This course is an introduction to the history and development of the Church’s understanding and teachings on marriage of which God is the author. This will include: How Church law has changed in the last 100 years, away from a juridical to a personalist, spiritual understanding of marriage as a path to holiness (Lumen gentium, V) and “an intimate partnership of life and love” (Gaudium et spes, no. 48ff); marriage as covenant, sacrament and “vocation in service to communion” (Catechism, no. 1602 ff) is central to the call and mission of the domestic church. This will include an understanding of the goods of marriage, including the quality of intimacy and communication, as well as the quality of freedom required for valid consent to mutual self-giving of the vows. The contemporary challenges of fertility management, divorce, and related concerns will be addressed within the overall charism of marriage as covenant love, a living sign of Christ and his church.
Semester Offered