Editor's Note: This week's article marks the one-year anniversary of Grace MacKinnon's “Dear Grace” column on CE. Happy Anniversary, Grace! Thank you for your important contributions to our online apostolate!
© Copyright 2002 Grace D. MacKinnon
Grace MacKinnon is a syndicated columnist and public speaker on Catholic doctrine. Readers are welcome to submit questions about the Catholic faith to: Grace MacKinnon, 1234 Russell Drive #103, Brownsville, Texas 78520. Questions also may be sent by e-mail to: [email protected]. You may visit Grace online at www.DearGrace.com.
How unfortunate it is that this subject continues to cause so much hurt and grief in so many families. It is a total misconception that needs to be cleared up and set straight. First of all, the word “bastard” is misused here. A bastard is an illegitimate child of two people who are not married to each other civilly. Legitimacy has to do with civil law, not Church law. Therefore, the children of a marriage that was celebrated civilly are legitimate and always remain so, even if their parents should later divorce or if the Church later declares the marriage to be invalid (canons 1137-1140). Much of the confusion stems from the fact that many people do not understand the Church’s teaching regarding the validity of marriage, which has nothing to do with the children produced by that marriage.
What you refer to as an annulment is more properly termed a “decree of nullity or invalidity.” This is a better way of expressing it because when we use the word “annul” it implies that we are dissolving something that existed at some point in time, and that is not what the Church ever means to do. There are cases, however, where it may look or seem as if a marriage has taken place on a wedding day, but in actuality it may never have come into existence at all. Christian marriage is a covenant that is exchanged between a man and a woman, and when it is entered into freely and without anything to block it, then God, who is the author of marriage, seals it with His grace and a sacrament comes into existence. It is for life and can never be broken. The Church does not have the power to dissolve a valid, sacramental marriage.
Church law declares that marriage is brought about (becomes a reality) through: 1) the consent of the bride and groom, 2) legitimate manifestation, and 3) qualification according to the law (the bride and groom). This means that if the consent was defective, marriage was not brought about. If the consent was not legitimately manifested, marriage was not brought about. And if one or both of the persons were unqualified according to Church law, marriage was not brought about.
When the Church declares a marriage null or invalid, it means that, after a very careful investigation, it has determined that some element or factor either prevented the marriage from coming into existence or was missing from the start. In other words, the Marriage Tribunal will consider the situation on the day of the wedding and prior to it. They are concerned with what existed at the beginning. Everyone who attended the wedding may have thought that things looked wonderful, but underneath there may have been another story.
When the Church finds and concludes that a marriage was not entered into validly, she is only speaking about the marriage itself, not the children that have come from the union. Children cannot be wiped out. They are a reality. We are confusing civil law with Church law when we think otherwise. A declaration of nullity or invalidity is not a Catholic divorce! It is a judgment about a particular “marriage.” Neither of the two parties are found guilty of anything. It merely decides if marriage ever really came into existence. Marriage in the eyes of the Church is not the same as marriage in the eyes of the civil law.
We must realize also that even though children are without a doubt a great blessing, it is not they who make the marriage. Marriage is brought about by the man and woman. Therefore, when the tribunal conducts its investigation, it is the marriage that is judged, not the children.
So, we see that the word “illegitimate” or “bastard” is being used incorrectly in referring to these children. And it is so unfair to them. They are not illegitimate! Sometimes what we find is that a former spouse may use this idea of illegitimacy in an attempt to prevent the other parent from moving on with his or her life. This too is unfair. If we are sincerely attempting to live out our Catholic Christian faith, then we need to try to understand the Church’s teaching in these important matters and put an end to all the confusion that only leads to bitterness and unhappiness for ourselves and between us and those we love.
