Spouse’s OnlyFans Account Factors into Marriage Nullification Case
By Diego López Marina
Spanish family lawyer Enrique Sainz recently highlighted a significant ruling by a Church marriage tribunal in Spain, which annulled a marriage due to the wife maintaining an OnlyFans account. This platform primarily hosts self-created pornographic content that subscribers pay to access.
In a video posted on Instagram on July 1, Sainz explained that the account was created before the marriage, was not disclosed to the husband, and continued post-marriage. Upon discovering his wife’s active account with erotic content, the husband sought annulment from the Church marriage tribunal.
“To understand this ruling, you must know that marriage in the Church obliges the couple to remain faithful, be open to children, and commit for life. If any of these are excluded at the time of marriage, the marriage is invalid, thus qualifying for annulment,” Sainz elaborated.
The Catholic Church does not permit divorce, so an annulment signifies that the marriage was invalid from the start. In this case, the tribunal ruled that the wife had violated Canon 1101 of the Code of Canon Law by excluding her fidelity at the marriage’s inception. Despite her claim that the account was merely a way to earn money without being sexually explicit, the court deemed that she excluded fidelity by continuing the account.
Canon Law Expert Analysis
Father Luis Gaspar, an expert in canon law and former judge at the Interdiocesan Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Lima in Peru, provided further insight into the annulment. For a Catholic marriage to be valid, it must have no impediments, comply with liturgical regulations, and be entered with free and voluntary consent.
Consent can be vitiated if it is simulated or not fully free, such as under the influence of substances. In this case, the wife’s concealment of the OnlyFans account constituted a violation of Canon 1101, which pertains to the internal consent aligning with the marriage vows. Gaspar emphasized that the concealment affected the total gift of self, impacting fidelity and breaking the moral and sacramental bond of “one flesh.”
The tribunal’s ruling followed an exhaustive study, concluding with moral certainty that fidelity, an essential property of marriage, was lacking.
The Annulment Process
Declaring a marriage null involves a rigorous and well-defined process. Efforts must first be made to save the marriage. If unsuccessful, the case is presented to the ecclesiastical court for detailed study. Proof of the hidden conduct, such as screenshots and witness statements, is required.
Gaspar, with over 15 years of experience in the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Lima, has seen various cases leading to annulment, including hidden homosexuality and undisclosed drug habits. These cases illustrate how different scenarios can vitiate marital consent.
This story was initially published by ACI Prensa, EWTN Norway’s Spanish-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN Norway.
Photo credit:
Credit: Khánh Hmoong via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
