Part IIIa SupplementMatrimonyQuestion 50
Impediments to Matrimony
- What hinders or prevents a marriage between certain persons is called an impediment. Some impediments hinder marriage;they prevent it if it has not yet been contracted, yet do not dissolve it if it has already occurred. Other impedimentsabsolutely prevent marriage between the parties, thus making it impossible for them to enter upon a valid contract of marriage, atleast without dispensation. The first type of impediment is called prohibiting; the second type is called diriment. The word diriment means “utterly destroying.”
Full Summa Text · III Suppl., Q. 50
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