Aprehendite disciplinam

This proposition was condemned by Bl. Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors:

“71. The form of solemnizing marriage prescribed by the Council of Trent, under pain of nullity, does not bind in cases where the civil law lays down another form, and declares that when this new form is used the marriage shall be valid.”

This should be taken to mean that civil marriages are regarded as null by the Church. These marriages are not valid. Thus, while the state may arrogate to itself the power to declare certain persons married for purposes of tax and other instruments of government, these are not to be regarded by the Catholic as constituting a valid marriage and the Catholic is mistaken to consider these as being in any way pleasing to God.

Thus, when considering the granting of marriage certificates to same-sex couples by the civil authority as shameful and sinful, the Catholic needs to maintain the same or similar attitude towards the civil marriage. To do otherwise is to be inconsistent and irrational.

It evidently takes more than the presence of a male and a female to have a valid marriage.