NFP and Marriage Consent


 
 
Will the Catholic Church marry a couple that has decided to remain voluntarily childless by using natural family planning?

Answer

Valid consent is what makes a valid marriage. Essential to valid consent in marriage is openness to children (bonum prolis). If one (or both) of the parties to a marriage have excluded this essential intention of marriage, the consent would be invalid, even though the means by which they achieved that end were not immoral.