Canon 1095 and the dignitas connubii: the role of consent, incapacity, and psychic anomalies in cases of matrimonial nullity
| Autor | Roberto Rosas |
| Cargo | Instructor of Law at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, USA |
| Páginas | 349-387 |
349 348 IURIS TANTUM NO. 23 2012 IURIS TANTUM NO. 23 2012
CANON 1095 AND THE DIGNITAS CONNUBII: THE ROLE
OF CONSENT, INCAPACITY, AND PSYCHIC ANOMALIES IN
CASES OF MATRIMONIAL NULLITY*
CANON 1095 Y EL DIGNITAS CONNUBII: EL PAPEL DEL
CONSENTIMIENTO, INCAPACIDAD Y ANOMALÍAS
PSÍQUICAS EN CASOS DE NULIDAD MATRIMONIAL
ROBERTO ROSAS*
ABSTRACT
This article refers to the Canon Law that affects the marriages of Catholics across
the world and aims to shed light on and clarify Canon 1095, 2o and 3o by mak-
ing clear how the causes of defect of discretion of judgment and the inability to
* Roberto Rosas is an Instructor of Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, USA
(since 2000 and Visiting Professor since 1994). Professor Rosas received his Juris Doctor degree from the
Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico where he previously obtained the degree of Electrical Mechanic En-
gineer. Professor Rosas’ postgraduate studies include Harvard Graduate School of Business, University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, and Oxford Centre for Management Studies in England. He also studied graduate
courses on comparative law of Mexico and the United States as well as on canon law. He is a doctor of law
(J.S.D.) from the Universidad Europea de Madrid. He has also been a professor of law at the Universidad de
later established a solo practice. Professor Rosas has spoken at several conferences in Mexico, Spain, and the
United States and is the author of numerous essays on the laws of those countries. He was elected director
(2003-2006 and 2009-2011) where his main role was advising the President of Mexico in the formulation of
the policies concerning the Mexican communities in the United States.
The author would like to thank Melissa K. Jeffries, B.A., M.A., 2013 J.D. candidate, and Enrique A. Maciel-
Matos, B.A., M.A., J.D., research assistants for their valuable contribution to this article.
A special note of appreciation is due Monsignor Juan José García Failde for his express permission for the
use of the materials in his books for this article.
351 350 IURIS TANTUM NO. 23 2012 IURIS TANTUM NO. 23 2012
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KEYWORDS:
RESUMEN:
Este ensayo estudia las normas del derecho canónico que inciden en el matrimonio
de los católicos latinos en el mundo y explora el consentimiento como causa
incapacidad para contraer matrimonio de quienes tienen un grave defecto de dis-
creción de juicio acerca de los derechos y deberes esenciales del matrimonio que
mutuamente se han de dar y aceptar, así como de quienes no pueden asumir las
obligaciones esenciales del matrimonio por causas de naturaleza psíquica, respecti-
vamente, para llegar a la declaración de nulidad matrimonial en un sentido o en otro.
También se estudia el papel de la instrucción Dignitas Connubii cuyos destina-
tarios directos son los tribunales diocesanos e interdiocesanos de la Iglesia católica
latina en orden exclusivamente al tratamiento y resolución de causas de nulidad
matrimonial. Esta instrucción, aun estando subordinada a la ley, tiene el declarado
Más ampliamente dicho, la Dignitas Connubii es una instrucción netamente
-
ticia en la interpretación y aplicación correctas del derecho vigente en la materia,
con una especial mención del derecho matrimonial, con la que los jueces y demás
ministros de los tribunales eclesiásticos «sean como llevados de la mano» en el
desempeño de su tarea.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Matrimonio, consentimiento, nulidad matrimonial,
impedimentos, grave defecto de discreción de juicio e incapacidad de asumir las
obligaciones esenciales del matrimonio
INTRODUCTION
As seen through the eyes of religious poetry, marriage is the great symbol
symbols in the works of St. John of the Cross, a fourteenth century mystic and
poet. These three symbols together provide the tone and atmosphere of the mystical
brooch and the culmination of the fervor of the consummated love in marriage
and is the perfect gradual illumination of the dark night.”1
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cient cause,2 which is consent. Canon 1057 §1 clearly and resolutely indicates “[t]
law, makes marriage; no human power is able to supply this consent.”3
According to Canon 1057 §2: “[m]atrimonial consent is an act of the will
by which a man and a woman mutually give and accept each other through an
irrevocable covenant in order to establish marriage,” it is understood that the
consent of each party consists of a voluntary act through which each gives and
accepts of each other. Its goal being to create a marriage, the act of consent should
be considered as human, intelligent and free. It is not limited to a present com-
mitment but serves as a promise of future for life.
the following points: (1) the essential elements of marriage; (2) the basic principle
of matrimonial consent; (3) the nature of consent; (4) acts through which consent
is formed; (5) matrimonial nullity in canon law; (6) canon law and the Dignitas
Connubii; and, (7) recent jurisprudence concerning matrimonial nullity. On this
intellectual journey readers are invited to discover, through the study of the above-
mentioned points, the terra incognita, as described by Daniel Boorstin, “[t]he
most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge.”4 This
unknown territory is the complete understanding of canonical matrimonial consent.
Although this work is aimed at all those interested in the study of matrimonial
canon law (academics, lawyers, and/or students), its focus is essentially for those
with various roles in the tribunals of the Church, knowing the matrimonial causes
in favor of the people of God. It aims to shed light on and clarify canon 1095, 2o
and 3o by making clear how the causes of defect of discretion of judgment and
the inability to assume the essential obligations due to some sort of psychic disor-
nullity. Additionally, it discusses the role of the instruction Dignitas Connubii as
a tool intended to intended to help judges and other ministers of tribunals of the
Church who are entrusted with hearing causes of nullity of marriage. Its provisions
support the juridical structure of the marriage nullity process and encourage adherence
1 SAN JUAN DE LA CRUZ. Obra Poetica (Miguel de Santiago Editions 1977).
2 Aristotle argued that, in order to understand an object, especially changes that the object might undergo, one
has to understand its four causes. According to Aristotle, the of an object is “equivalent to that
which causes change and motion to start or stop.” (citing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_causes#cite_note-3).
3 Canon Law Society of America, Code of Canon Law, Latin-English Edition, New English Translation 335
(Libreria Editirice Vaticana 1998).
4 DANIEL J. BOORSTIN, The Discoverers: A History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself 12
(Random House 1983).
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