What are 'non-sacramental' marriages?

Q: I have heard some priests refer to "non-sacramental" marriages on the annulment question. I presume these are civil marriages. Is it so? Or do these marriages become "non-sacramental" due to the various other faults in the couple's status? (Midwest USA)

A: Terms like "sacramental marriage," "non-sacramental marriage," "civil marriage," and "valid marriage" all refer to slightly different things, even though they often involve overlapping concepts.

The Code of Canon Law gives us a basic definition of marriage itself in Canon 1055, when it describes the marriage covenant as that "by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of their whole life, and which of its own very nature is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children." The code goes on to note that marriage is a permanent union (see Canon 1056) which can only be contracted by the free consent of the parties involved (see Canon 1057).

A matrimonial union that includes all the necessary elements -- i.e., the true freedom of the parties, a basic knowledge of what marriage involves, an openness to begetting new life and the honest intention of both parties to enter into a permanent and exclusive relationship -- is called a valid marriage. A valid marriage is essentially a marriage where the wedding "worked," and produced a true bond. In contrast, an attempted marriage where one of these necessary elements was absent would be considered an "invalid" or "null" marriage.

Understood in this way, marriage is an ancient institution, as old as human society itself. Since marriage has existed since the dawn of history, it obviously pre-dates the church and, therefore, also the sacraments. And even today, marriage is not uniquely Christian. God created marriage as part of his creation of humanity in general. Thus, men and women from all cultures and religions can and do enter into true matrimony.

A valid marriage that is not a Christian marriage is a non-sacramental marriage, which is more properly called a "natural marriage." A natural marriage is not a sacramental marriage, but this does not mean that a natural marriage is somehow sinful or bad. It's good to recall that holy Old Testament figures like Abraham and Sarah had a merely natural marriage, as did Mary and Joseph.

But when we are considering Christian marriage, the Code of Canon Law tells us that "(marriage) has, between the baptized, been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament. Consequently, a valid marriage contract cannot exist between baptized persons without its being by that very fact a sacrament" (Canon 1055). So, for Christian spouses, their marriage has essentially been "upgraded" by Christ to include the graces of a sacrament in addition to the goodness found in a natural marriage.

In broad terms, a "civil marriage" simply describes any marriage, religious or not, that is recognized by the secular state government. But the phrase often takes on a particular nuance when applied to Catholics. This is because Catholics, and only Catholics, are bound to observe "canonical form," meaning that Catholics are required to marry in a specifically Catholic ceremony, or else to obtain a special dispensation from their local diocese.

If a Catholic marries in a non-Catholic ceremony without a dispensation from canonical form, then their attempted marriage is not valid in the eyes of God and the church, even if their union is recognized by the secular government. So, for Catholics who are, for example, married by a justice of the peace without the needed dispensation, we might call the resulting invalid union a "merely civil marriage."

Although it might sound surprising, the sacramentality of a marriage is not usually relevant to the work of a marriage tribunal. Typically, a tribunal seeks to investigate only whether or not a true marriage -- that is, either a valid but merely natural marriage, or a sacramental marriage between Christians -- ever took place. Since a non-sacramental marriage can still be a valid marriage, and because the tribunal's concern is with whether the marriage in question was valid, a tribunal generally would not investigate whether a marriage was sacramental.