Your Catholic Family Belongs Here.
Membership Is FREE.
What if your next step in growing your family’s faith cost nothing? Join the World Catholic Education Alliance (WCEA) for FREE and explore 10,000+ Catholic lessons and 4,300+ downloadable resources for your home, classroom, or school.
Built on the work of Catholic Online School—with 2.2 million student enrollments across 193 countries—our mission is simple: free, world-class Catholic education for anyone, anywhere.
Your family belongs here. Become a member today.
Relationship
FREE Catholic Classes
(CARNAL AND SPIRITUAL)
The theologians understand by relationship in general a certain connexion of persons established either by nature or by the civil or canon law. Hence they distinguish three kinds, natural, legal and spiritual.
With legal relationship we are not here concerned.
Natural or carnal relationship originates in carnal intercourse of man and woman, whether marital or not. It is twofold: consanguinity and affinity.
Spiritual relationship has been introduced by ecclesiastical law. It is associated with the administration of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. It runs in each case between the minister and the recipient of the sacrament and also between the sponsors on the one hand and the recipient and his parents on the other. According to the existing discipline it operates as a diriment impediment of marriage between the persons named. (See AFFINITY; CONSANGUINITY; MARRIAGE.)
Come Grow With Us
Sign up and walk the Catholic journey with millions around the world.
Receive inspiring emails on saints, daily readings, and free faith-building resources—no cost, ever.
Catholic Online Is Free. But We Need Your Help.
Please Watch
- 7 Morning Prayers
- Mysteries of the Rosary
- Litany of the Bl. Virgin Mary
- Popular Saints
- Popular Prayers
- Female Saints
- Saint Feast Days by Month
- Stations of the Cross
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Michael the Archangel
- The Apostles' Creed
- Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony
- Pray the Rosary
Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.