DISCOURSE TO THE ROMAN ROTA: THE NATURE OF MARRIAGE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 1, 2001 (VIS) - Following annual tradition, on the occasion of the inauguration of the judicial year, the Pope this morning received the dean, prelate auditors, officials, and lawyers of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, who had participated in a Eucharistic celebration in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace before their meeting with the Holy Father.

In his discourse, John Paul II made reference to "the numerous ambiguities which have accumulated regarding the very notion of the 'nature'" of marriage. "Above all its metaphysical concept has been forgotten. ... In this view, the nature would be pure physical, biological and sociological data, to be manipulated through techniques according to one's own interests."

The Holy Father observed that "marriage is not simply any union between human persons, able to be formed according to a variety of cultural models. ... Looking at the historic and current reality of the family, not infrequently there is a tendency to emphasize the differences, in order to relativize the very existence of a natural design for union between man and woman."

The Pope affirmed that "reference to the natural dimension of their masculinity and femininity is crucial for understanding the essence of marriage. ... An ordering to the natural ends of marriage - the good of the married couple and the procreation and education of children - is intrinsically present in masculinity and femininity. This theological character is vital for understanding the natural dimension of the union."

Speaking then of matrimonial consent, the Holy Father emphasized that to represent consent as "adhesion to a cultural scheme or positive law is not realistic, and risks uselessly complicating the assurance of the validity of the marriage. It is necessary to see if the persons, besides recognizing the person of the other, have truly grasped the essential dimension of their conjugality, which by intrinsic necessity involves faithfulness, indissolubility, and potential motherhood and fatherhood, as goods which complete a relationship of justice."

The Holy Father then paused to consider "the relationship between the natural character of marriage and its sacramentality." He recalled that "there have frequently been attempts to revitalize the supernatural aspect of marriage," proposing, among other things, "asking for the faith as a requisite to getting married."

When marriage is reduced "to a merely subjective experience," its sacramentality is implicitly negated. Still, establishing criteria for the celebration of the sacrament which take into account the degree of faith of the subjects contracting marriage involves "serious risks." In this regard the Holy Father affirmed that pronouncing "baseless and discriminatory judgements, doubts about the validity of marriages already celebrated, particularly by baptized non-Catholics, would inevitably cause a wish to separate Christian marriages from those of other persons."

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