Divine Law and Canonical Sacramental Praxis in Marriage

Abstract

The contribution highlights potential inconsistencies in the interpretation of the binding or non‑binding character of divine law within matrimonial praxis concerning the admission of non‑believers to marriage, the admission of divorced and civilly remarried persons to the Eucharist, and the dissolution of marriage through the vicarious authority of the Roman Pontiff. Across these different practices, the prescriptive force of divine law is in fact construed in divergent ways – at times as strictly imperative, at other times as susceptible to derogation. The essay proposes a possible way to overcome these aporias, grounded in juridical realism, in which favor fidei and favor iuris converge through the ascertainment, in each concrete case, of the res iusta genuinely intended and effected by the spouses.