I can recall being told in my SSPX marriage classes that we “should have nothing to do with the Novus Ordo” because “they reversed the ends of marriage.” This is a fairly standard grievance in traditionalist circles against the “Novus Ordo church”- that traditionally, it was understood that having children and educating them was the primary end of marriage, and that mutual spousal support was the secondary end. This is reflected in the 1917 Code of Canon Law (canon 1013.1, to be precise). The implication of these ends being reversed was that children were now somehow "secondary" to your well-being, thereby weakening the importance of sacramental matrimony and providing a clear explanation for low birth rates, high divorce rates, and so on. (Yet another classic example of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, but that's for another time.)
There is no disputing the fact that when the 1983 Code of Canon Law was promulgated, it did indeed list these two things in a different order (which is also quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in its section on matrimony):
Can. 1055 §1. The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring, has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized.
There is a conspicuous difference, however; the terms “primary” and “secondary” have been dropped. In an effort to better express the Church’s teaching on marriage and not imply that one is more important than the other, the Church elected not to use these terms. As the Catechism says in paragraph 2366, "[C]onjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment."
But this article does not intend to get into the details of canon law and specific verbiage. It intends to respond to the claim that the church had always taught one thing and then changed her teaching. Is this actually the case? Does the 1917 Code of Canon Law reflect the norm of the Church at the time?
The often-cited encyclical Casti Connubii ("On Christian Marriage") from 1930, written by Pope Pius XI, says the following:
23. […] This outward expression of love in the home demands not only mutual help but must go further; [it] must have as its primary purpose that man and wife help each other day by day in forming and perfecting themselves in the interior life, so that through their partnership in life they may advance ever more and more in virtue, and above all that they may grow in true love toward God and their neighbor, on which indeed “dependeth the whole Law and the Prophets.”
24. This mutual molding of husband and wife, this determined effort to perfect each other, can in a very real sense, as the Roman Catechism teaches, be said to be the chief reason and purpose of matrimony, provided matrimony be looked at not in the restricted sense as instituted for the proper conception and education of the child, but more widely as the blending of life as a whole and the mutual interchange and sharing thereof.
Note several things here:
1) Pius XI says that matrimony is to be viewed "as a whole", as a "blending of life," and that to exclusively focus on having children and educating them would be to understand matrimony in a "restricted" sense.
2) He draws his teaching from the Roman Catechism, another name for the Catechism of the Council of Trent. What does it specifically say on this subject?
The Motives And Ends Of Marriage
We have now to explain why man and woman should be joined in marriage. First of all, nature itself by an instinct implanted in both sexes impels them to such companionship, and this is further encouraged by the hope of mutual assistance in bearing more easily the discomforts of life and the infirmities of old age.
A second reason for marriage is the desire of family, not so much, however, with a view to leave after us heirs to inherit our property and fortune, as to bring up children in the true faith and in the service of God.”
This is not only reflected in the Catechism of Trent. It is also in the Baltimore Catechism, which is the definitive Catechism in traditionalist circles. Volume 3, Question 1010 says the following:
Q. 1010. What are the chief ends of the Sacrament of Matrimony?
A. The chief ends of the Sacrament of matrimony are:
To enable the husband and wife to aid each other in securing the salvation of their souls (i.e., mutual support)
To propagate or keep up the existence of the human race by bringing children into the world to serve God (i.e., procreation and education of children)
To prevent sins against the holy virtue of purity by faithfully obeying the laws of the marriage state.
A final example, and one that may be the most surprising, is that it is also listed in this order in the Catechism of Pope St Pius X!
The Sacrament of Matrimony
Nature of the Sacrament of Matrimony
1 Q. What is the sacrament of Matrimony?
A. Matrimony is a sacrament, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, which creates a holy and indissoluble union between a man and woman, and gives them grace to love one another holily and to bring up their children as Christians.
These examples should suffice to prove that the wording of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and of the current catechism is not without precedent, and in fact is supported by sources that traditionalists champion for their orthodoxy. This is not a "change in teaching" or a "reversal". It is clearly consistent with the Church's previous teachings.
A couple thoughts;
1. What would be the purpose of subordinating the union of the spouse to the procreation of Children?
2. Whatever the answer to the question to point 1 the practical application is you easily make any woman into a machine to endlessly give birth to children thus using her for an ulterior motive not appreciating her person as a gift from God.
3. It feels like a need to be clear, black and white white, basically a hierarchy of goods with in marriage. Though it’s pretty well known if spouses neglect their marriage it affects the family dynamic as they may begin to resent one another and that’s not a great environment to raise children in. Yet…