WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCHS TEACHING ON MARRIAGE?
The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is an indissoluble, sacramental bond when contracted by two baptized persons, who are free and capable of consenting to this union. Marriage is a covenant by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and love directed toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. The Church’s teaching also respects a natural bond of marriage when two non-baptized persons enter a union. These beliefs are rooted in Jesus Christ’s teachings in the Gospels, the writings of Saint Paul, and centuries of Christian tradition. The Church holds that a couple’s marital bond is sealed by God and does not end, even if the emotional and physical relationship has ended in civil divorce. Moreover, the Catholic Church shares the belief of other religious bodies and of society that sacramental marriage is not just the private affair of a couple, but rather is a public reality, affecting civil and relig
