by Fr. Mark Steffl, STL, JCL
The Code of Canon Law, canon 1055 gives a theological and legal definition of Marriage that the Catholic Church makes its own:
Can. 1055 §1. The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring, has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized.
This canon is substantially a quote from a Second Vatican Council document, Gaudium et spes (GS), which describes how marriage is “ordered by its nature” to two specific purposes: 1.) “The good of spouses” and 2.) “The procreation and education of offspring.”
With the phrase “ordered by its nature,” the Church is acknowledging what is called “Natural Law” – the way that the Lord created human beings and the way that nature is “ordered” to work in the “plan” of God’s creation that we can discern through reason.
The first purpose of the “good of spouses” is described more fully in GS 49: to live a life that “embraces the good of the entire person and is therefore capable of endowing human expressions with a particular dignity and of ennobling them as special features and manifestations of married friendship.” In simpler words, it is about the spouses promising to care for and love each other, providing for the needs of the other in a committed and exclusive way, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, morally, socially, physically, in all things relating to the life that they share in common, made as a firm commitment and not just about “making each other happy” as contemporary society tends to view marriage today.
The second purpose – the “procreation and education of offspring” – is an openness to children that naturally comes from the relationship of love that a husband and wife share with each other. This openness means that a couple would not actively exclude the possibility of conceiving a child but also includes not only an openness to children but a willingness to commit to educating those children that are a result of that marriage, a responsibility that goes beyond basic education to also include a spiritual education of raising those children in the faith, seeing that they receive catechesis, learn how to pray and receive the sacraments at the appropriate times.
This “openness” to children, of course, does not mean that every married couple can conceive a child. There can be medical reasons which preclude the conception of a child on the part of one or the other of the spouses. Couples, especially those who marry later in life, might, for biological reasons, not be able to have children, and it is important to say that although a couple may not have children, that does not make their union any less a marriage.
The topic of “openness to children” is brought up multiple times for discussion with couples preparing for marriage so that they understand what they are declaring on their wedding day before the exchange of their vows when they are each asked the question in the marriage liturgy: Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?
The bridegroom and bride each say: “I am.”
On a pastoral note, in my experience as a priest, the more significant challenge than openness to children is the many times that I have met with married couples who are very burdened by the grief that they have not been able to conceive a child.
Sometimes, there are biological reasons that can be remedied by finding the right physician who is an expert in the area of fertility. Unfortunately, many in the medical field will immediately jump to recommending in vitro fertilization (IVF) when it might be something that can be identified and remedied to allow for a married couple to naturally conceive a child.