TYPES OF WOMAN WHO ARE PROHIBITED TO BE MARRIED IN

CHRISTIANITY
CONSANGUINITY
Consanguinity is a blood relationship, biological, the natural bond between persons or the
relation of people who descend from the same ancestor. It is the degree of relation between
which marriage is prohibited under the laws concerning incest (human sexual activity
between family members or close relatives). There are four degrees of prohibited marriage in
roman civil law.
This type is divided into two parts which are the lineal consanguinity and collateral
consanguinity. The lineal consanguinity is a direct line or a relation of people from direct
descendent such as between parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren. Thus, the
parent-child relationship known as the first of degree. Next, the collateral consanguinity is all
relationships that at least partly involve siblings in marriage. It means a relation between
people from the common ancestor but do not descend from each other. Verily, the second of
prohibited degree of consanguinity is sibling relationship while a third degree will be an
uncle or aunt with a niece or nephew and fourth degree is between first cousins. However, in
some places it is allowed and approved the marriage between first cousins while in others, it
is as taboo as incest. The marriage of first cousins also will be valid if it is permit by bishop
because it is by ecclesiastical law, not by divine law (bible).
This prohibition also has been stated in Bible (Leviticus 18: 6, 7, 9-14 New International
Version (NIV)):
6
“No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.’’
7
“Do not dishonour your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your
mother; do not have relations with her.”
9
“Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your
mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.”
10
‘‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that
would dishonour you.”
11
“‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father;
she is your sister.”
12
“Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.”
13
“Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close
relative.”
14
“Do not dishonour your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations;
she is your aunt.”
Incest in the Bible
First and foremost, the incestuous relationship before the God commanded against it, it
doesn’t count as incest. It is called as marrying a close relative. There are plentiful example
of incest in the Bible. The most common one is the marriage between sons and daughters of
Adam and Eve (Genesis 4). Their children had to marry and procreate with their own
biological siblings and close relatives since their parents were the only humankind on earth.
Thus, it is indisputable and undoubtedly that God allowed incest at the early human
appearance. It is because this was not a risk because the human genetic code was free from
defects in that day.
The reason that incest is strongly prohibited in this day due the understanding that
reproduction between people who are close blood relationship has tendency of causing
genetic abnormalities, unsafe and unwise. Besides, the incest today mostly entailed a
powerless victim, and the doer is abusing his authority to satisfy his sexual pleasure. Verily,
the ‘incest’ of the Bible is nothing in common with modern-day incest. However, the close
intermarriage was did not safe anymore to be practiced as the human genetic code had
become polluted enough by the time of Moses. Therefore, the god commanded against a
marriage with siblings, half-siblings, parents and aunts/uncles (Genesis 2:24 stated that
sexual relations between parents and children disallowed by God.

https://www.bmorevocations.org/discern/consecrated-life/

What are vows and what do they mean?

A vow is a public sacred promise or commitment made to God with the approval of the
Church. The vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are also known as evangelical
counsels; they may be taken for one, two, or three years, depending upon the decision of the
community and the individual. These promises are renewable for up to nine years. As soon as
three years after making temporary vows, a person can make a promise to live the vows for
life.
 Poverty: Poverty is a call to share all goods in common, live a simple life, and depend
totally on God.
 Chastity: Chastity is a call to love and serve God and all God’s people, rather than to
love one person exclusively in marriage. A life of chastity is a witness and testimony
to God’s love.
 Obedience: Obedience is a call to live in community and to surrender one’s own will
to the will of God. In community, religious listen to their superiors and the voice
within to discern God’s call for their life.

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35533
 PERPETUAL VOWS Definition
 Ordinarily the final vows that a person takes in an institute of Christian perfection,
mainly poverty, chastity, and obedience. Other vows may be added, according to the
constitutions of the institute. They are also called last vows, although some
communities take perpetual vows immediately after the novitiate, and others never
 take what are technically perpetual vows, but they simply renew their vows regularly,
according to their rule of life

http://www.scitribunal.org.uk/Types-of-Nullity/Impediments-to-Marriage

 Perpetual vow of chastity: One of the parties has made a public perpetual vow of
chastity as a monk or religious sister or in some other form of consecrated life. This
impediment is of ecclesiastical law and may only dispensed by the Apostolic See.

https://sisterservantsofmary.org/formation/perpetually-professed/28-perpetual-vows

 By means of Perpetual Profession,the religious give herself a commitment to live in

total surrender of her whole being to God according to the way of life indicated in the
Constitutions.God accepts her offering through ministry of the church,and He
conscrates his chosen one for Himself and places her in a state of belonging and more
of intimate communion with Him with a new and specific title.

http://vocations.ca/types_of_vocations/religious_vows/
CELIBATE CHASTITY:
 Religious are not married and they do not enter into sexual or exclusive relationships
but they do have the gift of being “lovers of God and lovers for the world”. They are
heart-freed by their vow to be open, like Jesus, to loving all to whom their lives call
them. Freedom from exclusive relationships enables them to be sent out for others,
available, and to grow in their freedom of heart. A vow of chastity is not “anti-
marriage, anti sex or anti-family” Rather it recognizes the gift and beauty of all of
these and so the loving value of letting these go for the sake of a different way of
loving.

Code of Canon Law

Canon 1088 : Those bound by a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute
invalidly attempt marriage.
https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/Vows
Some theologians have expressed the opinion that the religious profession produced this
effect by Divine law, but it is more usual at the present day, and it seems to us more correct,
to see in this a point of ecclesiastical discipline.
Pope Benedict XV1 has put it cannot mean “remaining empty in love”, but rather must mean
allowing oneself to be overcome by passion for God.” Or, as Sister Elaine Prevallet, S.L. has
said: “The heart of the matter is a desire to dedicate oneself and all one’s life-energies to
God”. She adds: “the infallible sign of the authenticity of celibate dedication will always be
the presence of compassionate love directed toward the needs of the neighbour and the world,
as was Jesus’ own.” Making a vow of celibate chastity does not isolate but it is sustained
healthily through entering deeply into community, forming a wide and supportive circle of
friendship and family and gifting oneself in return.
https://www.bmorevocations.org/discern/consecrated-life/
What is a Religious Sister?
A woman religious is a member of a religious congregation who shares in a particular
apostolate. After a period of promising simple vows, the sister makes perpetual simple vows
for life. These vows are poverty, chastity and obedience. Most of the institutes whose
members are called Sisters were established since the nineteenth century. Congregations of
sisters typically live and are active in the world. They serve in a variety of active ministries
reaching out into the world to assist the Church in a variety of areas: health, schools, parishes,
and others
What is a Religious Brother?
A brother is a single, Catholic layman who lives his baptismal commitment by joining a
religious community of vowed members dedicated to serving God and those around them.
Religious brothers profess the evangelical counsels (vows) of poverty, chastity, and
obedience. They also commit themselves to a life of ministry, prayer and Gospel witness
within the context of community.
PERPETUAL VOWS
Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities
pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views.
In the Catholic Church, the vows of members of religious orders and congregations are
regulated by canons 654-658 of the Code of Canon Law. These are public vows, meaning
vows accepted by a superior in the name of the Church, and they are usually got two
durations: temporary and, after a few years, final vows permanent or perpetual.depending on
the order, temporary vows may be renewed a number of times before permission to take final
vows is given. There are exceptions: the Jesuits first vows are perpetual, for instance, and
the Sisters of Charity take only temporary but renewable vows.
There are two kind of religious simple vows and solemn vows. The highest level of
commitment is exemplified by those who have taken their solemn, perpetual vows. There
once were significant technical differences between them in canon law; but these differences
were suppressed by the current Code of Canon Law in 1983, although the nominal
distinction is maintained. Only a limited number of religious congregations may invite their
members to solemn vows, most religious congregations are only authorized to take simple
vows. Even in congregations with solemn vows, some members with perpetual vows may
have taken them simply rather than solemnly.
A perpetual vow can be superseded by the Pope, when he decides that a man under perpetual
vows should become a Bishop of the Church. In these cases, the ties to the order the new
Bishop had, are dissolved as if the Bishop had never been a member; hence, such a person as,
e.g., Pope Francis has had no formal ties to his old order for years. However, if the Bishop
was a member in good standing, he will be regarded, informally, as "one of us", and he will
always be welcome in any of the order's houses.
DISPARITY OF CULT
Disparity of cult, sometimes called disparity of worship, is a one party not being baptized
into a Trinitarian Christian denomination. It means here, a woman that were not baptized as a
Christianity cannot marriage a man who are Christianity.
A marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic is a mixed marriage. There are a
few things to highlight in Canon Law that are particularly important. Canon Law on mixed
marriages is contained on the 1983 Code of Canon Law in canons 1086 and 1124-1129. In
Canon 1124, it is made clear that a mixed marriage is strictly forbidden. According Canon
1125—The local ordinary can grant this permission if there is a just and reasonable cause; he
is not to grant it unless the following conditions have been fulfilled:

1. The Catholic party declares that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of

falling away from the faith and makes a sincere promise to do all in his or her
power to have all the children baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church;

2. the other party is to be informed at an appropriate time of these promises which

the Catholic party has to make, so that it is clear that the other party is truly aware
of the promise and obligation of the Catholic party;

3. both parties are to be instructed about the purposes and essential properties of
marriage, which are not to be excluded by either contract.

It is important to note that a dispensation (permission from the bishop) is required in all cases
in which a Catholic marries a non-Catholic, baptized or not. In cases where the non-Catholic
party is baptized and a Catholic rite of marriage is used, this permission is required for the
marriage to be licit (that is, in conformity with the laws of the Catholic Church). But it would
be invalid (i.e. no marriage) if the couple were married in a non-Catholic ceremony and did
not receive a dispensation to do so. In cases where the non-Catholic party is not baptized, this
permission is required for the marriage even to be valid (that is, a true marriage, a marriage in
the eyes of God). Unless such a dispensation is granted, a marriage between a Catholic and a
non-baptized person is invalid because of the impediment known in Canon Law as disparity
of cult (cf. canons 1086, 1129).
Disparity of worship can be dispensed for grave reasons, and on the promises (usually
written) from the spouses: the unbaptized not to interfere with the spouse's practice of
religion or the raising of the children in religion, the Catholic to practice the Catholic religion
and raise the children in it.
Besides, disparity of worship does not affect the marriage of a Catholic or baptized non-
Catholic with one whose baptism, even after careful investigation concerning
the baptismal ceremony or its validity, remains doubtful. Neither does it in any way influence
the marriage of two who, after diligent examination, are still considered doubtfully baptized.
The more common opinion is that disparity of worship does not void this marriage. However,
that the Church in dispensing with the prohibitive did not implicitly dispense with the
diriment impediment (annulment), seems to be at variance with a decree of the Holy Office
(29 April, 1840, n. 2) which clearly .states that the Holy See dispenses with the impediment
of disparity of worship only in express terms. Where no dispensation has been granted, he
holds that the marriage is null on account of the existing disparity of worship and must be
revalidated. He recognizes, however, as valid the marriage of the doubtfully baptized, if they
had been considered and had considered themselves Catholics, and had
followed Catholic practices, and afterwards it was discovered that one of them had not
been baptized. (Rock, 1909)

Rock, P.M.J. (1909). Disparity of Worship. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company. Retrieved October 21, 2019 from New
Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05037b.htm