BANNS OF MARRIAGE. - They are the means by which the Church intends that the intention of two of the faithful to contract the bond of marriage between themselves be brought to public knowledge, for the discovery of any impediments (can. 1022 ff.).
The sacrament of Matrimony is of social interest, and publicity of it appears as obvious as the guarantee of its validity. So that a null marriage may not be contracted to the detriment of dignity and with profanation of it, any impediments to the contract must beforehand be removed, both according to the natural-divine order and according to the ecclesiastical one. Hence the preliminary inquiry carried out from the earliest times of the Church, of which the divulging of the notice is a part and the banns a form.
The manner of publishing the marriage banns was at first not uniform throughout the whole Church, but was left to the judgment of the bishops of the various regions. The present one originated in the diocese of Paris in the 13th century. It was prescribed that the marriage to be celebrated be published in the church and that all the faithful be invited to denounce to the Curia any impediments of which they were aware. Little by little this system spread to other dioceses, until Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council (can. 51; Hefele-Leclercq, V, 1373-74) prescribed it for the whole Church. The Council of Trent sanctioned it anew and determined it better (sess. XXIV, c. 1 de ref. matr.).
According to the CIC it is a general rule that the banns must be published by the parish priest of the spouses, that is, the one who prepares the preliminary process or premarital inquiry (can. 1023 § 1). If the spouses are from the same parish, it is enough that they be published only in that one; otherwise they must be published in both parishes. But if one of the spouses had resided after puberty in another place for six months or even for a shorter time, but sufficient to be able to contract an impediment, then it is prescribed that the banns also be published in that place (can. 1023 §§ 2-3).
The parish priest cannot omit the banns even if he is certain that in the case there are no impediments, nor on the other hand are civil banns sufficient. Nevertheless they are forbidden by the CIC when it is a matter of a marriage of conscience, given the secrecy, and in marriages that are celebrated with a dispensation from the impediment of mixed religion or of disparity of cult (can. 1026). They may be omitted in the marriages of reigning monarchs or royal princes because of the notoriety of the persons, and when the marriage cannot be deferred without grave inconvenience and there is no time to ask the Ordinary for a dispensation (to whom ordinarily belongs the power to dispense, can. 1028): this can happen in cases of danger of death, in which the sick person must regularize some anomalous situation, or even in other cases, though very rare.
The banns must be published on three consecutive feast days or Sundays, inside the church, during the festal Mass or another function with a gathering of people (can. 1024). In place of the oral publication according to the traditional manner, the Ordinary may substitute the posting of the names of the spouses on the doors of the church for a period of at least eight days, in such a way, however, that during this time two feast days of precept are included (can. 1025). He moreover, in his prudence, for just causes and provided he is certain in another way that there are no impediments, may dispense from one, from two, or even from all three publications, according to the urgency and the circumstances.
All the faithful who know of the existence of a matrimonial impediment are bound in conscience to denounce it as soon as possible and before the marriage to the parish priest or to the Ordinary (can. 1027). This obligation exists even if the banns have been dispensed, and neither kinship nor natural secrecy, even if sworn, excuses it. Nevertheless the obligation ceases not only when from a hidden impediment grave harm would come to the one revealing it (professional secrecy of priests, doctors, lawyers, etc.) or to relatives (infamy, grave mistreatment, etc.), but also when the denunciation would be useless because another has already made it or a dispensation from the impediment has already been obtained. In the case of doubtful impediments, the denunciation serves to prompt a more careful inquiry. It is evident that the confessional seal dispenses from the denunciation. The manner of denouncing impediments is left to the discretion of the faithful person denouncing them, who, if he does not wish to do so orally, may use a writing or even another person; he may request the secrecy of his name. The juridical efficacy of the banns lasts only six months; once these have passed without the marriage being celebrated, they must be repeated (can. 1030 § 2).
Similarly to the ecclesiastical banns, civil banns are also published, which serve for so-called civil marriages and in Italy for concordat marriages. In the latter case they are an essential condition for the transcription of the said marriages for civil effects. They take place ordinarily before the ecclesiastical celebration, and in certain cases also after; they may moreover, upon request, be dispensed by the procurator of the Republic. Civil banns are published only by posting on the doors of the town hall, for at least eight days including two consecutive Sundays, and are valid for the following 180 days.