Overview
- The note defines marriage as a unique and exclusive union between one woman and one man, expressed biblically as becoming one flesh.
- It emphasizes that marital sexuality serves a unitive purpose that enriches spouses’ mutual belonging and is not reducible to procreation.
- Polygamy, adultery and polyamory are rejected as based on the illusion that intensity comes from a succession of partners.
- The document acknowledges legitimate personal spaces within marriage and highlights the distinction between marital unity and indissolubility.
- Written by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández with Monsignor Armando Matteo and approved by Pope Leone XIV, the guidance arrived as media noted its timing alongside a European court ruling on recognizing same‑sex marriages contracted abroad.