Dictionary
A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
ADOPTION, CANONICAL
The act by which a person, with the approval of public authority, takes as his own the child of another. Where the civil law considers adoption an impediment to marriage, the Church accepts this provision and prohibits the marriage accordingly, either as invalid or illicit, depending on the civil law. Dispensations, however, are granted for just reasons.
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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