point — Gury-Ballerini, Compendium of Moral Theology (8th ed., 1884)
Point X. On the Impediment of Age
- The impediment of age consists in a defect of age sufficient for fulfilling the duties of matrimony. It invalidates the matrimony of the prepubescent by ecclesiastical law 1, as is gathered from chapters 7, 10, and 14, On the Betrothals of the Prepubescent, etc.
1 That puberty is required only by ecclesiastical law is the common doctrine with St. Thomas (In IV Sentences, distinction 36, question 1, article 5). The reason is that, by the law of nature, beyond consent nothing more is required for the contract of matrimony than bodies capable of it, even if they are not proximately capable. Hence it follows that the marriages of prepubescent persons who have the use of reason are valid among unbelievers, who are not subject to the laws of the Church, unless they are prohibited and invalidated among them by a special law. See Schmalzgrueber, book 4, title 2, nos. 48-49.
It likewise follows from this that the Pontiff, for the good of peace or another just cause, can dispense even with the faithful so that they may contract matrimony below the years of puberty. This is also established by the authority of Nicholas I, chapter Ubi non est 2, On the Betrothals of the Prepubescent, and is confirmed by examples of dispensations of this kind which St. Pius V, Clement VIII, and Gregory XV granted. See Schmalzgrueber, l.c., nos. 50-52, who nevertheless skillfully gives the reason why cohabitation must not be permitted before puberty. Indeed, Reiffenstuel (book 4, title 2, no. 11), with Barbosa, Gonzalez, Suarez, and others, teaches as sufficiently probable that even a Bishop can dispense for a most urgent, especially public, cause, for example, for the good of peace, especially if the contracting parties are near the years of puberty and it is doubtful whether bodily maturity supplies for age, concerning which you have various opinions of the Doctors in St. Alphonsus, book 6, no. 1065.
Puberty, moreover, is attained according to Canon law for females when the twelfth year has been completed, and for males when the fourteenth year has been completed 2.
2 The reason for the differing age for females and males is taken from the fact that the power of generation is accustomed both to begin and to cease earlier in females than in males, as Gonzalez, on chapter 3, On the Betrothals of the Prepubescent, Reiffenstuel, same title, no. 3, and Schmalzgrueber, same title, nos. 45-47, note.
Nevertheless, this is excepted in the law: provided that bodily maturity does not supply for age. This is understood of those prepubescent by age who are already mature in bodily powers, or capable of generation, and who otherwise can sufficiently understand the burden of the conjugal bond 3.
3 Since matrimony is valid by the natural law even though the contracting parties are not yet proximately capable of the conjugal act, as was said above, and ecclesiastical law requires nothing except the completion of that established age, there is no reason why a matrimony could be considered invalid if the legitimate age is indeed present, but the man cannot yet carnally unite with the woman or beget. What is to be done in this case, see St. Alphonsus, book 6, no. 1066.