Pope Francis conducted a spontaneous marriage ceremony for a Catholic couple living in a civil, non-sacramental marriage during a flight in Chile today.
The Chilean couple, Carlos Ciuffardi and Paula Podest Ruiz, are flight attendants who say that the Pope proposed the idea to them while they sat and chatted with him after a group photo with the plane’s crew.
“When the time came for the group photo of all flight crew with the Pope, he invited us to sit down,” said Ciuffardi to the press afterwards in a video interview.
“He asked us...” Ciuffardi said.
American Canon Lawyer Ed Peters , darling of neo-conservative reactionaries, raised concern that the marriage was contrary to canonical form and may not be valid.
"Based on the reports...I cannot tell whether the ‘wedding’ that the Pope put together for an unsuspecting couple satisfies Church requirements on Marriage, and several other laws impacting the liceity of marriage seem simply to have been disregarded in the event," he wrote.
"As happened several times under earlier administrations, a representative from the Vatican Press Office assures us that 'everything was valid.' Such assertions by canonically unqualified and unauthorized PR staff carry, of course, no weight. Real questions worthy of real answers are still raised by this event," Mr. Peters added.
Well, as a Canon lawyer myself, I feel qualified to respond to Mr. Peters concerns.
The Code of Canon Law requires for marriages to be sacramentally valid that the vows of the couple must be received the local Bishop or Pastor or a clergyman or even layman to whom the local Bishop has delegated the authority (can. 1108 §1) and must take place within a Catholic church unless a dispensation from the law is given by the requisite authority (can. 1118).
However, and a most important “however" indeed, there is no question (except in the mind of Mr. Peters) that the Pope -- by virtue of his Supreme Apostolic Office -- has the authority to dispense from these obligations.
Why did the Pope seem to act so spontaneously?
Ciuffardi told the media that the Pope said to the couple, “Marriage is the sacrament that the world is lacking. Let’s hope that what you have done will be an inspiration to other couples. That’s why I’m doing this.” He also reportedly gave the couple two rosaries as gifts.
The couple has reportedly been living in a merely civil marriage for years and have two children. They claim not to have had a Catholic wedding because the church in which the ceremony would have taken place was damaged in the 2010 earthquake that struck the Santiago area.
But, getting back to Mr. Peter’s contention, it is clear that any Pope can add to, subtract from, and change Canon Law.
Pope Saint John Paul II signed into effect the current Code of Canon Law in 1983. This new Code includes hundreds of changes from the older 1917 Code.
Any Pope at any time can issue changes to these laws of the Church.
So, is the Pope above Canon law? The answer is a qualified “Yes”.
Some “laws” in the Code are direct expressions of magisterial teachings on faith and morals. These are not laws in the traditional sense, since they do not require or forbid some type of behavior. They are so-called “teaching Canons” which relate the doctrines of the Church to the disciplines of the Church.
The Pope cannot change or nullify the dogmas of the Magisterium. He is subject to the definitive teachings of the Church, just as any believer is subject. For each Pope is a disciple of Christ. So the Pope is NOT above those portions of Canon law which directly and correctly state definitive doctrine.
However, if a Pope wished to do so, he could remove any or all of the “teaching Canons”, without harming any truth, since these teachings are all expressed in the magisterial documents of the Church. But he would still be under the authority of those teachings.
Regarding those canons which are a direct expression of teachings on faith or morals, they are not teachings, but disciplines.
These are rules, regulations, instructions, and penalties issued in order to govern the Church dispersed in the world. They are relatively few, and they are fairly easy to read and understand. easy to understand.
The Pope is above all of those Canons in the law which are per se of the law, and not of the teaching authority.
The Pope holds the highest office in the teaching authority of the Church, but he is also a believer and disciple of Christ, so he is subject to that authority.
There is no contradiction in this principle, since the Pope can only teach truths found in Divine Revelation (and also Natural Law). He does not teach from his own mind, but from the mind of Christ.
On the other hand, the temporal authority of the Church is his to administer as he sees fit.
The disciplines of the Church are not truths of Divine Revelation, but judgments of the prudential order and practical decisions on how to organize the people of God. The Pope is not bound to follow those laws of the Church that are per se of the temporal authority, not the teaching authority.
Some commentators argue that the Pope must first change the law, if he wishes to do what it forbids.
Not so.
Whoever is above the law, need not follow the law. If he were required to change the law first, he would not be above it.
And in the case of this specific couple, the Pope provided them a special privilege which did not change Canon Law but dispensed from it for the reasons the Pope explained to the couple themselves.
This is first year Canon Law material, Mr. Peters.
Either your ignorance of these principles or your eagerness to ignore them should be disturbing to all those who choose to give any of your opinions a forum.
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