MARRIAGE IMPEDIMENTS 219 



to be indissoluble, is not to be rendered soluble for frivo- 

 lous reasons. 



2. Slavery is given in Moral Theology as the second 

 diriment impediment. It makes a marriage between a 

 slave and a free person, who is ignorant of the condition 

 of the other party, impossible. Whilst an error about the 

 qualities or conditions of a person does not nullify a mar- 

 riage, as stated above, the Church has wisely made an 

 exception in setting up this impediment, because a slave 

 is subject entirely and in all things to the will of his mas- 

 ter, which is adverse to the marriage rights of a free man. 

 Now-a-days slavery is practically abolished nearly every- 

 where, and hence this impediment hardly counts. 



3. Grave fear, through which a person is unjustly 

 forced to marry, is another impediment which nullifies 

 marriage. Marriage is of such importance that it re- 

 quires full liberty of action. 



4. A person must also be of proper age in order to be 

 able to contract a valid marriage. The age limit has been 

 changed by Canon 1067 of the new Code, according to 

 which (§1) males cannot validly marry before they have 

 completed their sixteenth and females their fourteenth 

 year. The same canon (§2) exhorts pastors to deter 

 young people from getting married until they have 

 reached the age usual in their country. 



5. Another diriment impediment is mentioned in Canon 

 1068, viz., impotence, if it precedes marriage and is per- 

 manent, whether it be known to the other party or not, 

 or whether it renders the other unable to cohabit prop- 

 erly with anybody or only with the intended spouse. If 

 there is any doubt about the existence of this impediment 

 the marriage is not to be hindered. Neither does sterility 

 prevent marriage according to the same Canon. 



