PUBBLICAZIONI MATRIMONIALI
Publications of marriage banns are the means by which the Church ensures that the intention of two faithful to contract marriage between themselves is made publicly known, so that any impediments may be discovered (can. 1022 ff.).
The sacrament of Matrimony is of social interest, and its publicity is as necessary as the guarantee of its validity. To prevent the contracting of a null marriage, which would be detrimental to its dignity and a profanation of it, any impediments to the contract must be removed beforehand, whether according to the natural-divine order or the ecclesiastical order. Hence the preliminary inquiry conducted from the earliest times of the Church, of which the dissemination of the notice is a part and the banns a form.
The manner of conducting the banns was not uniform throughout the Church at first, but was left to the judgment of the bishops of the various regions. The current method originated in the diocese of Paris in the 13th century. It was prescribed that the marriage to be celebrated should be published in the church and that all the faithful should be invited to report any impediments of which they were aware to the Curia. Gradually this system spread to other dioceses, until Pope Innocent III prescribed it for the whole Church at the Fourth Lateran Council (can. 51: Hefele-Leclerq, V, 1373-74). The Council of Trent confirmed it again and defined it more precisely (sess. XXIV, c. 1 de ref. matr.).
According to the Code of Canon Law, the general rule is that the banns should be published by the parish priest of the spouses, that is, the one who prepares the marriage process or preliminary inquiry (can. 1023 § 1). If the spouses belong to the same parish, it suffices that the banns be published in that parish alone; otherwise, they must be published in both parishes. But if one of the spouses has lived in another place for six months after puberty or for a shorter period sufficient to contract an impediment, then it is prescribed that the banns should also be published in that place (can. 1023 § 2-3).
The parish priest cannot omit the banns even if he is certain that no impediments exist in the case, nor are civil banns sufficient. Nevertheless, they are prohibited by the Code of Canon Law when the marriage is one of conscience, on account of the secrecy, and in marriages celebrated with a dispensation from the impediment of mixed religion or disparity of cult (can. 1026). They may be omitted in the case of marriages of reigning or royal princes on account of the notoriety of the persons, and when the marriage cannot be deferred without serious inconvenience and there is no time to request a dispensation from the Ordinary (to whom the power of dispensation ordinarily belongs, can. 1028): this may occur in cases of danger of death, in which the sick person must rectify some abnormal situation, or in other cases, though these are very rare.
The banns must be published on three consecutive feast days or Sundays, within the church, during the festive Mass or another function with the attendance of the people (can. 1024). Instead of the traditional oral publication, the Ordinary may substitute the affixing of the names of the spouses to the doors of the church for a period of at least eight days, provided that during this time two feast days of precept are included (can. 1025). Moreover, the Ordinary, in his prudence, for just causes and provided that he is certain in another way that no impediments exist, may dispense from one, two, or even all three of the banns, according to the urgency and circumstances.
All the faithful who know of the existence of a matrimonial impediment are bound in conscience to report it as soon as possible and before the marriage to the parish priest or the Ordinary (can. 1027). This obligation exists even if the banns are dispensed, and neither kinship nor natural secrecy, even if sworn, excuses from II. Nevertheless, the obligation ceases not only when a grave harm would accrue to the person revealing an occult impediment (such as professional secrecy for priests, doctors, lawyers, etc.) or to relatives (infamy, serious maltreatment, etc.), but also when the report 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 report serves to provoke a more thorough inquiry. It is evident that sacramental seal dispenses from the obligation to report. The manner of reporting impediments is left to the discretion of the reporting faithful, who, if he does not wish to do so orally, may use a written note or even another person; he may request the secrecy of his name.
The legal efficacy of the banns lasts only six months; once this period has elapsed without the marriage being celebrated, they must be repeated (can. 1030 § 2).
Similar to ecclesiastical banns are civil banns, which serve for so-called civil marriages and, in Italy, for concordatory marriages. In the latter case, they are an essential condition for the transcription of such marriages for civil effects. They ordinarily take place before the ecclesiastical celebration and, in certain cases, even after; they may also, upon request, be dispensed by the Procurator of the Republic. Civil banns are made only by affixing the names of the spouses to the doors of the town hall for at least eight days, including two consecutive Sundays, and are valid for the following 180 days.