Consent Under Special Aspects

We have seen that marriage consent cannot be expressedin the future tense; the spouses must accept each other here andnow when they utter their consent. This is so even if an oath isadded to the words of promise. For a promise, with or without anadded oath, expresses what has not yet happened. A marriage happensat the moment consent is given and expressed.

A consent to future marriage, even with an oath, andeven if followed by carnal use or marital rights, does not make atrue marriage.