The Family Code of the Philippines defines marriage as – a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered under the law to establish conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and are subject to stipulations.

It is true to affirm that the purposes of marriage may not necessarily be for procreation or for the partners to have children, but it may also be only for companionship, as when the parties pass the age of procreation, they can still get married. This includes a situation where an old man who is impotent and is not capable of having a child is permitted to marry.

The first essential requisite for marriage is the legal capacity of the contracting parties, which includes age, sex, and gender and is free from any impediment to marriage. Regarding age, contracting parties between 21 and 25 must present written consent from their father, mother, or legal guardian to the marriage.

In the Family Code of the Philippines, the formal requisites of marriage include the authority of the solemnizing officer, a valid marriage license, and a marriage ceremony that takes place with the appearance of the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer (in the presence of two witnesses of legal age). Whether performed by Philippine consular officers or local religious or civil authorities, records of marriages shall be kept and transmitted to the Philippine Civil Registrar General.

Article 4 of the Family Code of the Philippines states that the absence of any essential and formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio(void from the very start) except as stated in Art. 35 (2). An irregularity in the formal requisites shall affect the validity of the marriage, but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally, and administratively liable.

Marriages exempted from the marriage license requirement are marriages in articulo mortis. An instance of this is when two persons serving in the military as combat troops during the war could contract marriage without a license.

A marriage license is valid for 130 days and will be automatically canceled at the end of its validity. A non-valid license means a non-valid marriage.

No particular form of the ceremony is required, but the appearance of the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and their personal declaration that they take each other as husband and wife in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age is required. The marriage ceremony shall be solemnized publicly

Marriages are always presumed valid until proven otherwise. Marriages between two baptized Christians are sacramental, while marriage between a baptized Christian and a non-baptized Christian is not sacramental.

The three elements that make the marriage valid are legal capacity, consent, and canonical form. The canonical form is the constitutive procedure for celebrating the marriage of the three elements.

The word dirimens means “separating” – something that is “opposed to the validity of the matrimonial contract.” Impediments are imposed on whomever it is appropriately applied to guarantee the good of the entire community and to avoid damage being inflicted either personally or directly on a partner.

In the direct line of consanguinity, marriage is invalid between all ancestors in the 5th and all descendants in the 4th degree. In case of doubt, a marriage is never permitted (by a presumption of regularity) for the partners who are related by consanguinity to any degree of the direct line or the second degree of the collateral line.

Matrimonial consent should be evaluated in cognitive, volitive, and somatic dimensions. The cognitive dimension consists of errors in a person and certain qualities expected of the person.

The psychosomatic dimension of marriage should involve a normal personality and a sound state of mental health. This dimension states that those without sufficient reason cannot contract marriage.

In a mixed marriage, the Catholic partner must declare his/her readiness to remove all dangers to his/her faith. This requires the Catholic partner to make a serious and sincere promise to do all in his/her power not to compromise his/her faith during marriage and have the children of the marriage baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church.

16. One of the three things required to educate children in chastity is to help them understand and discover “their own vocation to marriage or to consecrated virginity. This aims to preserve the Kingdom of Heaven in harmony with and respecting their attitudes and inclinations and the gifts of the Spirit.”

17. Education on human sexuality must also emphasize its responsible exercise within the context of marriage. Human sexuality is essentially an intimate dimension of being human, but seen from the perspective of God’s plan, it is an expression of both the physical and spiritual communion of husband and wife to collaborate in God’s plan for procreation.

According to Roger Hock, human sexuality refers to a complex area of study that focuses on certain partial aspects of humans as sexual beings. This includes such topics as sexual anatomy and responses, sexual feelings and behaviors, and intimate relationships.

19. Contemporary evolutionary theorists view behavior as an interaction between evolved mechanisms and environmental influence. Sociobiologists view human sexual behaviors as the product of natural selection in evolution and thus view these behavioral patterns as being genetically controlled.

20. Learning theory emphasizes how sexual behavior is learned and modified through reinforcements and punishments according to principles of operant conditioning. On the other hand, exchange theory highlights the role of rewards and costs in relationships.

21. Queer theory challenges the gender binary and the sexual orientation binary, arguing that gender expression and sexual orientation are both dimensions along which individuals may not vary. The critical theory focuses on the social construction of categories, how they are applied to people, and the consequences for individuals and society.

22. The Catholic Church ‘s teaching on Human Sexuality is anchored on the truth that God is love and is love in himself as he lives a mystery of personal, loving communion. This serves as the basis of sexuality as a vocation to love and communion.

V23. Sexuality, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his/her body and soul.” This implies that sexuality touches all dimensions of human life.

V24. When St. John Paul II said that “the vocation of the human person is realized in marriage and virginity or celibacy,” he referred to the three states of life as man’s vocation. In the context of marriage, it involves total self-giving of man and woman to each other.

V25. It is true to say that “sexuality is realized in a truly human way only if it is an integral part of the love by which man and woman commit,” it implies that sexuality can only be meaningful in the context of love between man and woman. This means that “it is not something biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human person as such.”

V26. We can affirm that “our creation as male and female and our longing for communion is ‘the fundamental fact’ of human existence.” This means that we cannot separate human life from the experience of sexuality and love in both man and woman.

V27. The body, and it alone, can make visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. This means that the body was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden in God [God‘s love for man], thus to be a sign of it.

V28. St. John Paul II affirms that a person is good, and love is the only proper and adequate attitude. This means that a person's value should be measured according to the value of pleasure.

V29. According to St. John Paul II, every person is called to live a chaste life, whether single, married, or celibate. This virtue implies a deep respect and admiration for the person and the gifts of our sexuality and sex.

V30. The stage of courting when the couple needs to reveal themselves is pledging. The stage when a new community is created in the person is confirmation.

V31. One of the basic points to remember in dating is to know your intentions. It also demands setting one's boundaries.

V32. Marriages that cannot be demonstrated in the ecclesiastical court unless divulged, although it may be legally or simply proven.

V33. By nature, this impediment can never cease.

V34. This impediment applies to all marriages, such as impotence or previous bond.

V35. This impediment is established positively by God through the Revelation and thus can never be granted dispensation.

36. Ji-ho, a 15-year-old Filipino Catholic, has been dating Ji-ha, a 13-year-old Filipino Catholic. They had been dating for two months and were already having premarital sex. Four months later, Ji-ha missed her period and, with a pregnancy test kit, found out she was pregnant. She told her parents about it. They told Ji-ho and Ji-ha to marry to ensure the child had a father and a mother. Can they validly marry in the Church?

37. Jessie was born with a rare condition. His sexual organ was not fully developed, and despite several surgeries, his organ could still not function. Rachel knew about Jessie’s condition but loved him so much that she agreed to marry him. Can they validly marry according to Philippine civil law?

38. Adam, a devout Catholic, works in Saudi Arabia. There, he met Eve, a Muslim. After a two-year relationship as girlfriend and boyfriend, they decided to marry. Adam wants their marriage to be celebrated in the Catholic Church. Can they validly marry in the Catholic Church?

39. After ten years as an ordained priest, John bumped into Jane, his former girlfriend. After going out with her several times, he fell in love with her again. He wanted to marry her but also loved his ministry as a priest and could not bear the thought of leaving it. Can John contract a valid marriage with Jane pending the dispensation of the Holy See?

40. Sr. Ji-hyun made her perpetual profession in 2010. In 2013, she met Jun, who approached her for some advice. Their meetings became frequent, and their relationship developed. Jun confessed his feelings to her. She also admitted that she has learned to love him. In 2014, she asked the Holy See for permission to live outside the convent for a year. There, she continued meeting Jun. After six months, she finally decided to marry him. Can they marry validly according to the Philippine Civil Law?

41. Park Hun, Ye-jin's longtime secret admirer, kidnapped her to marry her. He threatened to kill her if she refused to marry him. Ye-jin’s fearfully agreed to marry him. Park Hun made her promise to convince the priest that she was marrying him voluntarily. He had been assured of her promise, so he arranged their marriage in the nearby Catholic parish. Can they marry validly in the Catholic Church and the Philippine Civil Law?

42. Ji-won, a married man, is in an illicit affair with Lee, who is also married. They poisoned their respective spouses so that they could marry each other. What impediment is specified in this case narrative?

43. According to Pope St. Paul VI, this is a divine gift through which married couples participate and collaborate with God’s creation of love and new life.

44. A philosophical notion that celebrates man as an absolute arbiter between right and wrong.

45. A systematically analyzes the meaning of gender that favors the place of women in contemporary society.

46. This results from the fact that the human person is a limited being, not self-sufficient, and therefore, putting it most objectively, needs other beings.

47. Feelings that arise spontaneously from one person towards another. It often begins suddenly and unexpectedly.

48. A type of dating typically nonexclusive, one or both individuals may also have dating relationships.

49. A type of dating that is much more serious than casual dating and is normally perceived as an exclusive relationship.

50. This is a public announcement of the couple's intentions to marry in the future.