( Codex Iuris Canonici ) promulgated in 1983 , the term "conscience marriage" is no longer used, but it is still possible to have a secret, non-public marriage before the local bishop , which is not entered in the public church registers ( can. 1133 CIC ). It is recorded exclusively in the bishop's secret archive and all other records relating to the marriage must be destroyed.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Winfried Dolderer: Marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragón. In: Deutschlandradio , October 19, 2019, accessed on November 17, 2019.
- ^ Georg Markus : Katharina Schratt. The secret wife of the emperor. Amalthea, Vienna 1982 (later with the subtitle The second wife of the emperor . 4th edition. Amalthea, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-85002-417-2 ), pp. ??.
- ^ Karl-Theodor Geringer : Review of Schwendenwein, Hugo , Das neue Kirchenrecht. Overall presentation, Graz: Verlag Styria 1983. 638 pp. In: Archives for Catholic Church Law , vol. 152 (1983), pp. 285–298 (here: p. 287).
- ^ John P. Beal, James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green: New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law. Study edition, Paulist Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8091-4066-7 , p. 1355.
