According to the RCC is it allowed to have more then one wife?

Upvote:6

No, it is not allowed:

Canon 1085 §1. A person bound by the bond of a prior marriage, even if it was not consummated, invalidly attempts marriage.

(Code of Canon Law)

In other words, if you are currently married, you may not marry again. To handle one possible objection, a man may not simultaneously marry multiple women; there are several points both in canon law and in the catechism at which marriage is referred to as being between a man and a woman. Canon 1057, for example, states:

§1. The consent of the parties, legitimately manifested between persons qualified by law, makes marriage; no human power is able to supply this consent.

§2. Matrimonial consent is an act of the will by which a man and a woman mutually give and accept each other through an irrevocable covenant in order to establish marriage.

(emphasis added)

In other words, what makes a marriage a marriage is the consent given between the parties; and this consent can be given only between one man and one woman.

There are indeed several situations such as you describe in the Old Testament; however, it doesn't follow in general that such situations are still acceptable under the New Covenant. Indeed, it isn't clear that even in the Judaism of Jesus' time it was considered acceptable—for example, in his famous discussion about marriage with the Sadducees, both sides appeared to take it as given that the husband would only have one wife at a time.

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