The Liberation of Lifelong “The Liberation of Lifelong Love:

Church Teaching on Marriage”

Love: Church Teaching on
Marriage Marriage is a universal human institution,
defined—until recently—as the preferred
context for both sexual activity and child-
by Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D.
rearing. Until the last forty years, every
society understood that some contexts for
“The Liberation of Lifelong Love: Church
sex and childbearing were preferable to
Teaching on Marriage” is the opening of my
others.
contribution to a new book called “Women,
Sex & the Church: A Case for Catholic
Opposition to this traditional view of
Teaching.” I realize that many of my readers
marriage has increased in recent times. We
are not Catholic. However, I still
are told that society should not “privilege”
enthusiastically encourage you to consider
one form of relationship or family over any
purchasing this book. Many of the chapters
others. But “privileging” is, by definition,
contain valuable information from the social
the exact point of the marital institution: the
sciences that will be helpful to anyone from
very existence of the institution proclaims
any faith tradition making the case for
that some relationships are more socially
traditional sexual morality.
significant, more socially productive, and
more socially desirable than others. Since
Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike will
the Catholic Church offers one of the richest
better understand Catholic teaching in these
and most robust teachings about marriage,
important areas. As you can imagine, the
the Church has faced particularly strong
secular media doesn’t usually tell the whole
criticism for her teachings.
story! So this book is of value to anyone
who wants to learn for themselves what the
In the current debate between the traditional
Catholic Church teaches about the whole
view that marriage is Something, and the
variety of issues normally called “feminist.”
modern view that marriage is Whatever We
Say It Is, the Catholic Church holds firmly
Because of my agreement with the
to the view that marriage is something in
publisher, I am not able to reprint the entire
particular.
chapter. The extract below gives you a
flavor of the ground I cover in my chapter.
The Church teaches that marriage is the
You can get more information about the
lifelong, sexually exclusive, sacramental
book, Women, Sex & the Church: A Case
union of one man and one woman,
for Catholic Teaching, by clicking the link.
established by the consent of the spouses,
characterized by love and a common life,

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse • 663 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road Suite 222 San Marcos CA 92078
www.jennifer-roback-morse.com • email: drj@jennifer-roback-morse.com • 760/295-9278
©2007 No part of this document may be reproduced or disseminated in any way without the expressed written consent of the
Ruth Institute.
and ordered to the good of the spouses and
the procreation and education of children.
In some cases, the Church teaches that the
separation of spouses may be legitimate, and
even civil divorce can be tolerated. But
remarriage (without annulment) is always
forbidden. According to Catholic teaching,
sexual activity outside of marriage is always
wrong. This includes both adultery (sexual
relations between a married person and
someone other than the spouse) and
fornication (sexual relations between
unmarried persons). Obviously, then, the
Church objects to nonmarital cohabitation,
and out-of-wedlock childbearing.
These, it is safe to say, constitute the “hard
teachings” of the Catholic Church regarding
marriage. Apart from her teaching on
contraception, abortion, and possibly the all-
male priesthood, no other teaching has
caused the Church so much bad publicity
and ill-feeling.
Over the past forty years, many women have
become convinced that marriage is not in
their best interest. Some women believe
marriage is unnecessary. Others think that it
is or has been harmful to them. The views of
women like these, orchestrated, I will argue,
by socialist and other secular feminists, have
been instrumental to weakening the
institution of marriage.
burden of caring for children with far less
support from men than would have been
conceivable in prior ages.
Married women are happier, healthier, more
sexually satisfied, and more financially
secure than their unmarried, cohabiting, and
divorced counterparts.
Moreover, the alternatives to marriage have
been particularly harmful to children, quite
apart from the loss of material support from
their fathers. Since women on the whole
care deeply about the welfare of their
children, the negative outcomes to children
caused by the decline of marriage must also
be counted among the harmful effects on
women.
Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D. is an
economist and the Founder and President of
the Ruth Institute, a nonprofit educational
organization devoted to bringing hope and
encouragement for lifelong married love.
She is also the author of Love and
Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a
Village and Smart Sex: Finding Life-Long
Love in a Hook-Up World.

But the weakening of this foundational

institution has also harmed women in some
distinctive ways. Without a robust culture of
marriage, women have been left with the
Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse • 663 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road Suite 222 San Marcos CA 92078
www.jennifer-roback-morse.com • email: drj@jennifer-roback-morse.com • 760/295-9278
©2007 No part of this document may be reproduced or disseminated in any way without the expressed written consent of the
Ruth Institute.