§ 193. 4) Half-Affinity

[…] from a marriage contracted there arose, between designated persons, established degrees of kinship and affinity, so likewise from a betrothal there arose the corresponding degrees of half-affinity; and as in kinship and affinity there were certain degrees within which marriage was forbidden, so it was likewise in half-affinity. The determination and counting of degrees is the same as in affinity.

By Roman law marriage in half-affinity is forbidden between a son and his father’s betrothed, and conversely between a father and his son’s betrothed; further, between me and my brother’s betrothed; and finally between a betrothed man and the mother of his betrothed.[1] This was adopted by the Church as well, especially if the betrothal had been performed with the corresponding church rite.[2] Today, according to the circular of the synod of the patriarchate of Constantinople of September 1868, marriage is forbidden between a betrothed man and the widowed mother of his deceased betrothed. For example: A was betrothed to G, who is the daughter of the widow B; that betrothed woman G dies, and A cannot take B to wife, that is, the mother of his former betrothed—and conversely—for it is the first degree of half-affinity, since there is one generation between them. If, by canon 98 of the Council in Trullo, the marriage of a girl to another man is held to deserve the same penalty as for adultery, then such a marriage, which would offend the first foundations of both family and social morality, must be subject to an even greater church penalty. By the same circular of the said synod, a betrothed woman cannot marry the son of her deceased betrothed. For example: A was betrothed to the widower B, who has a son G; the betrothed man B dies, and A cannot marry G, since they are in the first degree of half-affinity. Finally, a betrothed woman cannot marry the brother of her betrothed. For example: A was betrothed to B, who has a brother G; that B dies, and A cannot marry G, for they are in the second degree of half-affinity. Beyond the second degree, that is, in the third degree, marriages in half-affinity are permitted.[3] The sense and reason of this marital impediment lie first in the Church’s judgment that betrothal is equal to marriage,[4] and then in the fact that in marriage attention must be paid not only to what is permitted, but also to what is fitting, honorable, and just by nature.[5]

V ⊗ ‿ △ B. A ○ ‿ △̽ G.—A △ ‿ ⊗ B ‿ △̽ V; ○ G.—□ V. A △ ‿ ⊗ B, ○ G.