THEOLOGY REVIEWER
UNIT 3
Unit III
Lesson A: Remote Preparation for Marriage
1. Human Sexuality
2. Nuptial Meaning of the Body
3. The Person and Love
4. Education in Chastity
Roger Hook, in his phenomenal book Human
Sexuality, perceives human sexuality as
“a complex area of study that focuses on all
aspects of humans as sexual beings.”
Janet Shibley Hyde and John D. Delamater, in
their book Understanding Human Sexuality provides
theoretical explanations for sexual phenomena.
1. From the Evolutionary Perspective,
sociobiologists view human sexual behaviors as
the product of natural selection in evolution and
thus view these behavioral patterns as being
genetically controlled.
2. Contemporary evolutionary theorists view
behavior as an interaction between evolved
mechanisms and environmental influence.
3. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory views sex
energy, or libido, as a major influence
on personality and behavior.
4. Learning theory emphasizes how sexual
behavior is learned and modified through
reinforcements and punishments according to
principles of operant conditioning.
5. Social learning theory adds the concepts of
imitation, identification, and self-
efficacy to learning theory.
6. Exchange theory highlights the role of rewards
and costs in relationships.
7. Cognitive psychologists focus on people’s
thoughts and perceptions - whether positive or
negative - and how these influence sexuality
8. The critical theory focuses our attention on the
social construction of categories, the ways they are
applied to people, and the consequences for
individuals and society
9. Feminist theory systematically analyzes the
meaning of gender in contemporary society.
10. The Queer theory challenges the gender
binary and the sexual orientation binary, arguing
that gender expression and sexual orientation are
both dimensions along which individuals vary.
11. Sociologists study how society influences our
sexual expression. .
Your sexuality is meant to become love…a vehicle
of love…conformed unto love.
- Bishop Robert Barron
Human Sexuality
● 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:
● Allegedly convey a neutral
conception of the person and life.
● Reflect anthropology opposed to
faith and to the right reason.”
Benedict XVI, Address to Members of
the Diplomatic Corps, January 10,
2011
According to The Meeting Point: Project for
Affective and Sexual Formation by Archbishop
Paglia, the following are different forms of culture
shaping the minds of the youth today and posing a
difficult challenge in finding the truth and meaning
of Sexuality.
• Relativism
○
• Nihilism
○
• Naturalism
○
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
❑ That 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
Hence, Affected sex education must consider the
totality of the person and insist therefore on the
integration of the biological, pycho-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.
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
❑ 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 Nuptial
Meaning of the Body
3. “The vocation of the human person is
realized in marriage and virginity or
celibacy.” FC
4. “God‘s plan for marriage involves total
self-giving of man and woman to each
other.”
5. 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.
6. It is realized in a truly human way only if it is
an integral part of the love by which a man
and woman commit themselves totally to
one another until death.
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.
Physical, moral, and spiritual differences
and complementarity are oriented toward the
goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life.
“It is an illusion to think we can build a true culture
of human life if we do not . . . accept and
experience sexuality and love and the whole of life
according to their true meaning and their close
interconnection.”
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
The acts in marriage by which the intimate and
chaste union of the spouses takes place are noble
and honorable; the truly human performance of
these acts fosters the self-giving they signify and
enriches the spouses in joy and gratitude.
Our physical bodies were made precisely to show
us this and be the means by which we accomplish
it.
1. The human body includes right from the
beginning...the capacity of expressing love, that
love in which the person becomes a gift – and by
means of this gift – fulfills the meaning of his being
and existence.
2. Understanding the fundamental meanings
contained in the mystery of creation, such as the
nuptial meaning of the body...is important. It is
indispensable in order to know who man is and who
he should be, and therefore how he should mold his
own activity.
3. The body, and it alone, is capable of making
visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It
was created to transfer into the visible reality of the
world the mystery hidden since time immemorial in
God [God‘s love for man], and thus to be a sign of
it.
4. That original nakedness, mutual and at the same
time not weighed down by shame, expresses this
interior freedom of man.... At the root of their
nakedness is the interior freedom of the gift - the
disinterested gift of oneself.
5. The freedom of the gift is the response to the
deep awareness of the gift... Through this truth and
freedom that love is built up, which we must affirm is
authentic love.
6. The marriage act... ‘at the same time unites
husband and wife in the closest intimacy’ and
together makes them capable of generating new
life. ‘Both the one and the other happen through
the fundamental structure.’
7. Christ manifests the love with which he has loved
her [the Church] by giving himself for her. That love
is an image and above all a model of the love
which the husband should show to his wife in
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
marriage, when the two are subject to each other
out of reverence for Christ.
3. The Person and Love (Love and
Responsibility)
The person is a good towards which the only proper
and adequate attitude is love. The value of the
person is always greater than the value of pleasure.
JP II, L&R
Metaphysical Analysis of Love
1. Love as an Attraction
Feelings arise spontaneously the attraction which
one person feels towards another often begins
suddenly and unexpectedly but this reaction is in
effect blind.
2. Love as a Desire
Desire too belongs to the very essence of the love
which springs up between man and woman. This
results from the fact that the human person is a
limited being, not self sufficient and therefore
putting it in the most objective way needs other
beings. The subject in love is conscious of [desire‘s]
presence, knows that it is there at his or her disposal
so to speak, but working to perfect this love, will see
to it that desire does not dominate, does not
overwhelm all else that love comprises.
3. Love as a Goodwill
○ Love is the fullest realization of the
possibilities inherent in man. A
genuine love is one in which the true
essence of love is realized a love
which is directed to a genuine (not
merely an apparent) good.
The Problem of Reciprocity
○ Love is not just something in the man
and something in the woman for in
that case there would properly
speaking be two loves but is
something common to them.
○ Love is by its very nature not
unilateral but bilateral, something
between two persons, something
shared.
❑ From Sympathy to Friendship
○ Sympathy is a manifestation of
experience rather than of activity:
people succumb to it in ways which
they sometimes find
incomprehensible themselves, and
the will is captured by the pull of
emotions and sensations which bring
two people closer together
regardless of whether one of them
has consciously chosen the other.
○ Friendship brings out the element of
benevolentia or goodwill (I want
what is good for you), and also the
characteristic doubling of the
subject, the doubling of the “I”: my
“I” and your “I” form a moral unity,
for the will is equally well inclined to
both of them
6. Betrothed Love
❑ Love is not just an aspiration, but
rather a coming together, a
unification of persons. Betrothed
love’s decisive character is the
giving of one‘s own person (to
another).
❑ The 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.
4. Education in Chastity
Chastity as a virtue
Chastity is the virtue that calls us to use our sexuality
in a reasonable, responsible, and faithful manner.
Chastity in all status of life
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. Chastity is a deep
respect and admiration for the person AND for 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 chastely, but what are you
saying YES to?
UNIT 3: LESSON B
PROXIMATE PREPARATION FOR MARRIAGE
1. DATING
2. COURTSHIP
3. ENGAGEMENT
1. DATING IN GENERAL
❑ Western culture.Marriage is typically preceded
by a period of dating. Dating is, in its broadest
sense, getting to know someone and letting them
get to know you so that you can decide whether
you are interested in spending more time together.
Philippine context Dating, courtship, and
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
engagement are passages of marriage between
couples to see and exercise due diligence for the
proper and acceptable progression of love before
transcending it into a lifetime relationship.
Two Kinds of Dating:
Chapman
Casual dating.
Typically nonexclusive, that is, one or both of
the individuals may also have dating relationships
with other people.
Committed dating. Much more serious than casual
dating and is usually perceived as an
exclusive relationship.
2. COURTSHIP
❑ An act of seeking to gain love or affection with a
view toward marriage. American Heritage
Dictionary
❑ A personal and mutual commitment of two
people willing to investigate the possibility of
marriage, which presupposes the possibility of an
actual mature love relationship that will lead to
engagement.” Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo
Three Phases of
Courtship :
❑ Exploration
❑ Confirmation
❑ Pledging
❑ Exploration
❖ Courtship is not for strangers.
❖ Only after the couple develops a friendship
should courtship be considered.
❖ To enter the exploration phase of courtship is to
acknowledge that marriage is a possibility but not a
promise.
❖ The basic purpose of this phase is to allow the
couple to explore and discover their own emotions
beyond simple friendship.
❑ Confirmation
❖ The couple gets to know each another more
deeply.
❖ The couple learns lessons of give and take,
overcoming frustrations, and handling jealousies,
insecurities, misunderstandings, tenderness, and the
exaltation of the other.
❑Pledging
❖The time when a new community is created deep
in the soul.
❖During this phase of emotional maturation, the
image of marriage is exchanged for reality.
❖ There is absolute solidarity in thinking and feelings
toward each other.
• At the end of a successful courtship is
engagement.
• An engagement
ring is
appropriate,
along with a
public
announcement
of the intentions
of the couple to
be married in
the future.
1. DATING
❑ “There is no one specifically Catholic
understanding of dating. Dating is not
mentioned in the Bible or in the Catechism of
the Catholic Church. Neither the Church
Fathers nor recent popes have talked about
dating.” Jason E. King in his booklet entitled Dating:
A Practical Catholic Guide
Four Basic Points to Keep in Mind When Dating:
❑ Know Your Intentions
Dating is a time to learn more about yourself
through a relationship with others. It is a time to see
what qualities you need and like in others. When
not limiting yourself to a certain type you will
discover new and valuable aspects of each
person.
Communication is an important factor in any
relationship but especially a dating one. One
must be honest about one’s own intentions. All
relationships need boundaries. A boundary for a
practicing Catholic is chastity, refraining from sexual
activity before marriage. Doing this helps build
intimacy within the relationship without having sex.
Stick to Your Boundaries
Have Fun
❑ Dating is fun if you enter into it with the mentality
of enjoying the present moment. When you start to
date someone, take the time to get to know them.
Rushing into a serious relationship can add too
much pressure. Just enjoy the time you have with
that person in the present moment; tomorrow will
take care of itself. Some fun date ideas include
museums, art galleries, bowling, “malling”, movies,
dinner, and parks.
Trust in God while dating. In dating, we ask God to
lead us to the person who will become our spouse.
We ask God that in dating someone, we will have
the opportunity to know each other more deeply.
And that in the process, we will be able to develop
a friendship that will last.
2. COURTSHIP
Courtship is an intentional and purposeful process
with marriage as the
ultimate goal. It assumes and requires
age-readiness for marriage, while dating does not.
Courtship presupposes the possibility of an actual
mature love relationship that will lead to
engagement hence a personal and mutual
commitment of two people willing to investigate
the possibility of marriage.
Courtship is not a guarantee of engagement or
marriage but a controlled step toward it; it must
have some objective guides that will allow either
party to stop the process or slow it down.
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
Courtship stage is where one learns to:
First, imbibe the virtues that are necessary for
sustaining a healthy and life-long relationship;
Second, make sacrifices for the other by practicing
self- denial and mastery over one's
sexual urges.
Third, give the other the best chance in life, provide
for their future children's upbringing, and lead each
other to heaven.
The following are helpful guidelines in the periods of
courting:
1. Courting does not take place until after friendship
compatibility is established.
2. Courting takes place after both families meet
each individual.
3. Before the first time the two are alone together,
the young man must ask the girl's father for
permission to take her out.
4. The parents should know the couple’s itinerary for
the evening.
5. The courting couple must work on their
relationship with God more than with others.
6. A couple can never be in either's home alone.
7. The young man must continually inform the girl's
parents of each new level of emotional growth
experienced by the couple in the courtship.
8. There should be no extended time alone in a
private place.
9. Purity in the relationship must be protected at all
times.
10. Respect should be shown to the calendar of
activities of both families with regard to nights out.
Courting cannot take away from other activities –
family night, school, ministry, and church.
Catholic courtship, is the period after the
completion of spiritual, mental, and financial
preparations. You have to have it right with God,
have it right with yourself, and have it right with your
finances, especially the man, before you begin
considering courtship and
marriage if you want a life-long, healthy, happy,
and fulfilling marriage.
3. ENGAGEMENT
Good Reasons and Value of an Engagement
Period (Paul E. Cantrell):
❖It is a time for the couples to begin the serious
planning of their lives together.
❑Important questions need to be settled at this
time, such as: how will they be able to provide for
the economic needs of the family, where will they
live, and how will they care for their children.
❑ To get to know the person, the couples need to
be in a relaxed situation with friends and families so
all can get better acquainted and see how they fit
in with each other's friends and family.
❑ Remember, you are not only married to the
person, but her friends and family go along with her
too in most instances.
❖ It is a final testing time before the couple gets
married.
❖ It is a time to learn to get along with
each other more seriously.
❑It would help if you talked about a lot of things.
You need to know how you still feel about the other
person when you disagree on some fundamental
life issues.
❑It probably would help if you got in an argument
to see how you would deal with strong
disagreement.
❖ It is a time to see one another as they are.
❑ In dating, there is an effort to show your best self.
It will help if you get to know your spouse for who
he/she is.
❑ Many had married too quickly before they knew
the person and found out too late that they had
married the wrong person.
❑ Try to plan situations wherein, as couples, you will
evaluate whether you want to live with each other
for the rest of your lives, which can be a critical
issue for the girl because she is to be in a submissive
role in the home.
❑ It is great to be with that person you feel that you
love dearly, but you also need to be around their
friends and family.
❑ Make plans where this will happen often.
Evaluate each other's friends and family.
❖ It is a time to get better acquainted with family
and friends.
❑ During this time, conduct yourselves well,
and do not take chances of being alone too
much or too often, allowing strong temptations.
❑ A mistake in judgment may happen, but it
will require more significant effort to regain the trust
– not only from your future spouse but from friends
and family also.
❖ Caution is necessary so that neither shame nor
regret is caused.
The marriage can be called-off if one or both
realize it is a mistake.
The engagement period is a testing period. You are
not yet married.
❑ You should not act and conduct your
associations as though you are married! If after
sufficient time elapses, one or both feel it is a
mistake – there is no shame in calling off the
wedding plans!
Theology 2
Unit 3: Lesson C
Immediate Preparation for Marriage
1. Canonical Description of Marriage
2. Tripod of Marriage
Definition of Marriage in the Family Code of the
Philippines (Article 52).
❑A special contract of permanent union between
a man and a woman entered into in accordance
with the law for the establishment of conjugal and
family life.
❑It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
social institution whose nature, consequences, and
incidents are governed by law and not subject to
stipulations, (except that marriage settlements may
fix the property relations during the marriage within
the limits provided by this Code).
The definition of marriage in Art. 52 of the Old Civil
Code of the Philippines by stating that:
● marriage is a special contract,
● it is a permanent union,
● the union is between a man and a woman,
● the union must be entered into in
accordance with the law, and
● The purpose of marriage is the establishment
of conjugal and family life.
As to marriage purposes, maybe marriage
necessarily procreation not for or for the partners to
have children. Marriage may also be only for
companionship, as when the parties pass the age
of procreation can still get married. Hence, the
word, for the establishment of conjugal and family
life was used to state the purpose of marriage.
a. ESSENTIAL REQUISITES OF MARRIAGE
1) Legal Capacity Contracting parties must be:
❖ 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 couple's
intent to marry (Art. 15). Art. 2 (FCP, 1987).
❖ 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
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 an
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 case
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
marriages 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 cancelled at the end of said period.
❑ No valid marriage license, no valid marriage.
Marriages exempted from marriage license
requirement:
❑ Marriages in articulo mortis (Article 27);
❑ 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.
❑ 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).
❑ 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
2. the 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.
Article 4 of the Family Code of the Philippines states
that:
❑The absence of any essential and formal
requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio
(void from the start) except 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
Marriage is an intimate community of life and love,
established by the Creator and endowed by Him
with its own proper laws. God, Himself is the author
of marriage. The Catholic Church believes that
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
marriage is:
❑ Characterized by unity (monogamy) and
indissolubility (permanence).
❑ Between one man and one woman, who
promise to be faithful to each other.
❑ A partnership for the good of the spouses, who
are open to the procreation and education of
children.
❑ A partnership of life and love in which a man and
a woman mutually and freely accept each other
and bestow on each other the very gift of
themselves.
In its canon law and theology, the Catholic Church
describes marriage as a lifetime, exclusive
partnership between one man and one woman
who give and receive mutual help and love and,
from their union, bring forth and rear children.
1. Marriages are always presumed valid until proven
otherwise.
2. A marriage involving two baptized Christians is
presumed valid and sacramental.
3. If one or both parties are unbaptized, the
marriage still is presumed to be valid and a good
and natural bond.
2. TRIPOD OF MARRIAGE VALIDITY :
a. Capacity
b. Consent
c. Canonical Form
a. CAPACITY
● Freedom from all matrimonial diriment
impediments.
● A defect in any of these renders canonical
marriage null and void ab initio.
Diriment Impediments
● Render a person incapable of validly
contracting marriage
● Divine positive disqualifying laws (leges
habilitantes); either natural or ecclesiastical
What is Diriment Impediment?
Can. 1073: “A diriment impediment renders a
person incapable of validly contracting a
marriage.”anything which hinders the free action of
an agent, which, in this case, is the act of
contracting marriage
DIRIMENS
“opposed to the validity of the matrimonial
contract.”
- (1) gravely prohibit marriage, (2) oppose a valid
celebration of marriage.
- affect the juridical capacity of a person to
contract a valid marriage.
Purpose:
To guarantee the good of the entire
community (protect the stability of marriage and
family)
To avoid that damage be inflicted either
personally or directly to a partner. Whole system of
impediments is intimately related to a system of
values
Juridical Relevance:
A marriage celebrated by an ineligible person
renders the celebration unlawful and the marriage
contract invalid ipsoiure.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS
PUBLIC vs OCCULT
Public: can be proven in the external forum
(deposition of the witnesses, experts, public and
private documents, etc.)
Occult: cannot be demonstrated in the
ecclesiastical court unless divulged although it may
be legally or simply be proven.
OF DIVINE OR ECCLESIASTICAL
LAW
Divine: founded on God’s law; established positively
by God through the Revelation (can
never be granted dispensation)
Ecclesiastical: Established by the Church for her
faithful; binds only the baptized Catholics
or those received to it (may be granted
dispensation by competent ecclesiastical authority)
PERPETUAL OR TEMPORARY
Absolute: Involves all marriages (e.g. age,
impotence, previous bond, disparity of cult,
sacred order and vow)
ABSOLUTE or RELATIVE
Relative: Concerns only marriages between two
specific persons (crime, consanguinity,
affinity, public propriety, and legal relationship)
Perpetual: By its nature, it can never cease (e.g.
consanguinity)
Temporary: Ceases by the passing of time or by
dispensation: (e.g. Age, Holy Order) or by
the removal of the basis of the disqualifying law
(death of the spouse)
Age
▪ 16 for man, 14 for woman, In the Philippines, 18 y/o
both for man and
woman.
2. Impotence
▪ inability to procreate, to execute the conjugal act
or to consummate the
marriage. Antecedent & Perpetual
3. Previous Bond
▪ A person cannot validly contract a new marriage
while a previous bond still exists. The impediment
may cease for the following reasons: 1) death of
the other spouse; 2) pontifical dispensation (ad
normam can. 1142, or when the privelegium fidei is
invoked ex cann. 1143-1149; 3) Declaration of the
nullity of marriage ad normam cann. 1671-1691.
4. Disparity of Cult
▪ A marriage is invalid when one of the two persons
was baptized in the Catholic Church or received
into it while the other was not baptized. - The
impediment is of ecclesiastical law and so can be
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
dispensed. However, certain conditions should be
fulfilled:
1) On the Part of the Catholic: a.
Declaration of avoiding any danger of defection
from the faith, b. Promissio
of baptizing and educating the children in the
Catholic Faith;
2) On the part of the non-baptized: He/she must be
informed about the promise and the
obligation of the Catholic Partner;
3) Both must be instructed on the ends and
essential properties of marriage that no one of
them must exclude.
CASE NARRATIVE (AGE)
• Ji-ho, a 15-year-old Filipino Catholic, has been
dating Ji-ha, a 13-year-old Filipino Catholic. They
had been dating for two months and were already
having premarital sex. Four months after, Ji-ha
missed her period and, with a pregnancy test kit,
found out she was pregnant. She told her parents
about it. They told Ji-ho and Ji-ha to marry to ensure
the child would have a father.
• Can they validly marry in the Catholic Church?
NO.
• How about in the Philippine law?
• No. under Art. 35 no. 1:
• Art. 35. The following marriages shall be void from
the beginning: (1) Those
contracted by any party below eighteen years of
age even with the consent of
parents or guardians;
CASE NARRATIVE (IMPOTENCE)
• Jessie was born with a rare condition. His sexual
organ was not fully developed, and despite several
surgeries, his organ could still not function. Rachel
knew about Jessie’s condition but loved him so
much that she agreed to marry him.
• Can they validly marry?
• In the Catholic Church?
NO
• In Philippine Civil law?
NO. under Article 45 (5) of the Family Code of the
Philippines, which provides that a marriage may be
annulled if, at the time of the marriage, either party
was physically incapable of consummating the
marriage with the other, and such incapacity
continues and appears to be incurable. The injured
party must file the action for annulment of marriage
based on this ground within five (5) years after
celebrating the marriage
(Article 47, Ibid.).
CASE NARRATIVE (PREVIOUS BOND)
• Glen married Jona in 2000. After six months of
marriage, they separated ways and were able to
obtain a civil affirmative decision on
the nullity of their marriage. In 2001, he met Melody.
Quite certain that she would be a good wife, he
proposed marriage to her.
• Can Glen validly marry Jona in the Catholic
Church?
• NO
• HOW ABOUT IN THE PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW?
• ALSO, NO. under FCP Art. 41, which provides that
A marriage contracted by any person during
subsistence of a previous marriage shall be null and
void...
CASE NARRATIVE (DISPARITY OF CULT)
• Adam, a devout Catholic, works in Saudi Arabia.
There, he met Eve, a Muslim. After a two-year
relationship as girlfriend and boyfriend, they
decided to marry. Adam wants their marriage to be
celebrated in the Catholic Church.
• Can they validly marry in the Catholic Church?
• NO, UNLESS THEY WILL GET THE DISPENSATION OF
THE LOCAL ORDINARY
FIRST.
• HOW ABOUT IN THE PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW?
• Yes, there is no law prohibiting them from
marrying civilly.
• It is a haram or forbidden for a Muslim woman to
be married to a non- Muslim man(2:221, The Holy
Qur'an, Article 13, PD 1083). Shari'a jurisprudence
explains that one of the reasons is that because the
man is
the head and maintainer of the family. He also
takes absolute responsibility for his wife's protection.
Sacred Orders ▪ founded on the obligation
of celibacy of ordained ministers.
6. Public Perpetual Vows of Chastity
▪ This impediment ceases with the dispensation of
the vow itself by the competent Church authority
7. Abduction
▪ Actual abduction or detention of the woman with
the intention of marrying her.
8. Crime
▪ Actual killing and there should be a relationship
between the killing and marriage.
CASE NARRATIVE (SACRED ORDERS)
• After ten years as an ordained priest, John
bumped into Jane, his former girlfriend. After going
out with her several times, he fell in love with her
again. He wanted to marry her but also loves his
ministry as a priest and could not bear the thought
of leaving it.
• Can he marry secretly and continue to be a
priest?
• In the Catholic Church?
• NO.
• In the Philippine Civil Law?
• Yes, there is no law in the Philippines prohibiting
them from marrying civilly.
CASE NARRATIVE (Public Perpetual Vows of
Chastity)
• Sr. Ji-Hyun made her a perpetual profession in
2010. In 2013, she met Jun, who approached her for
some advice. Their meetings became frequent,
and their relationship developed. Jun confessed his
feelings to her. She also admitted that she has
learned to love him. In 2014, she asked the Holy See
for permission to live outside the convent for a year.
There, she continued meeting Jun. After six months,
she finally decided to marry him.
• Can she validly marry Jun in the Catholic Church?
• NO, unless Sr. Ji-Hyun gets a dispensation from the
Holy See.
• How about in the Philippine Civil Law?
• Yes, no law in the Philippines prohibits them from
marrying civilly.
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
CASE NARRATIVE (ABDUCTION)
• Park Hun, Ye-jin's longtime secret admirer,
kidnapped her with the intention of marrying her.
He threatened to kill her if she refused to marry him.
Ye-jin’s fearfully agreed to marry him. Park Hun
made her promise to convince the priest that she
was marrying him voluntarily. He had been assured
of her promise, so he arranged their marriage in the
nearby Catholic parish.
• Can they validly marry?
• IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
• NO.
•HOW ABOUT IN THE PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW?
• NO, UNDER ART. 45 NO. 4 OF FCP.
• Art. 45. A marriage may be annulled for any of
the following causes existing at the time of the
marriage:(4) That the consent of either party was
obtained by force, intimidation, or undue influence,
unless the same having disappeared or ceased,
such party after that freely cohabited with the other
as husband and wife;
CASE NARRATIVE (CRIME)
• Ji-won, a married man, is in an illicit affair with Lee,
who is also married. They poisoned their respective
spouses so that they could
marry each other.
• Can Ji-won and Lee marry validly in the Catholic
Church?
• NO.
• HOW ABOUT IN THE PHILIPPINE CIIVL LAW?
• NO, UNDER ART. 38 NO. 9 OF FCP.
• Art. 38. The following marriages shall be void from
the beginning for reasons of public policy: (9)
Between parties where one, with the intention to
marry the other, killed that other person’s spouse or
his or her own spouse.
9. Consanguinity
▪ Relationship by blood. 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
▪ A 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 all
degrees.
▪ Admits dispensation but rarely heard of because
of basic decency.
11. Public Propriety
▪ Arises when a couple live together (in an invalid
marriage) or cohabitated in notorious concubinage
12. Legal Relationship
▪Its causal origin is the adoption
▪Persons may not validly enter into marriage when
they are related in whatever degree in the direct
line
CASE NARRATIVE (CONSANGUINITY)
• Ji-chang's parents gave him up for adoption to a
wealthy family, who brought him to the United
States. He did not know his biological parents and
siblings. Ji-chang returned to the Philippines after
twenty years. He met Suzy, who was his biological
sister. They fell in love and decided to marry after
three years.
• Can they validly marry?
• IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
• NO.
• HOW ABOUT IN THE PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW?
• NO, UNDER ART. 37 NO. 2 OF FCP.
• Art. 37. Marriages between the following are
incestuous and void from the beginning, whether
the relationship between the parties is legitimate or
illegitimate:
2) Between brothers and sisters, whether of the
whole or half blood.
CASE NARRATIVE (AFFINITY)
• Wang-chu, a 40-year-old widower, fell in love with
So-yun, her former wife's 25 year-old biological
sister. After two years of dating, they are now
planning to marry.
• Can they validly marry?
• NO, UNLESS THEY GET A DISPENSATION FROM THE
LOCAL ORDINARY.
• HOW ABOUT IN THE PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW?
• YES, there is no law in Philippines prohibiting them
from marrying civilly.
CASE NARRATIVE (PUBLIC PROPRIETY)
• Cha-in, a 35-year-old single mother, has been
cohabiting with Chonin for five years. After five
years, living together had become toxic for them
and they mutually decided to separate. Chonin,
though, kept in communication with Che-Che,
Cha-in’s only daughter. He fell in love with her and
proposed to marry her.
• Can Chonin validly marry Che-Che?
• IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
• NO.
• HOW ABOUT IN PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW?
•YES, there is no law in Philippines prohibiting them
from marrying civilly.
CASE NARRATIVE (LEGAL RELATIONSHIP)
• Ka Tony, a 50-year-old widower, fell in love with
Jo-ha, her previous wife's adoptive daughter. They
wanted to marry after being in a relationship for five
years.
• Can they validly marry in the Catholic Church?
• NO.
• HOW ABOUT IN THE PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW?
• NO, UNDER ART. 38 NO. 5.
• 5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting
parent and the adopted
Child
Schematic Overview of Diriment Impediments
Impediments of Ecclesiastical Law Dispensation
reserved to the Holy See
❑ Sacred Order
❑ Public Perpetual Vow
❑ Crime
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
Impediments of Divine and Natural Law cannot be
dispensed
❑ Impotence
❑ Previous Bond
❑ Consanguinity (all degrees of Direct Line and up
to
2nd degree of collateral line)
Impediments of Ecclesiastical Law. (Dispensation
can be given by local Ordinary)
❑ Age
❑ Disparity of Cult
❑ Abduction
❑ Collateral Line of Consanguinity
❑ Affinity
❑ Public Propriety
❑ Adoption
MATRIMONIAL CONSENT AND CANONICAL FORM
b.CONSENT
❑ 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
9 Grounds of Defective Consent
1. Consensual Incapacity: the natural
capacity to elicit consent.
❑Lack of use of reason
❑Grave lack of due discretion in judgment
❑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
Case Narrative: USE OF REASON
Benedict (25 y/o) and Yasmin (24 y/o) met at a
business conference in January 2020. They felt
strongly attracted to each other and became a
couple in less than a week. After a month, Benedict
proposed marriage to Yasmin, which she gladly
accepted. The night before the wedding, at the
bachelor party, Benedict took drugs and had too
much to drink. Early the following day, Benedict
went to the altar and exchanged consent with
Yasmin, apparently still under the influence of drugs
and alcohol. Was Benedict’s consent valid?
Case Narrative: DUE DISCRETION OF JUDGMENT
Kristine and Paul have been exclusively dating since
their sophomore years in high school. Even then,
they had already been engaging in pre-marital sex.
Kristine got pregnant in her senior year in college.
Kristine and Paul decided to marry before
graduation to spare her family from embarrassment
and avoid disappointing her devoutly Catholic
parents.
Was the consent they exchanged valid?
Case Narrative: INCAPACITY TO ASSUME THE
ESSENTIAL OBLIGATIONS OF MARRIAGE
Yasmin (20 y/o), a psychology student, met
Benedict (24 y/o) when he was a resident at the
National Mental Hospital. They fell in love with each
other, and so, when Benedict was released from
the hospital, they decided to marry. Months into the
marriage, however, Benedict’s mental condition
(Schizophrenia) began to manifest again. Was
Benedict’s consent valid?
Case Narrative: INCAPACITY TO ASSUME THE
ESSENTIAL OBLIGATIONS OF MARRIAGE
Jojie met Lilibeth and was smitten with her. He
pursued her even after knowing about her
reputation for infidelity. Due to his insistence, Lilibeth
agreed to be in a relationship with him. However,
she continued having an affair with another man.
Hoping marriage would change her, Jojie proposed
to her, and they married. They were happy in the
first few months, but after, Lilibeth started falling
back to her old ways. Was Lilibeth’s consent valid?
Case Narrative: IGNORANCE
Adanna, a 15-year-old African girl, was arranged to
marry Ajani (20). In their tribe, girls usually marry
once they hit puberty. Adanna, still fond of playing
around with kids, never thought about marriage.
Yet, she obeyed her parents’ wishes. Her parents
did not talk to her about marriage or what it entails,
so Adanna does not even know that to be
pregnant, she has to have sexual intercourse with
her husband. Is her consent valid?
3. Error: involves false judgment
• ERROR of PERSON
• ERROR concerning the 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:
• 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
Case Narrative: ERROR
Dolly grew up in an impoverished family. They
barely had anything to eat. Through her sacrifices
and hard work, she graduated and was able to
work in a big
company. Once, when she was sent to a
conference, she met Clyde, who dazzled her with
his charm and wealth. After six months, Clyde asked
her to marry him. Since she was also attracted to
Clyde, and he seemed responsible and financially
stable, she did not hesitate to say yes. After
marriage, however, she finds out that Clyde has a
mountain of debts. His creditors are running after
him, and his bank account is empty.
• Did Dolly’s error about Clyde’s quality invalidate
her consent?
Case Narrative: ERROR
Kathy, a US Citizen, and Mitchell are good friends.
They met when Kathy went to
the Philippines for a short vacation. In search of a
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
greener pasture, Mitchell proposed marriage to
Kathy. Kathy, who was never told that marriage is
indissoluble and never had any good role models,
accepted his proposal, thinking they could divorce
after four years.
• Can Kathy give valid consent? Invalid consent
because of error concerning the indissolubility of
marriage which determines the will.
Case Narrative: FRAUD
Ashton was a troubled young man who had been
in and out of a rehabilitation center for drug
dependents. He was discharged from rehab in
2019. That year he met Jinky and courted her. After
a month, they officially became a couple. Ashton
discovered Jinky’s
aversion to drug dependents because she grew up
watching how her drug-dependent
father would beat up her mom and waste his life on
drugs. She mentioned to her once that she would
never marry a man who uses drugs. Wanting to
marry him, Ashton hid the
truth from her and proposed marriage before she
found out about his stay in rehab. If Jinky were to
accept Ashton’s marriage proposal, can Ashton
and Jinky give valid consent?
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, written permission from the local
ordinary must be sought to celebrate a conditioned
marriage.
Case Narrative: SIMULATION/ EXCLUSION
Ellie is the eldest child in the brood of nine. Her
parents worked to provide for the big family, so her
siblings were often left in her care. Because of this,
she resolved not to have a child. So, when Gino
proposed marriage, she accepted but avoided
pregnancy. Is Ellie’s consent valid?
Case Narrative: SIMULATION/ EXCLUSION
Goya, a devout Catholic woman, completed her
education in a Catholic school exclusive to girls
from preschool to college. The value of chastity was
deeply instilled in her, so she
pledged never to engage in sex, even after
marriage. Later, she met Goyo, who agreed to
marry her despite knowing about her pledge. Is
Goya’s consent valid?
Case Narrative: SIMULATION/ EXCLUSION
Bryan is a closet homosexual. He knew that his
father, a top-ranking military official, would disown
him if he finds out his secret. An only child, his
parents constantly badgered him to find a wife to
marry. So, Bryan decided to marry Marian, whom
he had just met. He did not want to marry her but
did so to get his parents off his back. Is Bryan’s
consent valid?
Case Narrative: CONDITIONS
Mario, an Italian photographer, was assigned to
cover an event in Poland. There, he met Bianka
(Polish) and was attracted to her. He did not want a
long-distance relationship, so
he helped her find work in Italy and cohabited
there. Now, Mario works for a Catholic organization.
At work, he had repeatedly been asked about the
status of his relationship with Bianka. He did want to
marry Bianka but was hesitant to do so because of
her constant smoking, which he finds extremely
annoying. To remedy the situation, he talked with
her and told her that he would marry her if she quit
smoking. Bianka promised she would. Mario,
thinking that Bianka had already quit smoking,
married her.
Will Mario’s consent be valid even if Bianka does
not stop smoking?
Case Narrative: CONDITIONS
Before marrying Julie, Kevin asked her if her family
had a history of mental illness. He placed a
condition that he would only marry her if she could
assure him that no one in his
family had a mental illness. Is the condition placed
in the consent valid?
Case Narrative: CONDITIONS
Ben married Jonna, a law student. Before
proposing, Ben told Jonna that he would honor his
marriage only if she passed the board exam. Jonna
was confident she would ace the bar exam, so she
did not heed Ben’s condition. If Jonna passes the
Bar exams, will the marriage be valid? If Jonna fails
the Bar exams, will the marriage be valid?
8. FORCE/ FEAR
❑ Force is pressure from a greater thing that
cannot be resisted (Corpus iuris civilis, Digesta 4.2.2).
Fear is the trepidation of the mind caused by an
immediate or future danger (Corpus iuris civilis,
Digesta 4.2.1).
❑ Marriage is invalid if entered through force
or grave fear from without so that the victim, to free
himself, is forced to choose marriage (Codex iuris
canonici c. 1103; Codex canonum ecclesiarium
orientalium c. 825).
9. PROXY MARRIAGE
❑ Valid only when: Proxy is appointed by the
party concerned. According to CIVIL LAW, there is
a special mandate signed by the party and the
Local Ordinary or by two witnesses and executed
through an authentic document.
Case Narrative: FORCE OR GRAVE FEAR
Yna and Ino had been in a secret relationship for
four years. They love each other very much but
cannot get married because Yna’s parents want
her to marry Jack, a family friend. Since childhood,
Yna has worked hard to please and get the
approval of her
perfectionist parents. Nevertheless, she bravely told
them about her relationship with Ino and her desire
to marry him. Her parents threatened to disown her
and would never
speak with her again if she continued her plan.
Afraid of disappointing them, she married Jack
instead. Is Yna’s consent valid?
Case Narrative: MARRIAGE BY PROXY
Wangbu, a wanted rebel, asks Nene, a beautiful girl
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
he met in the mountain, to marry him. She happily
said yes to his proposal. Their wedding was set at
the parish in town. Since the authorities are still
looking for Wangbu, he decided to send a proxy to
exchange consent with Nene on his behalf.
Is the marriage valid?
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.
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 thru
an interpreter
7 Canonical Forms
1. Minister:
Case Narrative: MINISTER
Jun and Jin invited Fr. Wubibi, their high school
friend, to officiate their wedding. Fr.
Wubibi was ordained three days ago and has not
been given the faculty to officiate a marriage. If Fr.
Wubibi were to continue officiating the wedding
without the faculty or authority, would Jun and Jin’s
marriage be valid?
2. Ordained Official Witness:
❑ Bishop, priest or deacon who assist at the
marriage.
2. 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 obtained the
permission of the Holy See.
❑ Requirement for a lay person to assist at
marriage:
▪ Competent to give instructions to those to be
married
▪ And able to perform the matrimonial liturgy
correctly
Case Narrative: OFFICIAL WITNESS
Lea and Leo are a couple living on a remote island.
The priest goes to their priest once every two
months. To compensate for the priest’s absence, a
lay minister is assigned and authorized to lead the
liturgical services on the island. Lea and Leo
approached him and requested that he stand as
the Official Church witness of their marriage. Is Leo
and Lea’s marriage valid?
LACK OF CANONICAL FORM
• Jane, a Catholic, marries James, also a Catholic,
in a non-Catholic church or chapel or in a civil
ceremony (both are bound by canonical form)
• Jane, a Catholic, marries James, a non-Catholic
Christian in a Christian ceremony or in a civil
ceremony. (Jane is bound by canonical form)
• Jane, a Catholic, marries James, a non-baptized,
in a non-Catholic chapel
or in a civil or non-Catholic ceremony and no
dispensation was acquired. (Jane is bound by
canonical form and hence, dispensation is required
for validity)
UNIT 4
Theology 2
Unit 4: Lesson 1
Catholic Response to the Challenges of Sexual
Liberalism and Anti-Life Mentality
1. Gaudium et Spes
2. Humanae Vitae
3. The Truth and Meaning of Human
Sexuality
4. Evangelium Vitae
Are you in favor of establishing “open relationships”
even when you are already committed to a person
Attributed to the advent of sexual revolution
significantly felt in the United States of America in
the late 1960s are the following changes in people’s
outlook on sex:
❑ People started to value a more liberal
expression of sexual freedom.
❑ Challenging the traditional exercise of
sexuality which they found to be sexually repressive.
SEXUAL REVOLUTION
❑ An ideology promoting sexual
permissiveness largely emerged from Sigmund
Freud's theories, where he held that much of mental
illness is caused by sexual repression.
❑ Later, his ideas influenced significant shifts
in attitudes, behavior, and regulations about
sexuality. Sexual liberation became the central
focus of many radical movements of the 1960s.
❑ Herbert Marcuse critiqued the existing
societal norms and called for a non-repressive
society where people can be freetoengageinopen
Wilhelm Reich coined the term “sexual revolution”
and advocated the abolition of traditional sexual
morality where the family is viewed as a repressive
institution that had to be undermined and
overthrown. In the contemporary setting, the
internet, social media, and the trend of
globalization facilitated the spread of sexual
liberalism despite religious and cultural influences in
some countries
The Second Vatican Council discussed matters
related to marriage and family as a serious pastoral
concern.
❑ Vatican II pointed out how sexual
liberalism threatens the human person's value and
destabilizes marriage and family institutions.
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
1. Gaudium et Spes
❑ In her role as a Mother and Teacher of
faith, the Church addressed concerns regarding
marriage and family in the document, Gaudium et
Spes.
❑ Being the pastoral constitution of the
Church in the modern world, the document
emphasized and affirmed both the dignity of the
human person and the About marriage and family,
Gaudium et Spes emphasized that the well-being
of the individual person and human society is
intimately linked to the healthy condition of both
marriage and family. Marriage was created and
instituted by God with its own laws and purposes
which in His wisdom redounds to the good of the
spouses, their off-springs and the greater society.
❑ All these have a very decisive bearing on
the continuation of humanity, the personal
development and eternal destiny of the individual
members of the family and on the dignity, stability,
peace, prosperity of the family itself and of the
human society.
❑ Married couples are reminded to be
faithful witnesses of love and harmony so that being
true to their marital vocation they become positive
example and influence for everyone in society.
❑ Specifically, they are called to value the
transmission of life in the family and the education
of their offspring. The sexual characteristics of both
man and woman finds its fulfillment not only as an
expression of the couple’s mutual self-giving love
but also when they become open to the
transmission of new life.
❑ Concerned about how the practice of
sexuality is being abused and desacralized, Pope
Paul VI wrote the papal document Humanae Vitae
in 1968 to emphasize the unity between sexuality,
marriage, and procreation and how these
practices are rooted in God’s divine activity.
2. Humanae Vitae
❑ In truth, marriage is the wise institution of
the Creator to realize in mankind his design of love.
❑ This design of love is made possible
through the gift of sexuality present physically and
spiritually through the complimentary unity of
husband and wife.
❑ Sexuality, then is not simply a matter of
biology and a source for personal pleasure. Its
significance is most profoundly understood in the
marital love of husband and wife whose love
reaches its fullness in the act of procreation in
fulfillment of God’s design for marriage and family.
(HV 8,9,10) ❑ Sexuality is understood as
a divine gift through which married couples
participate and collaborate with God’s creation of
love and new life. Their mutual self-giving and love
bearing fruit in the birth of new children.
❑ The Pontifical Council for Family also
came out with guidelines for parents on how to
educate children about the significance of
sexuality and how to cultivate the virtue of chastity.
3. The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality
Today, many young people through internet and
other forms of media, are exposed to how sex is
abused and depersonalized.
❑ In this social context, the educative role
of parents becomes necessary. It represents God’s
saving pedagogy.
❑ Parents, as the ones who gave birth to
their children and welcomed them as gifts from
God, are the best educators of their own children.
❑ Through their love and concern, they can
best guide their children in matters of sexuality and
the cultivation of the virtue of chastity.
❑ The document emphasizes that human
beings who are created in God’s image and
likeness are called to love.
❑ God inscribed, in man and woman, the
vocation and the capacity and responsibility of
love and communion. Therefore, love is therefore
the fundamental and innate vocation every human
❑ The whole meaning of true freedom and
self-control follows from it, which is directed towards
self-giving in communion and friendship with God
and others.
❑ Therefore, the person has the capacity for
a higher kind of love than lust, which only sees
persons as objects to satisfy one’s appetite. In
loving, we love persons ethics In educating children
about the virtue of chastity, the document suggests
three things:
❑ To maintain in the family a positive
atmosphere of love, virtue, and respect for the gifts
of God, in particular, the gift of life.
❑ To help children understand the value of
sexuality and chastity in stages, sustaining their
growth through enlightening words, examples, and
prayer.
❑ To help them understand and discover
their vocation to marriage or consecrated virginity
for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven in harmony
with and tithit tdd
❑ For parents to carry out their role in
educating their own children on matters of
sexuality, it is also important that they constantly
receive formation and catechesis on this matter.
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
The content of their formation can include the
following:
❑ A wholistic understanding of human
sexuality in its physical, psychological, and spiritual
sense.
❑ It must be understood as part of the
human dimension of being created according to
God’s image, intended for purposes of communion
and as a means for human growth in love and life.
❑ Understanding human sexuality must
reject the mentality of using the person as an
object for pleasure. It should seek to promote the
dignity of the human person as created according
to Gd’i The formation can also include education
on moral virtues, especially on the virtue of chastity.
❑ Chastity is training in self-mastery and
human freedom. The purity of mind and body helps
develop genuine self-respect. Simultaneously, it
makes one treat others with respect because they
are seen as persons created in God’s image.
Education on human sexuality must also emphasize
its responsible exercise within the context of
marriage.
❑ Human sexuality is essentially an intimate
dimension of being human but seen from the
perspective of God’s plan; it is an expression of
both the physical and spiritual communion of
husband and wife to collaborate in God’s plan for
procreation.
❑ This relational dimension of being human
is ultimately directed towards a loving response to
God’s call for life and love. In formation, parents
must also learn to build an effective and loving
atmosphere to cultivate their children's human and
spiritual life.
❑ A conscious effort of teaching their
children on values of discipline, self-control, and
prayer can be of help. Part of educating the family
in human sexuality also includes rejection of liberal
ideas about the practice of sex, especially those
which advocate safe sex. Most often, these liberal
ideas run counter against the dignity of the human
person, family, and marriage
Evelyn is a young working student who is about to
graduate from college. She is the eldest among the
five children of Mang Pedro and Aling Nena. Mang
Pedro is unemployed and only Aling Nena provides
for the family. Evelyn’s parents look forward to her
graduation so that eventually she can help the
family. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Evelyn
became pregnant during the middle of the first
semester even though she was taking
contraceptives. Unfortunately, Roger, her boyfriend,
did not want to be responsible for her and her
unborn baby. He foresees that her condition might
derail his plans of graduating in college. Being the
youngest in the family, he fears that his parents
might not support him in this situation. Evelyn was
devastated and consulted her mother. Worried that
she might add to the economic burden of the
family, she advised Evelyn to get an abortion. She
knows a lot of abortionists in Quiapo since many of
them sell herbal plants known to induce abortion.
She said “the one in her womb is not even a baby
yet.” Evelyn, hesitated for a while, but after two
months in her pregnancy, she procures an abortion.
Why are engaging in pre-marital sex, taking
contraceptives, and abortion considered anti-life
practices? If you were in case of Evelyn, how would
you address this personal problem?
❑ The incidences of threats and violations against
human life's dignity are increasing in many parts of
the world. He observed that there is what we call
an emerging "culture of death" in civil societies.
❑ There seems to be a cultural climate of
indifference against human life's value and how, for
example, practices like abortion, contraception,
immoral experimentation on human embryos, and
euthanasia are becoming socially acceptable and
4. Evangelium Vitae Written by Pope John
Paul II to defend the dignity and inviolability of
human life. Accordingly, these crimes against life
systematically happen in stages: First, at the level of
public opinion where they are claimed to be rights,
which are based on individual freedom; Second,
there is a trend towards being recognized legally.
Third, they are carried out with the help of medical
science.
EV 3,4 According to the late Pope John Paul II, this
culture is actively fostered by powerful cultural,
economic, and political currents, which encourage
an idea of society excessively concerned with
efficiency. To address this cultural climate of
indifference against the value of human life,
Evangelium Vitae specifically raised and evaluated
the morality of certain anti-life issues:
• Abortion
• Contraception
• Euthanasia
• Suicide
When the sense of God is lost, there is also a
tendency to lose the sense of man, of his dignity
and his life; in turn, the systematic violation of the
moral law, especially in the serious matter of
respect for human life and its dignity, produces a
kind of progressive darkening of the capacity to
discern God's living and saving presence.” EV 21-22
The eclipse of the sense of God and of man is
 THEOLOGY REVIEWER
typical of a social and cultural climate dominated
by secularism. Gospel of Life. "Evangelization is the
grace and vocation proper to the Church, her
deepest identity. She exists to evangelize.
❑ Central to this evangelization is to proclaim that
God is an intimate part of human existence and
invites us to live in communion with Himself and
others. By its nature, human life is a relationship, a
gift of God, and His love's fruit and sign. At the heart
of this proclamation is Jesus, who is in communion
with every person calling us to see beyond every
human face, the face of Christ. Pope John Paul II
emphasized the following:
1. Human life is sacred. 2. Human life is inviolable.
3. Obedience to God’s commandments: A path to
Life
4. Love is the fulfillment of the Law
pemerging culture of death, Pope John Paul II
identified the need to promote the culture of life,
which begins with a general mobilization and
formation of consciences towards a united ethical
effort to campaign to support life and its
inviolability.
❑ Connected with this effort is the recovery of the
vital link between freedom and truth. Responsibility
and conformity to what is objectively good must
always accompany the
❑ In its true meaning, responsible procreation
requires couples to be obedient to the Lord's call
and act as faithful interpreters of his plan.
❑ This happens when the family is generously open
to new lives, when couples maintain an attitude of
openness and service to life, even if, for serious
reasons and in respect for the moral law
they choose Education also involves the training of
married couples in responsible procreation.
❑ Specifically, it can carry out this mission by being
at the service of life. The identity of marriage as a
community of persons reaches its fullness when
both husband and wife orient themselves to human
life transmission.
❑ The mutual love between husband and wife
reaches its totality when they “become
cooperators with God for giving life to a new
human person. Evangelium Vitae also mentioned
the family as the immediate community that can
promote the culture of life. messages they transmit
will support the culture of life. They need to present
noble life models and make room for instances of
people’s positive and sometimes heroic love for
others.
❑ With great respect, they should also present the
positive values of sexuality and human love and not
insist on what defiles and cheapens human dignity.
❑ In their interpretation of things, they should refrain
from emphasizing anything that suggests or fosters
feelings or attitudes of indifference, contempt, or
rejection concerning life.
❑ With scrupulous concern for factual truth, they
are called to combine freedom of information with
respect for every person and a profound sense of
humanity.
THEOLOGY 2 Unit 4: LESSON B RESPONSIBLE
PARENTHOOD
1. Principles of Responsible Parenthood
2. Education and Formation towards Responsible
Parenthood
3. Natural Family Planning
THE RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD AND REPRODUCTIVE
HEALTH ACT OF 2012. Declaration of Policy. The
State recognizes and guarantees the human rights
of all persons, including their right to equality and
non-discrimination of these rights, the right to
sustainable human development, the right to
health, which includes reproductive health, the
right to education and information, and the right to
choose and make decisions for themselves in
accordance with their religious convictions, ethics,
cultural beliefs, and the demands of responsible
parenthood. FAMILY PLANNING includes the use of
contraceptives, sexuality education, and natural
family planning techniques. CONTRACEPTIVES
include barrier methods like a diaphragm,
condoms, and hormonal birth control. It can also
include surgery (hysterectomy for women,
vasectomy for men) or intrauterine devices (worn
inside a woman’s vagina) during intercourse.
• hysterectomy - a surgical operation to
remove all or part of the uterus for women
• Vasectomy - minor surgery to block sperm
from reaching the semen
• Semen - an organic fluid created to
contain spermatozoa
❑ Sex Education teaches young people how their
reproductive systems function and how to use
contraceptives, and the truth about pregnancy
and birth control.
❑ In this instruction, natural planning techniques are
also taught to women so that sexual partners can
know how to chart fertility cycles. The couple can
abstain from having sex or use barrier protection
methods during fertile times to prevent
pregnancies. Definition of Contraception Biological
Sense A way to avoid pregnancy is using either
artificial or natural methods. Moral Sense Any direct,
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positive frustration of any phase in the process of
conception before, during, or after sexual
intercourse. A contraceptive is a device designed
to prevent sperm from fertilizing the egg.
Contraception as a Direct frustration
❑ An intentional or planned act of blocking the
meeting of the egg and sperm. Frustration at any
Stage
❑ Before: any willful action before sexual
intercourse that would prevent the possibility of
fertilization or pregnancy.
❑ During: any action was done during sexual
intercourse to prevent the meeting of the egg and
the sperm or to prevent the implantation of the
fertilized egg.
❑ After: any action done any time after the sexual
intercourse to prevent conception or avoid the
fertilized egg implantation. Medical Reasons
❑ Physical conditions: pregnancy allegedly
endangers the life or health of the women or the
fetus.
❑ To prevent pregnancies that are too close
together or poorly timed which contributes to high
infant mortality rates.
❑ For the sake of infant health: obstetrical :
toxemia, eclampsia, hyperemesis, and pelvic
disproportion.
❑ Heart disease, hypertension, renal disease,
diabetes, Hypertension and HIV infection. Eugenic
Reasons
❑ Suspected genetic deficiency
❑ To avoid having “defective” children
❑ Create a “better human race”. Psychological
Reasons
❑ Fear of having children
❑ Fear of the possible dangers in pregnancy and
childbirth. (Edward Hayes, Moral Principles of
Nursing, p. 89). obstetrical - relating to childbirth
and the processes associated with it toxemia –
blood poisoning by toxins from a local bacterial
infection eclampsia - a condition in which one or
more convulsions occur in a pregnant woman
suffering from high blood pressure, often followed
by coma and posing a threat to the health of
mother and baby hyperemesis - persistent severe
vomiting leading to weight loss and dehydration, as
a condition occurring during pregnancy pelvic
disproportion - when the capacity of the pelvis is
inadequate to allow the fetus to negotiate the birth
canal Socio-Economic Reasons
❑ Poverty: Fear about the inability to support
another child. The use of contraceptives allows
women to plan their pregnancies so that they can
make sure the baby is getting the best care before
and after birth.
❑ Government: Controlling the growth of the
population to mitigate its perceived adverse
impact on the economy and the environment.
The couple's reciprocal offering to each other
reaches its full sense through parenthood, when
husband and wife become father and mother,
respectively.
❑ From this parenthood flows the whole meaning
of family life where parents are expected to
co-operate with the Creator and the Savior's love in
the creation of new life.
❑ Parents then should regard it as their proper
mission to transmit human life and educate those to
whom it has been transmitted. They are also called
to fulfill their tasks with human and Christian
responsibility, whose actions must always be
governed with conscience dutifully conformed to
what is morally right and the divine law itself.
Parents should realize that they are co-operators of
the love of God and are, so to speak, interpreters of
that love.
❑ In contrast to the secular understanding of family
planning, it does not involve methods of artificial
contraception.
❑ Primarily, it upholds the responsible exercise of
the conjugal act, which avoids any deliberate act
of preventing the transmission of life associated with
all forms of artificial contraception.
❑ The first duty of parenthood is to respect the
dignity of human life from the moment of
conception. A child is always a gift to be received
and welcomed, not a burden to be avoided.
1. Principles of Responsible Parenthood
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❑ In the context of the Christian faith, the
regulation of births and the planning of a family is
called responsible parenthood. Pope Paul VI
explained the deeper significance of responsible
parenthood by linking it closely with the
responsibility for conjugal love.
❑ Responsible parenthood flows from the principle
of conjugal love and an integral vision of the
human person, which becomes fully valued
precisely in love and through love. If love
characterizes this mutual responsibility between
husband and wife, responsible parenthood is
engendered.
❑ For example, guided by prudent consideration
and generosity, they can decide in favor of a big
family despite physical, economic, psychological
and social obstacles.
❑ If not, however, couples are encouraged to
practice the natural form of regulating births.
Therefore, Pope John Paul II calls for the
development of centers for the promotion of
natural family planning and its related services.
From this right conscience, parents are expected to
thoughtfully consider both their own welfare and
that of their children, those already born and those
which may be foreseen.
❑ Essential in this promotion is the education of
couples particularly about the value of responsible
procreation.
❑ Couples are called to be obedient to the Lord’s
call and to act as faithful interpreters of his plan,
even if for serious reasons and in respect for the
moral law they choose to avoid a new birth for the
time being or indefinitely.
2. Education and Formation towards Responsible
Parenthood The moral law obliges them in every
case to control the impulse of instinct and passion
and to respect the biological laws inscribed in their
person.
❑ It is precisely this respect which makes legitimate
at the service of responsible procreation the use of
natural method of regulating fertility.
❑ What is so profound about the work related to
natural procreative education is its ability to reach
to the very foundation of the origins of human life
and the cooperation which exists between spouses
and the Supreme Creator in that physical action.
❑ In a context, where the use of contraceptives
has become a common practice even among
Catholics, education and formation on Responsible
parenthood is essential both for the preparation of
couples who are about to get married and
especially for those who subscribe to the practice
of artificial birth control.
❑ Education on this matter, however, cannot be
reduced simply in teaching about the biological
aspect of parenthood and natural regulation of
birth, but it must also comprise understanding
responsible parenthood as shaping one’s marriage
towards becoming a family. Formation on this
matter can include the following:
1. An education on what conjugal love is.
Humanae Vitae clearly defines what marital love is.
It is fully human, not simply an expression of instinct
and sentiments, but an act of free will intended to
mutually enrich both husband and wife so that they
could attain holiness.
2. It requires understanding the integral
purpose of marriage which is that of creating a
family. The love of husband and wife and its
physical expression must always be open to the
possibility of becoming a father and a mother.
3. Married couples should be educated on
the virtue of chastity to preserve conjugal fidelity
and regulate the conjugal act within the limits of
what is established by God and psychologically
good for both couples.
4. The adverse effects of contraceptives
and abortifacients should also be noted. Medically,
it is dangerous to ingest pills that may lead to
harmful side-effects. Morally, it is wrong because it
separates the unitive and procreative purposes of
marriage. Thus, married couples ought to consider
the natural method of family planning to regulate
birth within the family.
5. The issue of the population program that
aims to control the increase of the nation’s
population by promoting reproductive rights can
be explained well to families, especially those
against the dignity of human life and the dignity of
sex and marriage.
3. NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING METHOD
❑ Pope John Paul II called for the development of
centers to promote Natural Family Planning and its
related services.
❑ NFP education is profound because it is rooted in
the origins of human life and the cooperation
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between spouses and God in the conjugal act. • NFP accepts this gift and works within its
What is Natural Family Planning? parameters.
• Contraception simply suppresses it.
❑ Natural family planning methods observe and • So while the end is the same, avoiding
follow the natural cycles of fertility and infertility in pregnancy, the means aren’t equal. The “end
the woman’s body. Couples make decisions doesn’t justify means”…
whether or not to achieve pregnancy on that basis • two people that make an A on a test…one
studied hard, the other cheated.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2370 • Or two women that want to lose weight. One
❑ Every action which, whether in anticipation of exercised and improved diet. The other binged and
the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the purged. The goal was equal and good, but one
development of its natural consequences, way was healthy and the other wasn’t. The way
proposes, whether as an end or a means, to render you accomplish something makes a difference.
procreation impossible' is intrinsically evil.
❑ The innate language that expresses the total
reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is
overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively
contradictory language, namely, that of not giving
oneself totally to the other.
❑ This leads not only to a positive refusal to be
open to life but also to a falsification of the inner
truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give
itself in personal totality…
❑ The difference, both anthropological and moral,
between contraception and recourse to the rhythm
of the cycle... involves, in the final analysis, two
irreconcilable concepts of the human person and
of human sexuality.” Basic Differences
Contraception NFP Suppresses fertility Accepts
fertility Puts barriers to deliberately prevent the
transmission of life Always open to the possibility of
life Sex is for mere personal pleasure Sex is total
self-giving Pregnancy occurs despite the couple’s
actions Pregnancy occurs because of the couple’s
actions
• The Church has always taught that artificial birth
control is objectively wrong.
• The Church doesn’t oppose artificial birth control
because it is artificial; medication, hearing aids,
glasses, are all artificial but aren’t opposed by the
Church.
• This is because they work to restore healthy
functioning in the body.
• On the other hand, contraception means
“against conception”.
The goal is the purposeful elimination of the gift of
fertility.
• Contraception implies conditional love by
rejecting part of the individual.
• It takes away that total self-giving aspect that sex
should be about.
• NFP is not against conception or fertility.
• With NFP, fertility is recognized and treated as a
positive aspect of a person.