English version

Can. 111ⁿ  § 1. With the reception of the Baptism, the child of the Latin Church is assigned to the son of parents who belong to it or, if one does not belong to him, both parents, by mutual agreement, chose to have their offspring baptized in the Latin Church; if common agreement is lacking, it is assigned to the ritual church to which the father belongs.

§ 2. If only one of the parents is Catholic, it is assigned to the Church to which the Catholic parent belongs.

§ 3. Anyone baptizing who is fourteen years old may freely choose to be baptized in the Latin Church or another ritual Church; In this case, you belong to the Church of your choice.

Can. 112ⁿ After receiving the Baptism, the following are assigned to another Church sui iuris:

1° Who has obtained permission from the Apostolic See.

2° a spouse who, upon marrying or during marriage, has declared that he or she wishes to pass on to the ritual church of the other spouse; But when marriage is dissolved, it can return freely to the Latin Church.

3° the children of the persons referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, before the age of fourteen, as well as, in mixed marriages, the children of the Catholic party who have legitimately moved to another ritual church; At that age, they can return to the Latin Church.

§ 2. Even the prolonged practice of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of another ritual church does not entail membership in that same church.

§ 3. Each passage to another ritual Church takes effect from the moment of the declaration made in the presence of the Ordinary in the place of the Church itself, or of the parish priest himself, or of the priest delegated by one of them and two witnesses, unless a rescript of the Apostolic See does not determine otherwise; and make the endorsement in the book of Baptisms.

Can. 535ⁿ § 1. Each parish is to have parochial registers, that is, those of baptisms, marriages, deaths, and others as prescribed by the conference of bishops or the diocesan bishop. The pastor is to see to it that these registers are accurately inscribed and carefully preserved.

§ 2. In the book of baptism are also noted the inscription to a ritual Church or the passage to another Church, besides the confirmation and everything that has to do with the canonical state of the faithful, in relation to marriage, safeguarding the provisions of the can. 1133, the adoption, the sacred orders, as well as the perpetual profession issued in a religious institute; and always refer to these endorsements in the certificates of baptism.

§ 3. Each parish is to have its own seal. Documents regarding the canonical status of the Christian faithful and all acts which can have juridic importance are to be signed by the pastor or his delegate and sealed with the parochial seal.

§ 4. In each parish there is to be a storage area, or archive, in which the parochial registers are protected along with letters of bishops and other documents which are to be preserved for reason of necessity or advantage. The pastor is to take care that all of these things, which are to be inspected by the diocesan bishop or his delegate at the time of visitation or at some other opportune time, do not come into the hands of outsiders.

§5. Older parochial registers are also to be carefully protected according to the prescripts of particular law.

Can. 694ⁿ §1. A religious must be held as dismissed ipso facto from an institute who:

1° has defected notoriously from the Catholic faith;

2° has contracted marriage or attempted it, even only civilly;

3° has been illegitimately absent from the religious house, pursuant to can. 665 §2, for 12 consecutive months, taking into account that the location of the religious himself or herself may be unknown.

§ 2. In such cases the Major Superior, with his or her Council and without hesitation, having gathered the evidence, must issue the statement of the case so that the dismissal may be juridically constituted.

§ 3. In the case envisaged by §1 n. 3, in order to be juridically constituted, this statement must be confirmed by the Holy See; for institutes of diocesan right the confirmation rests with the Bishop of the principal See.

Can. 729ⁿ Dismissal of a member of the institute proceeds pursuant to cann. 694 §1, 1 and 2; and 695. The constitutions may also define other causes for dismissal, provided that they be commensurately serious, external, attributable and juridically proven, and that the procedure established in cann. 697-700 also be observed. The provisions of can. 701 are applicable to the dismissed member.

Canon 750ⁿ – § 1. Those things are to be believed by divine and catholic faith which are contained in the word of God as it has been written or handed down by tradition, that is, in the single deposit of faith entrusted to the Church, and which are at the same time proposed as divinely revealed either by the solemn Magisterium of the Church, or by its ordinary and universal Magisterium, which in fact is manifested by the common adherence of Christ’s faithful under the guidance of the sacred Magisterium. All are therefore bound to avoid any contrary doctrines.

§ 2. Furthermore, each and everything set forth definitively by the Magisterium of the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals must be firmly accepted and held; namely, those things required for the holy keeping and faithful exposition of the deposit of faith; therefore, anyone who rejects propositions which are to be held definitively sets himself against the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Can. 868ⁿ §1. For an infant to be baptized licitly:

1° the parents or at least one of them or the person who legitimately takes their place must consent;

2° there must be a founded hope that the infant will be brought up in the Catholic religion subject to § 3; if such hope is altogether lacking, the baptism is to be delayed according to the prescripts of particular law after the parents have been informed of the reason.

§ 2. An infant of Catholic parents or even of non-Catholic parents is baptized licitly in danger of death even against the will of the parents.

§ 3. The child, the daughter of non-Catholic Christians, is lawfully baptized if the parents or at least one of them, or one who legitimately occupies their place, so requests and if it is physically or morally impossible for them to turn to their own minister.

Can. 1008ⁿ By divine institution, some of the Christian faithful are marked with an indelible character and constituted as sacred ministers by the sacrament of holy orders. They are thus consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade, they may serve the People of God by a new and specific title.

Can. 1009ⁿ §1. The orders are the episcopate, the presbyterate, and the diaconate.

§ 2. They are conferred by the imposition of hands and the consecratory prayer which the liturgical books prescribe for the individual grades.

§ 3. Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity.

Can. 1086ⁿ § 1. A marriage between two persons, one of whom was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, and the other of whom is not baptized, is invalid.

§ 2. A person is not to be dispensed from this impediment unless the conditions mentioned in cann. 1125 and 1126 have been fulfilled.

§ 3. If at the time the marriage was contracted one party was commonly held to have been baptized or the baptism was doubtful, the validity of the marriage must be presumed according to the norm of can. 1060 until it is proven with certainty that one party was baptized but the other was not.

Can. 1108ⁿ § 1. Only those marriages are valid which are contracted before the local ordinary, pastor, or a priest or deacon delegated by either of them, who assist, and before two witnesses according to the rules expressed in the following canons and without prejudice to the exceptions mentioned in cann. 144,  1112, §1, 1116, and 1127, §§1-2.

§ 2. The person who assists at a marriage is understood to be only that person who is present, asks for the manifestation of the consent of the contracting parties, and receives it in the name of the Church.

§ 3. Only the priest validly assists marriage either between two eastern parties or between a Latin party and an Eastern Catholic or non-Catholic party.

Can. 1109ⁿ The Ordinary of the place and the parish priest, unless by decision or decree have been excommunicated or banned or suspended from office or as such declared by virtue of the office, within the limits of their own territory, validly assist the Marriages not only of the subjects but also, provided that at least one of the two parties is assigned to the Latin Church, of the non-subjects.

Can. 1111ⁿ § 1.  The Ordinary of the place and the parish priest, provided they validly exercise their office, may delegate to priests and deacons the even general faculty of attending marriages within the limits of their own territory, safeguarding can. 1108 §3.

§ 2. To be valid, the delegation of the faculty to assist at marriages must be given to specific persons expressly. If it concerns special delegation, it must be given for a specific marriage; if it concerns general delegation, it must be given in writing.

Can. 1112ⁿ § 1. Where priests and deacons are lacking, the diocesan Bishop, having previously obtained the assent of the Episcopal Conference and the leave of the Holy See, may delegate lay people to attend marriages, safeguarding can. 1108 §3.

§ 2. A suitable lay person is to be selected, who is capable of giving instruction to those preparing to be married and able to perform the matrimonial liturgy properly

Can. 1116ⁿ § 1. If a person competent to assist according to the norm of law cannot be present or approached without grave inconvenience, those who intend to enter into a true marriage can contract it validly and licitly before witnesses only:

1° in danger of death;

2° outside the danger of death provided that it is prudently foreseen that the situation will continue for a month.

§ 2. In either case, if some other priest or deacon who can be present is available, he must be called and be present at the celebration of the marriage together with the witnesses, without prejudice to the validity of the marriage before witnesses only.

§ 3. In addition to what is established in §1, paragraphs 1 and 2, the Ordinary of the place may grant any Catholic priest the power to bless the marriage of the faithful Christians of the Eastern Churches who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. If they ask for it spontaneously, and, provided that, nothing stands in the way of the valid and lawful celebration of marriage. The same priest, if it is prudently possible, informs the competent authority of his non-Catholic Church.

Can. 1117ⁿ The form prescribed above must be observed if at least one of the parties contracting the marriage was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 1127 § 2.

Can. 1124ⁿ Marriage between two baptized persons, one of whom was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it after baptism, and the other a member of a Church or ecclesial community not in full communion with the Catholic Church, cannot be celebrated without the express permission of the competent authority.

Can. 1127ⁿ § 1. As to the form to be used in mixed marriage, the provisions of can. 1108. If, however, the Catholic party enters into marriage with another non-Catholic part of the Eastern rite, observance of the canonical form of the celebration is necessary only for legality; but, for validity, the intervention of a priest is required, observing the other prescriptions required by law.

§ 2. If grave difficulties hinder the observance of canonical form, the local ordinary of the Catholic party has the right of dispensing from the form in individual cases, after having consulted the ordinary of the place in which the marriage is celebrated and with some public form of celebration for validity. It is for the conference of bishops to establish norms by which the aforementioned dispensation is to be granted in a uniform manner.

§ 3. It is forbidden to have another religious celebration of the same marriage to give or renew matrimonial consent before or after the canonical celebration according to the norm of §1. Likewise, there is not to be a religious celebration in which the Catholic who is assisting and a non-Catholic minister together, using their own rites, ask for the consent of the parties.

Canon 1371ⁿ – The following are to be punished with a just penalty:

1° a person who, apart from the case mentioned in canon 1364 § 1, teaches a doctrine condemned by the Roman Pontiff, or by an Ecumenical Council, or obstinately rejects the teachings mentioned in canon 750 § 2 or in canon 752 and, when warned by the Apostolic See or by the Ordinary, does not retract;

2° a person who in any other way does not obey the lawful command or prohibition of the Apostolic See or the Ordinary or Superior and, after being warned, persists in disobedience.

Part III Certain Special Processes

Title I. Marriage Processes

Art. 1 – The Competent Forum and Tribunals

Can. 1671ⁿ § 1. Marriage cases of the baptized belong to the ecclesiastical judge by proper right.

§ 2. Cases regarding merely the civil effects of marriage belong to a civil magistrate, unless the particular law establishes that such cases, if carried out in an incidental or accessory manner, can be recognized by and determined by an ecclesiastical judge.

Can. 1672ⁿ. In cases regarding the nullity of marriage not reserved to the Apostolic See, the competencies are: 1° the tribunal of the place in which the marriage was celebrated; 2° the tribunal of the place in which either or both parties have a domicile or a quasi-domicile; 3° the tribunal of the place in which in fact most of the proofs must be collected.

Can. 1673ⁿ § 1. In each diocese, the judge in first instance for cases of nullity or marriage for which the law does not expressly make an exception is the diocesan bishop, who can exercise judicial power personally or through others, according to the norm of law.

§ 2. The bishop is to establish a diocesan tribunal for his diocese to handle cases of nullity of marriage without prejudice to the faculty of the same bishop to approach another nearby diocesan or interdiocesan tribunal.

§ 3. Cases of nullity of marriage are reserved to a college of three judges. A judge who is a cleric must preside over the college, but the other judges may be laypersons.

§ 4. The bishop moderator, if a collegial tribunal cannot be constituted in the diocese or in a nearby tribunal chosen according to the norm of § 2, is to entrust cases to a sole clerical judge who, where possible, is to employ two assessors of upright life, experts in juridical or human sciences, approved by the bishop for this task; unless it is otherwise evident, the same single judge has competency for those things attributed to the college, the praeses, or the ponens.

§ 5. The tribunal of second instance must always be collegiate for validity, according to the prescript of the preceding § 3.

§ 6. The tribunal of first instance appeals to the metropolitan tribunal of second instance without prejudice to the prescripts of cann. 1438-1439 and 1444.

Art. 2 – The Right to Challenge a Marriage

Can. 1674ⁿ § 1. The following are qualified to challenge a marriage: 1° the spouses; 2° the promoter of justice when nullity has already become public, if the convalidation of the marriage is not possible or expedient.

§ 2. A marriage which was not accused while both spouses were living cannot be accused after the death of either one or both of the spouses unless the question of validity is prejudicial to the resolution of another controversy either in the canonical forum or in the civil forum.

§ 3. If a spouse dies while the case is pending, however, can. 1518 is to be observed.

Art. 3 – The Introduction and Instruction of the Case

Can. 1675ⁿ. The judge, before he accepts a case, must be informed that the marriage has irreparably failed, such that conjugal living cannot be restored.

Can. 1676ⁿ § 1. After receiving the libellus, the judicial vicar, if he considers that it has some basis, admits it and, by a decree appended to the bottom of the libellus itself, is to order that a copy be communicated to the defender of the bond and, unless the libellus was signed by both parties, to the respondent, giving them a period of fifteen days to express their views on the petition.

§ 2. After the above-mentioned deadline has passed, and after the other party has been admonished to express his or her views if and insofar as necessary, and after the defender of the bond has been heard, the judicial vicar is to determine by his decree the formula of the doubt and is to decide whether the case is to be treated with the ordinary process or with the briefer process according to cann. 1683-1687. This decree is to be communicated immediately to the parties and the defender of the bond.

§ 3. If the case is to be handled through the ordinary process, the judicial vicar, by the same decree, is to arrange the constitution of a college of judges or of a single judge with two assessors according to can. 1673, § 4.

§ 4. However, if the briefer process is decided upon, the judicial vicar proceeds according to the norm of can. 1685.

§ 5. The formula of doubt must determine by which ground or grounds the validity of the marriage is challenged.

Can. 1677ⁿ § 1. The defender of the bond, the legal representatives of the parties, as well as the promoter of justice, if involved in the trial, have the following rights: 1° to be present at the examination of the parties, the witnesses, and the experts, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 1559; 2° to inspect the judicial acts, even those not yet published, and to review the documents presented by the parties.

§ 2. The parties cannot be present at the examination mentioned in §1, n. 1.

Can. 1678ⁿ § 1. In cases of the nullity of marriage, a judicial confession and the declarations of the parties, possibly supported by witnesses to the credibility of the parties, can have the force of full proof, to be evaluated by the judge after he has considered all the indications and supporting factors, unless other elements are present which weaken them.

§ 2. In the same cases, the testimony of one witness can produce full proof if it concerns a qualified witness making a deposition concerning matters done ex officio, or unless the circumstances of things and persons suggest it.

§ 3. In cases of impotence or defect of consent because of mental illness or an anomaly of a psychic nature, the judge is to use the services of one or more experts unless it is clear from the circumstances that it would be useless to do so; in other cases the prescript of can. 1574 is to be observed.

§ 4. Whenever, during the instruction of a case, a very probable doubt arises as to whether the marriage was ever consummated, the tribunal, having heard both parties, can suspend the case of nullity, complete the instruction for a dispensation super rato, and then transmit the acts to the Apostolic See together with a petition for a dispensation from either one or both of the spouses and the votum of the tribunal and the bishop.

Art. 4 - The Judgment, its Appeals and its Effects

Can. 1679ⁿ. The sentence that first declared the nullity of the marriage, once the terms as determined by cann. 1630-1633 have passed, becomes executive.

Can. 1680ⁿ § 1. The party who considers himself or herself aggrieved, as well as the promoter of justice and the defender of the bond, have the right to introduce a complaint of nullity of the judgment or appeal against the sentence, according to cann. 1619-1640.

§ 2. After the time limits established by law for the appeal and its prosecution have passed, and after the judicial acts have been received by the tribunal of higher instance, a college of judges is established, the defender of the bond is designated, and the parties are admonished to put forth their observations within the prescribed time limit; after this time period has passed, if the appeal clearly appears merely dilatory, the collegiate tribunal confirms the sentence of the prior instance by decree.

§ 3. If an appeal is admitted, the tribunal must proceed in the same manner as the first instance with the appropriate adjustments.

§ 4. If a new ground of nullity of the marriage is alleged at the appellate level, the tribunal can admit it and judge it as if in first instance.

Can. 1681ⁿ. If a sentence has become effective, one can go at any time to a tribunal of the third level for a new proposition of the case according to the norm of can. 1644, provided new and grave proofs or arguments are brought forward within the peremptory time limit of thirty days from the proposed challenge.

Can. 1682ⁿ § 1. After the sentence declaring the nullity of the marriage has become effective, the parties whose marriage has been declared null can contract a new marriage unless a prohibition attached to the sentence itself or established by the local ordinary forbids this.

§ 2. As soon as the sentence becomes effective, the judicial vicar must notify the local ordinary of the place in which the marriage took place. The local ordinary must take care that the declaration of the nullity of the marriage and any possible prohibitions are noted as soon as possible in the marriage and baptismal registers.

Art. 5 - The Briefer Matrimonial Process before the Bishop

Can. 1683ⁿ. The diocesan bishop himself is competent to judge cases of the nullity of marriage with the briefer process whenever:

1° the petition is proposed by both spouses or by one of them, with the consent of the other;

2° circumstance of things and persons recur, with substantiating testimonies and records, which do not demand a more accurate inquiry or investigation, and which render the nullity manifest.

Can. 1684ⁿ. The libellus introducing the briefer process, in addition to those things enumerated in can. 1504, must: 1° set forth briefly, fully, and clearly the facts on which the petition is based; 2° indicate the proofs, which can be immediately collected by the judge; 3° exhibit the documents, in an attachment, upon which the petition is based.

Can. 1685ⁿ. The judicial vicar, by the same decree which determines the formula of the doubt, having named an instructor and an assessor, cites all who must take part to a session, which in turn must be held within thirty days according to can. 1686.

Can. 1686ⁿ. The instructor, insofar as possible, collects the proofs in a single session and establishes a time limit of fifteen days to present the observations in favor of the bond and the defense briefs of the parties, if there are any.

Can. 1687ⁿ § 1. After he has received the acts, the diocesan bishop, having consulted with the instructor and the assessor, and having considered the observations of the defender of the bond and, if there are any, the defense briefs of the parties, is to issue the sentence if moral certitude about the nullity of marriage is reached. Otherwise, he refers the case to the ordinary method.

§ 2. The full text of the sentence, with the reasons expressed, is to be communicated to the parties as swiftly as possible.

§ 3. An appeal against the sentence of the bishop is made to the metropolitan or to the Roman Rota; if, however, the sentence was rendered by the metropolitan, the appeal is made to the senior suffragan; if against the sentence of another bishop who does not have a superior authority below the Roman Pontiff, appeal is made to the bishop selected by him in a stable manner.

§ 4. If the appeal clearly appears merely dilatory, the metropolitan or the bishop mentioned in § 3, or the dean of the Roman Rota, is to reject it by his decree at the outset; if the appeal is admitted, however, the case is remitted to the ordinary method at the second level.

Art. 6 - The Documentary Process

Can. 1688ⁿ. After receiving a petition proposed according to the norm of can. 1677, the diocesan bishop or the judicial vicar or a judge designated by him can declare the nullity of a marriage by sentence if a document subject to no contradiction or exception clearly establishes the existence of a diriment impediment or a defect of legitimate form, provided that it is equally certain that no dispensation was given, or establishes the lack of a valid mandate of a proxy. In these cases, the formalities of the ordinary process are omitted except for the citation of the parties and the intervention of the defender of the bond.

Can. 1689ⁿ § 1. If the defender of the bond prudently thinks that either the flaws mentioned in can. 1688 or the lack of a dispensation are not certain, the defender of the bond must appeal against the declaration of nullity to the judge of second instance; the acts must be sent to the appellate judge who must be advised in writing that a documentary process is involved.

§ 2. The party who considers himself or herself aggrieved retains the right of appeal.

Can. 1690ⁿ. The judge of second instance, with the intervention of the defender of the bond and after having heard the parties, will decide in the same manner as that mentioned in can. 1688 whether the sentence must be confirmed or whether the case must rather proceed according to the ordinary method of law; in the latter event the judge remands the case to the tribunal of first instance.

Art. 7 – General Norms

Can. 1691ⁿ § 1. In the sentence the parties are to be reminded of the moral and even civil obligations binding them toward one another and toward their children to furnish support and education.

§ 2. Cases for the declaration of the nullity of a marriage cannot be treated in the oral contentious process mentioned in cann. 1656-1670.

§ 3. In other procedural matters, the canons on trials in general and on the ordinary contentious trial must be applied unless the nature of the matter precludes it; the special norms for cases concerning the status of persons and cases pertaining to the public good are to be observed.