Catholic Marriage, also called matrimony, is a "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. [It] has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptised."In theRoman Rite, it is ordinarily celebrated in a Nuptial Mass.
The nature of the covenant requires that the two participants be one man and one woman, that they be free to marry, that they willingly and knowingly enter into a valid marriage contract, and that they validly execute the performance of the contract.
On the exact definition of each of these steps hinge all the arguments and technical points involved in annulments, and annulment disputes Catholic Canon law regulates the celebration of marriage in canons 1055–1065.
The history of marriage in the Catholic Church has been a continuation of the Judaic
concept of marriage. Although at the time of Christ marriage was considered a
necessary passage into adulthood, the Church introduced the notion into the ancient
world that the celibate unmarried state was preferable and more holy. As a result of
directly challenging the social norms regarding marriage and the buying and selling of
women into marriage, and particularly in defending the right of women to choose to
remain unmarried virgins for the sake of Christ, there were many virgin martyrs in the
first few centuries of the Catholic Church. The stories associated with these virgin
martyrs often make it clear that they were martyred for their refusal to marry, not
necessarily simply their belief in Jesus Christ.
Freedom to Marry
The participants in a marriage contract must be free to marry, and to marry each other. That is, they must be an unmarried man and woman, with no impediments as set out by Canon law.