VETITUM ECCLESIAE. — This expression, according to the proper meaning of the words, would indicate any prohibition imposed by the Church upon the faithful; but in canonical language it has been used principally in matrimonial matters.
Before the CIC, V. marriage, together with the closed season, betrothal, and the vow. It could have a general character, in which case it was established by the Holy See; thus, for example, it was forbidden for anyone to contract marriage without the banns having first been published; children under parental authority were forbidden to marry without the consent or counsel of their parents; mixed marriages were forbidden. In particular cases, a prohibition could be imposed upon certain persons by the Pope, by a Sacred Congregation, or by the bishop, for serious and reasonable reasons; for example, to prevent scandals, public harm, or grave enmities, or because of the suspicion that some diriment impediment existed or that harm might be caused to third parties. In all these cases, if the marriage had been celebrated notwithstanding the impediment of the prohibition, whether general or particular, the marriage itself was valid, but illicit.
In the new matrimonial legislation, introduced by the decree Ne temere and retained by the CIC, V. E. is no longer an impediment, not even a prohibitory one, but is retained in the form of advice, a grave admonition, a command, or a practical rule, which does not affect the validity of the marriage. The Holy See, however, and it alone, could attach to the prohibition an irritant clause.
Even today there are prohibitions established generally for all and particular prohibitions. The former are contemplated by the CIC; the latter may be imposed in individual cases either by the Holy See—that is, by the Pope or by the Sacred Congregations dealing with matrimonial matters—or by the Ordinaries. All these prohibitions, however, are temporary, so that, once the circumstances, reasons, or will that gave rise to them have changed, the prohibition ceases to have any effect.
General prohibitions are those indicated in cann. 1065 and 1066. The first admonishes the faithful not to contract marriage with persons who have fallen away from the Catholic faith, although they have not joined any non-Catholic sect, or who are enrolled in societies condemned by the Church. These are not, properly speaking, mixed marriages, but they present almost equal dangers. The prohibition therefore ceases either when the person returns to the faith or when the guarantees required in cases of mixed marriages are provided. The second canon enjoins the parish priest not to assist at the marriage of a public sinner or of a person notoriously subject to a censure who has not first approached Confession or has refused to be reconciled with the Church. Once the scandal has been repaired, the prohibition ceases. As can be seen, in both cases the cessation of the prohibition depends upon the will of the contracting parties. Other general prohibitions concern the marriages of young people: these are the prohibitions forbidding the parish priest to assist at the marriage of those who have not yet reached the age determined by the customs of the region (can. 1069 § 2), or of minors who wish to marry without the knowledge of, or against the reasonable will of, their parents (can. 1034).
A particular or personal prohibition established by the Holy See is, for example, the clause sometimes added to a dispensation from a ratified and non-consummated marriage, in the words «vetito transitu ad alias nuptias inconsulta S. Congregatione» or «S. Sede», when doubt remains as to impotence or another cause of nullity. This prohibition is included in the rescript of grace issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments for dispensations obtained from the Holy Father by that Congregation, or in a judgment of the tribunal of the Sacred Roman Rota, following a pontifical audience, when the proceedings yield proof of non-consummation rather than of the nullity of the marriage, or by the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church, for the faithful of the Eastern rite, when either of the two aforementioned cases occurs; this prohibition may be removed once the doubt that occasioned it has been dispelled.
The CIC (can. 1039 § 1) grants the Ordinaries the power to establish prohibitions for their subjects, wherever they may be, but in particular cases and temporarily, that is, only for as long as the just cause that occasioned them persists. Thus the Ordinaries sometimes forbid a marriage in order to prevent a scandal; they prohibit its celebration in the afternoon hours or in a private house; or they defer the granting of the clearance in order to ascertain more fully that no causes of nullity, or other dangers or difficulties, exist.
The parish priest, lacking jurisdiction in the external forum, cannot properly establish prohibitions; but in practice he may refuse to assist at a marriage when he judges that there is a serious reason for preventing or postponing II. In certain cases, however, he must refer the matter to the Ordinary.