immersed in a mindset and form of
culture that induce one to have
Sexuality
- Peschke, 1994:
o Men are physically stronger
than girls, competitive, and
task-oriented.
o Women are seen to mature
earlier than men, nurturing and
competitive, and do things out
of genuine love and concern
for people.
1. Human Sexuality
- Roger Hock:
o A complex area of study that
focuses on all aspects of
humans as sexual beings.
o Includes topics such as:
✓ Sexual anatomy and
behaviors
✓ Intimate relationships
HUMAN SEXUALITY finds CRISIS in
✓ Sexual identity and
appreciating its true meaning:
desires
✓ Sexual health and
wellbeing
✓ Perception and expression
of individual sexual selves
Bishop Robert Barron:
Your sexuality is meant to become
love… a vehicle of love… conformed
unto love.
- Pope Benedict XVI, in his letter
about the urgent task of educating
young people, placed emphasis on
the contemporary times being
doubts about the value of the human
person, about the very meaning of
truth and good, and ultimately about
the goodness of life.
- Humanity is in an educational crisis,
especially in the field of affectivity
and sexuality (MFCT, 1).
- This educational crisis is rooted in
the development and
implementation of a curricula that:
o Allegedly convey a neutral
conception of the person and
of life.
o Reflects an anthropology
opposed to faith and to right
reason (Benedict XVI, Address
to Members of the Diplomatic
Corps, Jan, 10 2011).
- As a result, these helped destabilize
the family as an institution,
presenting the difference of man and
woman as merely the product of
historical and cultural conditioning
(MFCT, 1).
a. Relativism
- Celebrates man as an absolute
arbiter between what is right and
what is wrong.
b. Nihilism
- Propagates the idea of a God who
has nothing to do with sexuality and
living as though He does not exist.
c. Naturalism
- Intellection that reduces man to a
simple element of nature whose
body is seen as a machine with
different parts that are functionally
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 united and devoid of personal
meaning.
In light of this educational crisis the
Church brings us back to the
following teachings:
- Sexuality plays an integral part in the
development of our personality and
in the process of its education
(MFCT, 4).
- Hence, affected sex education must
consider the totality of the person
and insist therefore on the
integration of the biological, psycho-
affective social and spiritual
elements (MFCT, 4).
Human Sexuality and the Mystery of
Love:
- The Catholic Church’s teaching on
Human Sexuality is anchored on the
truth that: God is love and (He is
love) in himself he lives a mystery of
personal loving communion.
- As a person, I long for the mystery of
communion with my fellow human
beings and the mystery of love.
- Sexuality is relevant as we respond
to our vocation of love and
communion.
The self is completed by the one who is
other than the self, according to the
specific identity of each person which is
derived from and sustained by the
Creator (MFCT).
- Sexuality affects all aspects of the
human person in the unity of his/her
body and soul. It especially concerns
affectivity, the capacity to love and to
procreate, and in a more general
way the aptitude for forming bonds
of communion with others (CCC,
2332).
2. Nuptial Meaning of the Body
- “The vocation of the human person
is realized in marriage and virginity
or celibacy.” (FC)
- “God’s plan for marriage involves the
total self-giving of man and woman
to each other.”
- Sexuality, by means of which man
and woman give themselves to one
another through the acts which are
proper and exclusive to spouses, is
not something simply biological, but
concerns the innermost being of the
human person as such.
Male and Female He created them:
- As the Catechism of the Catholic
Church succinctly puts it: “man and
woman, should acknowledge and
accept his/her sexual identity.”
Our creation as male and female and our
longing for communion is ‘the
fundamental fact’ of human existence.
- As each person grows, “such
diversity, linked to the
complementarity of the two sexes
allows a thorough response to the
design of God according to the
vocation to which each one is
called.” (MFCT, 4).
Dignity of Man, Man as Created by God
IMAGE LIKENESS
Immortal Soul Ability to Know, love and
forgive
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 Knowledge Ability to reason,
conscience
Freedom Ability to choose, decide,
act
Self- Ability to Elect and do
determination one’s willed action
Stewardship Ability to care for others
Betrothed Love
- Love is not just an aspiration, but
rather a coming together, a
unification of persons.
- Decisive character is the giving of
one’s own person (to another).
- Essence of betrothed love is self-
giving, the surrender of one’s “I”.
- When betrothed love enters into this
interpersonal relationship, something
more than friendship results: two
people give themselves each to the
other.
3. Education in Chastity
- “Only the chaste man and the chaste
woman are capable of true love.”
St. John Paul II
Chastity as a virtue
- Chastity is the virtue that calls us to
use our sexuality in a reasonable,
responsible, and faithful manner.
- Every person, whether married or
single, is called to live a chaste life.
Like any virtue, chastity must be
developed and practiced because
our sexual attractions and feelings
are so strong and intense, often
overpowering.
- Chastity is defined as the purity of
the mind and the heart.
The Virtue of Chastity
According to the Sacred Scriptures:
a. Old Testament
- Virtue of chastity is protected by two
commandments:
✓ 6th: “You shall not commit
adultery.”
✓ 9th: “You shall not covet your
neighbor’s good.”
b. New Testament:
- It was the through the 6th beatitude
(Blessed are the clean of heart for
they will see God) that Jesus affirms
and intensifies the 9th
commandment.
Skills that Foster Self-Discipline:
✓ Purity
✓ Abstinence
✓ Modesty
God made us sexual in order to bring us
together.:
- Sex is the energy that:
o Draws us together in love.
o Helps us become one heart
and soul with another.
- Not an end in itself and has a
purpose beyond itself.
Chastity is a deep respect and
admiration for the person and the gifts of
our sexuality and sex.
- As St. John Paul II puts it, chastity is
the readiness to affirm and love the
person in every situation. You know
what you are saying NO to by living
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 chastely, but what are you saying o An act of seeking to gain love
YES to? or affection with a view toward
o Chastity is saying yes to: marriage.”
▪ Authentic real love - Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo:
▪ You o A personal commitment of
▪ The person between two people.
▪ Your future spouse - Naturally Unfolds in Three Phases:
o Exploration
▪ A great future
▪ Courtship is not for
▪ God
strangers.
▪ To enter the exploration
phase of courtship is to
acknowledge that marriage
is a possibility but not a
Gary Chapman promise.
- Claims that most couples separate o Confirmation
because of lack of preparation for ▪ The couple face to face
marriage and the failure to learn the with the need to reveal
skills of working together as partners themselves and to be
in an intimate relationship. revealed. Yet at the same
• Dating, courtship, and engagement will time, another more
“prepare your marriage as though it were powerful force brings
the most important human relationship you pressure to bear.
will ever have.” o Pledging
• In Western culture, marriage is typically ▪ The time when a new
preceded by a period of dating. community is created deep
in the soul.
• In the Philippine context, dating, courtship,
- When the courtship has been
and engagement are also deemed
successful to the point where the
necessary passages of marriage between
man is ready to “pop the question,”
the couples.
and she says “yes” – then, it is the
Chapman characterizes two distinct stages time to become “engaged”.
of dating: - Intentional and purposeful process
carried out with marriage as the
Casual Dating Committed Dating ultimate goal.
Typically Much more serious - It must have some objective guides
nonexclusive. than casual dating
that will allow either party to stop the
and is normally
perceived as an process or at least slow it down.
exclusive - Courtship stage is where one
relationship. learns:
o First, if the person has enough
virtue as well as able to
Courtship practice moderation of one’s
- American Heritage Dictionary: sexual desires towards the
other.
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 o Second, if the person is able to relationship can add too much
do and make sacrifices for the pressure.
other by showing self-denial 4. Trust in God while dating
and self-control in one’s sexual - Dating is an opportunity from God to
urges. learn more about others through
o Lastly, if the person truly loves. entering into a dating relationship
- Catholic courtship, thus, is the with them.
period after spiritual, mental, and
Engagement
financial preparation has been
completed. Paul E. Cantrell suggests similar good
Dating reasons and value of an engagement
period:
- Scriptures do not offer specific
1. It is a time to begin serious planning
guidelines for dating and courtship,
of their lives together.
although courtship, and probably
- Such questions need to be asked as
dating to some extent, was practiced
to job or jobs for one or both in order
by the Jews in the first century.
to have sufficient to live on; where
- Jason E King in his booklet entitled
they will live; and possibly even talk
Dating: A Practical Catholic Guide:
about long-time future plans.
o There is no one specifically
- The question of whether to have
Catholic understanding of
children, when to have children, and
dating. Dating is not mentioned
how they will care for them.
in the Bible or in the Catechism
2. It is a final testing time before the
of the Catholic Church. Neither
couple is actually married.
the Church Fathers nor recent
- In order to really get to know the
popes have talked about
dating. person, they need to be in a relax
situation with friends and families so
Four Basic Points to keep in mind when all can get better acquainted and
dating: see how they fit in with each other’s
friends and family.
1. Know your intentions
3. It is a time to more seriously learn to
- Dating is a time to learn more about
get along with each other.
yourself through a relationship with
- You need to talk about a lot of
others.
things.
2. Stick to your boundaries
- You need to know how you still feel
- Communication is an important
about the other person when you
factor in any relationship but
disagree on some basic issues of
especially a dating one.
life.
3. Have fun
4. It is a time to see one another more
- Dating is fun if you enter into it with
as they really are.
the mentality of enjoying the present
- Usually in dating, there is an effort to
moment. When you start to date
“put our best foot forward” or the
someone, take the time to get to
best self.
know them. Rushing into a serious

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 - You need to see your potential
marriage partner “behind the
scenes” (down to earth – the real
person)
5. It is a time to get better acquainted
with family and friends.
6. It is important to realize that caution
is necessary so as not to cause
shame or regret.
7. It is also a time, if one or both realize
it is a mistake, it can be called off.
By adhering to the above principles of
the proximate preparation of marriage,
you can look forward to having a happy,
holy, and faithful marriage.
What should be the focus of couples in
their wedding preparations?
1. Definition of Marriage in the
Family Code of the Philippines
(Article 52).
- Special contract of permanent union
between a man and woman entered
into in accordance with the law for
the establishment of conjugal and
family life.
- Highlights (Art. 42 of the Old Civil
Code of the Philippines):
o A special contract
o A permanent union
o Between a man and woman
o Union entered in accordance
with the law.
o Purpose is the establishment
of conjugal and family life.
A. Essential Requisites of Marriage
1. Legal Capacity:
- Contracting parties must be:
o At least 18 years of age, male
and female,
▪ If the contracting parties
are between the ages of 18
and 21, they must present
written consent to the
marriage from their father,
mother, or legal guardian
(Art. 14)
▪ While any contracting party
between the age of 21 and
25 must present written
parental advice, i.e., a
written indication that the
parents are aware of the
couples intent to marry (Art.
15). Art.2 (FCP, 1987).
o Not under any impediment to
marry.
▪ Impediments are
mentioned in Art. 37
(incestuous marriage) and
Art. 38 (void marriages).
2. Consent freely given by the
contracting parties in the presence
of the solemnizing officer.
B. Formal Requisites of Marriage
1. Authority of the Solemnizing Officer
- The following are authorized to
solemnize marriage:
✓ Any incumbent member of the
judiciary within the court’s
jurisdiction;
✓ Any priest, rabbi, imam, or
minister of any church or
religious sect duly authorized by
his church or religious sect and
registered with the office of the
Civil Registrar General;
✓ Any ship captain or airline chief
only in cases of articulo mortis;
✓ Any military commander of a unit
in the absence of a chaplain
during military operation cases
involving in articulo mortis;
✓ Any consul-general, consul or
vice consul in marriages
6|1E2 Trambulo
 solemnized abroad; mayors of
cities and municipalities under
the new Local Government Code
Art. 3 (FCP, 1987).
2. A Valid Marriage License (Art. 9 of
the Family Code)
- A marriage license shall be issued
by the local civil registrar where
either contracting party resides.
- The application for the marriage
license shall be posted for ten (10)
consecutive days outside the office
of the civil registrar.
- A license shall be valid in any part of
the Philippines for a period of 120
days and shall be automatically
Article 4 of the Family Code of the
cancelled at the end of said period.
Philippines states that:
- No valid marriage license, no valid
marriage.
- Marriages exempted from
marriage license requirements:
o Marriages in articulo mortis
(Article 27);
o No means of transportation
(Article 28). Hence, if the
residence of either party is so
located that there is no means
of transportation to enable
such party to appear
personally before the local civil
registrar, the marriage may be
solemnized without necessity
of a marriage license.
o Marriages among Muslims or
among members of the ethnic
cultural communities, provided
they are solemnized in
accordance with their customs,
rites, or practices (Article 33).
o Couples living together for at
least five years and without
any legal impediment to marry
each other (Article 34).
3. Marriage Ceremony
- No particular form of the ceremony
is required, yet (1) the appearance
of the contracting parties before the
(2) solemnizing officer and (3) their
personal declaration that they take
each other as husband and wife (4)
in the presence of not less than two
witnesses of legal age is required.
- The marriage shall be solemnized
publicly in the chambers of the judge
or in open court, in the church,
chapel or temple or in the office of
the consul-general, consul or vice-
consul, as the case may be, and not
elsewhere.
• The absence of any of the essential
and formal requisite shall render the
marriage void ab initio (void from the
very start) as stated in Art. 35 (2).
• A defect in any of the essential
requisites shall render the marriage
voidable as provided in Art. 45.
• An irregularity in the formal
requisites shall not affect the validity
of the marriage but the party or
parties responsible for the
irregularity shall be civilly, criminally
and administratively liable.
1. Canonical Description of Marriage
- The Catholic Church believes that
marriage is:
o Characterized by unity
(monogamy) and indissolubility
(permanence).
o Between one man and woman,
who promise to be faithful to
each other.
o A partnership for the good of
the spouses, who are open to
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 procreation and education of previous bond, two specific persons
children. disparity of cult, (crime,
- The Catholic Church, in its canon sacred order and consanguinity,
vow) affinity, public
law and theology, describes propriety, and legal
marriage as a lifetime, exclusive relationship).
partnership between one man and Perpetual or Temporary
one woman, who give and receive By its nature, it can Ceases by the
mutual help and love and, from their never cease (e.g. passing of time or by
union, bring forth and rear children. consanguinity). dispensation (e.g.
Age, Holy Orders) or
2. Tripod of Marriage Validity: by the removal of the
a. Capacity basis of the
o Freedom from all matrimonial disqualifying law
diriment impediments. (death of the spouse)
o A defect in any of these
renders canonical marriage
12 Diriment Impediments:
null and void ab initio.
1. Age
Diriment Impediments
- 16 for man
- Renders a person incapable of - 14 for woman
validly contracting marriage. - In the Philippines, 18 years old both
- Divine positive disqualifying laws for man and woman.
(leges inhabilitantes); either natural 2. Impotence
or ecclesiastical - Inability to procreate, to execute the
conjugal act or to consummate the
Classifications of Diriment Impediments: marriage.
Public vs. Occult - Perpetual
Can be proven in Cannot be 3. Previous Bond
external forum demonstrated in the 4. Disparity of Cult
(deposition of the ecclesiastical court 5. Sacred Orders
witnesses, experts, unless divulged - Founded on the Obligation of
public and private although it may be
Ordained Ministers.
documents, etc.) legally or simply be
proven. 6. Public Perpetual Vow of Chastity
Divine or Ecclesiastical - This impediment ceases with the
Founded on God’s Established by the dispensation of the vow itself by the
law; established Church for her competent Church authority.
positively by God faithful; binds only the 7. Abduction
through the baptized Catholics or - Actual abduction or detention of the
Revelation (can those received to it
never be granted (may be granted woman with the intention of marrying
dispensation) dispensation by her.
competent 8. Crime
ecclesiastical - Actual killing and there should be a
authority) relationship between the killing and
Absolute or Relative marriage.
Involves all marriage Concerns only
(e.g. age, impotence, marriages between
9. Consanguinity
- Relationship by blood
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 - Descent from one person to another
- All degrees in the direct line of
consanguinity
- Up to fourth degree collateral line
(dispensation is possible for 3rd and
4th degree)
10. Affinity
- Juridical relationship arising from
marriage and existing between one
spouse and the blood relatives of the
other spouse.
- Prohibits marriage between one
surviving spouse and all the blood
relatives of the dead spouse in the
ascending or descending direct line
and in all degrees.
- Admits dispensation but rarely heard
of because of basic decency.
11. Public Propriety
9 Grounds of Defective Consent
- Arises when a couple live together
(in an invalid marriage) or
cohabitated in notorious
concubinage.
12. Legal Relationship
- Its causal origin is adoption.
- Persons may not validly enter into
marriage when they are related in
whatever degree in the direct line or
in the 2nd degree of the collateral line
(by adoption).
Schematic Overview of Diriment
Impediments
Impediments of Ecclesiastical
Dispensation reserved to the Holy See
✓ Sacred Order
✓ Public Perpetual Vow
✓ Crime
Impediments of Divine and Natural
Law cannot be Dispensed
✓ Impotence
✓ Previous Bond
✓ Consanguinity
Impediments of Ecclesiastical Law.
(Dispensation can be given by Local
Ordinary)
✓ Age
✓ Disparity of Cult
✓ Abduction
✓ Collateral Line of Consanguinity
✓ Affinity
✓ Public Propriety
✓ Adoption
b. Consent
o An act of the will by which a
man and a woman by an
irrevocable covenant mutually
give and receive one another
for the purpose of establishing
a marriage (Can. 1057).
1. Consensual Incapacity: Natural
Capacity to Elicit Consent
- Lack of use of reason
- Incapacity to assume the essential
obligations of marriage
2. Ignorance: lack of knowledge
- Marriage is a permanent consortium.
- Ordered to procreation and
upbringing of children.
- Through some form of sexual
cooperation.
- Ignorance is not presumed after
puberty.
3. Error: Involves false judgment
- Error of Person
- Error concerning personal quality of
a person, which is directly and
principally intended.
4. Fraud
- Coolly, calculated act of deception
done to induce the person into the
marriage.
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- Quality of the other party, which can
disturb gravely, by its nature, the
consortium of conjugal life.
5. Error
- Concerning the unity of marriage or
its indissolubility which determines
the will.
7 Canonical Forms:
6. Simulation or Exclusion
- Positive act of the will to exclude
marriage itself or an essential
element of marriage or an essential
property of it.
7. Condition
- If a condition concerning a future
event is attached to the consent, the
law gives no effect to the consent;
there is no marriage.
- For lawfulness, a written permission
of the local ordinary must be sought
for the celebration of a conditioned
marriage.
8. Force/Fear
- Force is pressure from a greater
thing that cannot be resisted
(Corpus iuris civilis, Digesta 4.2.2).
- Fear is trepidation of mind, caused
by an immediate or future danger
(Corpus iuris civilis, Digesta 4.2.1).
- Marriage is invalid if entered into
through force or grave fear from
without so that the victim, in order to
free himself, is forced to choose
marriage (Codex iuris canonici c.
1103; Codex canonum ecclesiarium
otientalium c. 825).
9. Proxy Marriage
- Valid only when proxy is appointed
by the party concerned. There is a
special mandate signed by the party
and the Local Ordinary or by two
witnesses and executed through an
authentic document according to
Civil Law.
c. Canonical Form
- Constitutive procedure for the
celebration of marriage as stipulated
by Church Law.
- A defect in any of these renders
canonical marriage null and void ab
initio.
1. Minister
- Couple who must be present in
person or by proxy in very
exceptional cases.
- They should externally and explicitly
signify and exchange their mutual
consent or through words or signs
themselves or through an
interpreter.
2. Ordained Official Witness:
- Bishop, priest or deacon who assist
the marriage.
3. Lay Official Church Witness:
- Wherever there is lack of priests and
deacons, the diocesan bishop can
delegate lay persons to assist at
marriages with the previous
favorable vote of the episcopal
conference and after having
ordained the permission of the Holy
See.
- Requirement for a lay person to
assist at marriage:
o Competent to give instructions
to those to be married.
o And able to perform the
matrimonial liturgy correctly.
4. Two Common Witnesses
- Minimum requirements are sufficient
use of reason and knowledge of the
nature of marriage.
5. Extraordinary Form
- Marriage without qualified witness
possible in two instances:
o Danger of death;
10 | 1 E 2 T r a m b u l o
 o Apart from danger of death
provided that it is prudently
foreseen that the same
conditions will continue to
prevail for a month.
6. Binding Force
- Binds couple, at least one of whom
is baptized in the Catholic Church.
7. Dispensation from Canonical Form
- May be obtained for mixed marriage
and disparity of cult on the following
conditions:
o Local Ordinary of the intended
place of marriage was
consulted.
o Norms of Episcopal
Conference on the requisites
and manner of granting a
dispensation has been
complied with.
o Marriage should still be public.

11 | 1 E 2 T r a m b u l o