The Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Concerning the Invalidity of Baptism in the Context of Invalidity of a Mixed Marriage Entered into by a Catholic

Ginter Dzierżon

Abstract

The Author of the presented article discussed the question of the influence of the declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the invalidity of baptism on the invalidity of a mixed marriage entered into by a Catholic. What he showed is that the answers given by this Dicastery of the Roman Curia are of a retroactive character. Therefore, they have an impact on the value of a mixed marriage entered into by a Catholic and a member of a community whose baptism was pronounced invalid. This is because these marriages do not fail under the disposition included in Can. 1124 CIC but under the impediment of disparity of cult (Can. 1086 CIC). This is why in this situation it was not the permission to enter into marriage that should be sought for (Can. 1125 CIC) but the dispensation of disparity of cult (Can. 1086 CIC). In the analysed cases, the necessary rescript was not received, which caused the mixed marriage to be pronounced invalid