Natural marriage is the name given in

Catholic canon law The canon law of the Catholic Church ("canon law" comes from Latin ') is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Cath ...

to the covenant "by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring", and is distinguished from a

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the rea ...

al or

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

marriage, in which the two parties involved are

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost i ...

.Adolfo N. Decanáy, ''Canon Law on Marriage'' (Ateneo University Press 2000
), p. 2

Valid baptism a condition for Christian marriage

Since only the baptized can receive the other sacraments, the marriage of someone who has accepted

Christian beliefs Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global populati ...

but has not been

is non-sacramental. Similarly, the marriage of a person whose baptism the Catholic Church judges to be

invalid Invalid may refer to: * Patient, a sick person * one who is confined to home or bed because of illness, disability or injury (sometimes considered a politically incorrect term) * .invalid, a top-level Internet domain not intended for real use As ...

is a non-sacramental natural marriage. Examples of such baptisms considered invalid are those of the

Mormons Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into sever ...

and the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

. A marriage of two baptized

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, even if the church or churches they belong to and they themselves deny that marriage is a sacrament, and even if they contract marriage only civilly and not in church (they are not bound to observe the form that is obligatory for Catholics), is a sacramental marriage, not a merely natural marriage.

Transformation into sacramental marriage

The marriage that a non-baptized person, of whatever religion or belief, contracts, even with a baptized person, is a non-sacramental natural marriage. However, if the non-baptized person or persons are later baptized, the existing marriage automatically becomes sacramental and no longer merely natural.Can. 1055 §2
1983 Code of Canon Law

Conditions for natural marriage

If a Catholic marries a non-Catholic, the marriage is subject to Catholic canon law on impediments to marriage. If no Catholic is involved, the only impediments that apply are impediments affecting the very definition of marriage (such as if consent, diversity of sex, ability to consummate the marriage are lacking, or in the presence of an already existing marriage bond) and impediments that are considered part of natural law (such as a father-daughter relationship).Code of Canon Law, canon 11
/ref> Any marriage that is non-monogamous (

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is marr ...

),Can. 1055 §1
1983 Code of Canon Law non-heterosexual (

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

), or involves non-humans (

zoophilia Zoophilia is a paraphilia involving a sexual fixation on non-human animals. Bestiality is cross-species sexual activity between humans and non-human animals. The terms are often used interchangeably, but some researchers make a distinction b ...

) is an invalid attempt at marriage according to

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

Natural marriage and divorce

"The Catholic Church does not recognize or endorse civil divorce of a natural marriage as of a sacramental marriage".Sebastian S. Karambai, ''Ministers and Ministries in the Local Church'' (St Pauls BYB 2005
), p. 411, footnote 38 However, a natural marriage, even if consummated, can be dissolved by the Church when to do so favours the maintenance of the faith on the part of a Christian, cases of what has been called

Pauline privilege The Pauline privilege ( la, privilegium Paulinum) is the allowance by the Roman Catholic Church of the dissolution of marriage of two persons not baptized at the time the marriage occurred. The Pauline privilege is drawn from the apostle Paul's ...

and

Petrine privilege Petrine privilege, also known as the privilege of the faith or favor of the faith, is a ground recognized in Catholic canon law allowing for dissolution by the Pope of a valid natural marriage between a baptized and a non-baptized person for the sa ...

. In these cases, which require intervention by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, the Church admits real divorce, actual dissolution of a valid marriage, as distinct from the granting by merely human power of a divorce that, according to Catholic theology, does not really dissolve the marriage bond.

References

{{Types of marriages, state=autocollapse Catholic theology and doctrine Marriage in Christianity Catholic matrimonial canon law