text:
Talk:Oregano

Pronunciation
I am having several discussions about the pronounciation of the word Oregano.

Aussies pronounce it O ri Garno. non-skips sometimes call it O reg ano

What do others think

 * I've always heard it pronounced "Oh-REH-gah-no".

 * As far as I know, your first pronounciation (the proper pronounciation) is used in Commonwealth countries, and your second is used in the USA. Some more sensible Americans may use the proper pronounciation too, I don't know.  — Anty  ♥

 * Since the English word for oregano comes to us via the Spanish, I stick to o-reh-gah-no. I don't see how one's pronounciation of oregano makes one more or less sensible; American or not. But as usual, other Anglophones have to express negatives feelings towards Anglophone-Americans through nitpicking comments with nothing of substance.

 * Since when did ignorance become a point of view? Pronouncing and spelling incorrectly isn't regional, it's just plain wrong. Stupid american barbarians. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.70.247.123 (talk) 11:24, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

 * Wait... What? The modern form of the word does come to the English language from Spanish, in which we spell the name of the herb "orégano" and pronounce it /o̞ɾe̞ɡäno̞/.  Earlier forms of the herb's name in English, like organy and organum, were derived directly from Latin and are not, to my knowledge, in use today.  So at what point exactly in the borrowing of this word from Spanish to English did it become impermissible or unreasonable to pronounce "oregano" in English with stress on the second syllable, as it is pronounced in the language from which it was taken? --72.225.199.227 (talk) 11:40, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

 * For your information, 83.70.247.123, we Americans did not corrupt the language while you English kept it in its pristine form. The language has been changing wherever it has existed for as long as it has existed.  (Don't we all speak such lousy Anglo-Saxon since those Vikings and Normans came along and polluted it.)  In some respects, American English is actually more conservative than British.  (Where do you suppose all those r's come from that most of us pronounce and most of you now drop?)  Kostaki mou (talk) 17:22, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

I've heard that oregano makes a nice boom and enhances the effect when included in an explosive mixture. Can anyone lend credibility to-or discredit-this idea?--'Net 04:40, 16 Mar 2005 (UTC)

This article says, "Outside the Mediterranean region, oregano is, rather surprisingly, little in use, except among Italian immigrants."

Aside from the sentence being awkward, I have to wonder what the person who wrote it was smoking. Oregano is "little in use" outside the Mediterranean!? Hardly. It's one of the most commonly used spices in the States, in my experience.

moving page
I strongly disagree with this page being moved to Oregano (spice) and have moved it back. -- WormRunner | Talk 06:40, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Matter removed
I removed this from the very end of the article :
 * "cleaning oregano" - For cleaning purposes, leaves ands branches, stems, etc ... can be separated using a double nosed screen.

Can anybody confirm or check? Cheers. --Edcolins 19:16, July 18, 2005 (UTC)

conditio sine qua non?
The article says that oregano is one of the basis of Italian cooking. However, speaking as an Italian, I'd say this is rather a perception of Italian cooking as made outside of Italy. A recent discussion in an Italian cooking-related newsgroup (Message-ID: <83f882dgvdsqcpiapj0pc7n4eo7l56o3nl@4ax.com>, and follow-ups) turned out that most dishes in which oregano is used are based on grilled vegetables, grilled fish, or raw tomato. Only a few kinds of pizza have oregano toppings. More in general, this herb is associated with southern Italian cooking, and is rarely, if ever, used in northern Italian cooking. I think it would be better to use milder words than "conditio sine qua non". Maybe a distinction is needed between Italian cooking as done in Italy vs. abroad, but I'm not expert on the latter. Any comment? Thanks. -- Piero 06:39, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Removed
Removed this section (below); it seems very trivial - MPF 01:38, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

In dried form, oregano bears a similar appearance to marijuana. A popular urban legend is the story of an inexperienced person unwittingly purchasing the spice instead of the drug from an unscrupulous dealer. A reference to this was made in passing in the movie A Few Good Men.
 * Popular culture

 * Lt. Kaffee: "My client bought and smoked a dime bag of oregano. What do you want me to charge him with, possession of a condiment?"

Oregano or Pot Marijuana ... Its name derives from the Greek origanon [ὀρίγανον]: oros [ὄρος] “mountain” + the verb ganousthai [γανοῦσθαι] “delight in”, and can thus be roughly translated as "delight in being high".

See! They ARE related :-D M0ffx 00:13, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

"Joy of the Mountains".
In what language does oregano mean the joy of the mountains? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.227.68.171 (talk • contribs)

None. It's a folk etymology that can be found in hundreds of websites, but there is no demonstrated evidence for it. The allegation is that it comes from the Greek language, where "oros" means mountain and "ganos" means joy. The Oxford English Dictionary says that this an apparent derivation, but stops short of calling it established. See here -dmmaus 02:03, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

"Oregano oil as a medicinal herb."
Suggested lead....

Another key element is carvacrol

Isomeric phenols (primarily carvacrol) in oregano oil in dilutions as low as 1/50,000 destroys Candida albicans, the Aspergillus mold, Staphylococcus, Campylobacter, Klebsiella, E.coli, Giardia, Pseudomonas, and Proteus. Another phenol constituent, thymol, boosts the immune system. These compounds also act as free radical scavengers (shield against toxins) thus preventing further tissue damage while encouraging healing.

Oil of oregano is antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic. It also has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and is an ideal product to use for people who suffer from CFS and/or fibromyalgia. This is not regular oregano, but a wild form (wild mountain oregano, vulgare species) of the spice, which has, until recently, not been available in Canada. Do not use a substitute or oregano from a grocery store because it will have no effect. oil of oregano natural herbal supplement offers a variety of remedies

Oregano Oil benefits

--Caesar J. B. Squitti :  Son of Maryann Rosso and Arthur Natale Squitti 22:22, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

There are always several symptoms that claims for miraculous properties for herbs and their essential oils have been borrowed from a popular aromatherapy 'novel', or have been posted by a supplier: Claims to cure controversial syndromes like CFS or fybromyalgia. Claims to be antiviral. Claims to be a 'free redical scavenger', to be 'antioxidant', or to boost the immune system. The above contribution sadly scores on all counts, and the reference is simply to an over-enthusiastic supplier of complementary remedies... Cjsunbird (talk) 17:28, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

 * The references in Folk medicine link to pages that have no references to Oregano! The links are about Ultimate HGH and Super HGH Booster. The Folk medicine write up maybe correct, but the references do not support what is written there. Someone please fix this problem, I will wait for a fixed, if not done, I will do it later. This ftc.gov ref supports the text some what, but is not listed and is not the same as the ftc.gov write up, it looks like "Ultimate HGH and Super HGH Booster" and Oregano are being put in the same bag, when the ftc.gov write up does not support this treatment. SARS warning at gpo.gov list Oregano. The University of Arizona, study. U.S. National Library of Medicine, report. University of Guilan report on use on chickens. University of Utrecht report. Journal of Advanced Research report. Telecine Guy (talk) 20:00, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Thus, the This "Additional medicinal uses with WP:MEDRS citations." is correct.Telecine Guy (talk) 20:05, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

 * Just noted poor ref tag is from Nov. 2010 ! Also that "Medicinal" text was deleted in 2011, the text probably needed to be deleted, but was never replaced with balanced and referenced text, very sad. I am going fix page, as it looks like no one cares to write balanced and referenced text on the topic. Telecine Guy (talk) 02:04, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

 * Fixed on 7 October 2016. Feedback welcomed, as this is what Wikipedia is about. Telecine Guy (talk) 03:54, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

So some text will return. Telecine Guy (talk) 06:55, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Edits by Zefr.
 * "verbose content", agreed, text by Zefr is now short, but too short:
 * "sources from universities or theses are not WP:SECONDARY," removing all universities ref would remove lots of good text on Wikipedia, should be under research heading.
 * You remove The U.S. National Library of Medicine, ref, which is not an universities.
 * There are adds on TV about some organic farmers using low levels of oregano oil in chickens water as a antibacterial agent. This is not universities theory it is in use.

Cultivation
The title in a section of this article is 'Cultivation and Uses', yet there is no mention of cultivation whatsoever. This whole section purely discusses its uses. Could someone please add information as to oregano's cultivation. Good examples of cultivation sections (in my opinion) can be seen in the basil and parsley articles (and no i didn't write them).

--Purns —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.23.130.14 (talk) 05:21, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The Oil with the long tradition of medicinal benefits and a supreme natural disinfectant is distilled from a "wild oregano" and is not the oregano available in stores, which is either marjoram or a Mexican substitute for oregano. : C. Ingram, The Cure Is In The Cupboard, 1997 Knowledge House, ILL 60089. 66.251.102.206 (talk) 17:33, 9 September 2010 (UTC) R Schep.

What about Oregano Oil?
Oregano oil redirects to this page, but then the page mentions nothing about it. I came here to check if Oregano Oil is just more marketing propaganda or if there is any science behind it. At the very least it should mention that Oregano Oil is sold for its supposed health benefits (Amazon has 400+ Oregano Oil products).

--Karuna8 (talk) 17:10, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Please see my comments above about Oregano as a medicinal herb... Cjsunbird (talk) 17:33, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

 * See above, sorry, you are correct there is not a balanced write up on the topic. Write up should have balance from good studies and references. Telecine Guy (talk) 20:32, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

 * The content added today is over-weighted for significance, WP:UNDUE, and was sourced mainly to university reports or theses which are not WP:SECONDARY sources. The inferences to health effects are from laboratory WP:PRIMARY research, and do not comply with the needed standard of WP:MEDRS. Lastly, the content added was verbose, so I cropped it to succinct statements. --Zefr (talk) 04:50, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

How is Oregano both a Stimulant and a Sedative?
The health benefits paragraph needs a complete rewrite, and a LOT more sources. I'm half tempted to throw a citation needed after every claim in that paragraph. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.37.244.137 (talk) 21:08, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

Toxicity
There is no mention of toxicity whatsoever in the article. Other sources appear to suggest there may be hepatic toxicity when using a concentrated product such as oregano oil, and that it may also have potent sedative effects. It also may irritate skin, or make skin more photosensible allowing the sun to damage the skin more easily. It may also decrease the milk supply of nursing mothers. 66.11.179.30 (talk) 16:56, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Marjoram oils should perhaps be used with caution, as should all concentrated essential oils, but they are all relatively safe and not indicated to cause photo-sensitivity. Hepatic toxicity should not be a problem if an oil is restricted to external use... Cjsunbird (talk) 17:38, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

What is the relationship between the species of....
Thymus vulgaris and this one....???? The question is raised due to the fact that both of them share the prefix of vulgar- in their names --222.64.209.200 (talk) 06:24, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

 * My answer is quite late, but in case you happen to eventually come back, vulgaris means common, to distinguish from less abundant varieties. 66.11.179.30 (talk) 22:30, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Health benefits
I salvaged this code from Origanum, it uses an obsolete taxonomy and should be in the present article. Someone might format it cleanly (it is horrible now, makes the article a mess to edit) and insert a discussion in the above section:

Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 21:36, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Growing Oregano
Don't you think there should be a section on how to grow it, like the optimal soil conditions, etc?--66.176.187.104 (talk) 17:32, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Medicinal
I removed the complete rewrite of the last paragraph of the "Medicinal" section because it removed sources and sourced information, and instead highlighted --Ronz (talk) 18:15, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

 * The old write up was not good. But fixing text is better than deleting it. Did anyone ask for it to be fixed? See above. Telecine Guy (talk) 20:46, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

Oregano is not just Origanum vulgare.
Oregano is not just Origanum vulgare. If you have an article called Oregano, it needs to include all the other species known by that name. Oregano is a common name - and thus has no 'official' species designation. Whoever calls a plant oregano (well within traditions) is therefor equally correct - so this article needs to be rewritten to include all the other species equally. They are sort of mentioned but not equally, and many are missing.

Or move the article to the species O. vulgare. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.202.24.164 (talk) 17:30, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

 * In some ways I agree with you, but the word 'oregano' is most commonly, I think, associated with O. vulgare.

 * The species of the Origanum genus are listed at the genus' article, Origanum, which has many species as red links (that is, with no article yet written). If you are knowledgeable about the subject, you would be very welcome to write some of them. Readers would be better served here having access to knowledge about more than just the herb. Hamamelis (talk) 05:17, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Preservation and Storage

 * Dehydrating Is My Favorite Way to Preserve Oregano
 * Drying: about two weeks air dry, or about an hour in the oven.
 * "need to store them in a dark, dry location to preserve the most flavor. Use glass bottles or sealed plastic containers that are airtight. Light and air will degrade the flavor of the herb. Dry oregano will last for up to six months with best flavor and quality."

 * Freezing: Traditional Ice Cube Method
 * Freezing herbs in oil

 * vinegar preservation

How to preserve? How long do fresh leaves last? Refrigeration? How to dry? Best storage of dried form? Freezing? Preserve in oil? -96.233.20.34 (talk) 14:11, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

References to Research being done on Oregano in relation to MRSA
Zefr,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources_%28medicine%29

"Speculative proposals and early-stage research should not be cited to imply wide acceptance. For example, results of an early-stage clinical trial would not be appropriate in the Treatment section on a disease because future treatments have little bearing on current practice. The results might – in some cases – be appropriate for inclusion in an article specifically dedicated to the treatment in question or to the researchers or businesses involved in it. Such information, particularly when citing secondary sources, may be appropriate in research sections of disease articles. To prevent misunderstanding, the text should clearly identify the level of research cited (e.g., "first-in-human safety testing").

In this case, I haven't over stated this research, just indicated it is existing and occurring. I should think this is an interesting thing for people to read who are interested in oregano. This does not represent medical advice, only information out there in the public sphere which communicates a possible treatment for something that we should ALL be concerned about.

Probrooks (talk) 18:24, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

 * Probrooks: Seems it is adequately stated now with a literature reference indicating its status among the medical community is still preliminary. See this, but the overall literature and quality of journals don't convince that this is significant enough to give oregano visibility as an important agent against MRSA. To acknowledge that consideration is underway as research, I moved the polyphenol discussion to the Chemical section and added a Research subsection. --Zefr (talk) 19:04, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

ok.... you haven't added any citations under anti-bacterial agent. I think it would be worth going into more detail including mentioning MRSA.

Probrooks (talk) 21:13, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

 * I haven't seen any convincing evidence that MRSA is affected by oregano oil, and suggest this concept is WP:UNDUE as speculative and insufficiently confirmed to include it in the article. The Atlantic article and MNT report are too preliminary, diffuse and vague to conclude anything. --Zefr (talk) 03:06, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

 * ok, I'll find more references and add them later, especially as you have not mentioned MRSA or given any citations to where you mention Microbial.

Probrooks (talk) 20:35, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Im sorry — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:5B0:4FC8:6D8:534:B279:F82C:8258 (talk) 21:46, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

How is the english pronunciation of this italian word important ?!
Why don't you just indicate the italian pronunciation, which happens to be [oˈʁeːganoː]? It would also be a good chance for you lot to exercise the 2 vowel sounds you have lost after the Great Vowel Shift (GVS), namely [eː] and [oː]. So 'shifted' according to the GVS logic, they would become [iː] and [uː] - doh! For more insight, read the (usually) last comment (penned by Yours truly) on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Great_Vowel_Shift Contorista (talk) 08:54, 2 December 2023 (UTC)
 * The English pronunciation is important because this is English Wikipedia, and oregano is an English word (borrowed from Spanish orégano not from Italian oregano). It's not a "foreignism" used occasionally in English sources, it is a very common English word found in every English-language dictionary, with English pronunciations shown. By contrast, dragoncello, the Italian word for what is tarragon in English (borrowed from Middle French) is a foreignism, not a word assimilated into English, and there is no English-language pronunciation of it to show, nor to we have any need to mention it at the article Tarragon, since there is no particular connection to Italy. What would be important to include at Oregano at all is the Italian pronunciation, because this an everyday English word since the late 18th century, English didn't get it from Italian, and we don't list translations and pronunciations of things in random languages in Wikipedia articles (that's a job for https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oregano ). The name of oregano is also oregano in various other language; there is nothing special about Italian with regard to this subject.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  10:21, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Oregano


text:
Bobr

Bobr may refer to:

 * Eurasian Beaver
 * Bobr (Berezina), a river in Belarus, tributary of the Berezina
 * Bóbr, a river in the Czech Republic and the southwest of Poland, tributary of the Oder
 * Bobr Air Base in Belarus
 * Bobr (urban-type settlement), an urban-type settlement in Belarus
 * AMZ Bóbr-3, Polish armored reconnaissance vehicle
 * ORP Bóbr (pl), a Polish minesweeper, built in 1958
 * RUSSIAN GUNBOAT Bobr (ru)
 * RUSSIAN GUNBOAT Bobr (ru), later in Estonian navy as EML Lembit (1918}
 * Bóbr (surname)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Bobr


text:
User talk:Perry~enwiki

Welcome to Wikipedia!
Hello Perry, welcome to Wikipedia! Thanks for all your contributions. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them: If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!
 * MediaWiki User's Guide
 * How to edit a page
 * How to write a great article
 * Naming conventions
 * Manual of Style

—Noldoaran (Talk) 05:13, Dec 10, 2003 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
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Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Perry. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Perry~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

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title: User talk:Perry~enwiki


text:
Leander

Leander is one of the protagonists in the story of Hero and Leander in Greek mythology.

Leander may also refer to:

People

 * Leander (given name)
 * Leander (surname)

Places

 * Leander, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community
 * Leander, Louisiana, United States, an unincorporated community
 * Leander, Texas, United States, a city
 * Leander station, a Capital MetroRail commuter rail station
 * Leander, West Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
 * Leander Glacier, Admiralty Mountains, Antarctica

Ships

 * HMS Leander, several Royal Navy ships
 * Leander class (disambiguation), three ship classes
 * HMNZS Leander, a Royal New Zealand Navy light cruiser of World War II, originally HMS Leander of the British Royal Navy
 * Leander, several ships

Other uses

 * Leander Independent School District, Texas
 * Leander High School
 * Leander (video game), a 1991 video game
 * Leander Club, one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, based in Henley-on-Thames, England
 * LMS Jubilee Class 5690 Leander, a preserved steam locomotive
 * Leander (crustacean), a genus of shrimps
 * Nottingham Leander Swimming Club

title: Leander


text:
Pilonidal disease

Pilonidal disease is a type of skin infection which typically occurs as a cyst between the cheeks of the buttocks and often at the upper end. Symptoms may include pain, swelling, and redness. There may also be drainage of fluid, but rarely a fever.

Risk factors include obesity, family history, prolonged sitting, greater amounts of hair, and not enough exercise. The underlying mechanism is believed to involve a mechanical process where hair and skin debris get sucked into the subcutaneous tissues through skin openings called pits. Diagnosis is based on symptoms and examination.

If there is infection, treatment is generally by incision and drainage just off the midline. Shaving the area and laser hair removal may prevent recurrence. More extensive surgery may be required if the disease recurs. Antibiotics are usually not needed. Without treatment the condition may remain long term.

About 3 per 10,000 people per year are affected, and it occurs more often in males than females. Young adults are most commonly affected. The term pilonidal means 'nest of hair'. The condition was first described in 1833.

Signs and symptoms
Pilonidal cysts can be itchy and often very painful, and typically occur between the ages of 15 and 35. Although usually found near the coccyx, the condition can also affect the navel, armpit, the cheek, or the genital region, though these locations are much rarer.

Signs and symptoms may include:

 * Intermittent pain/discomfort or swelling above the anus or near the tailbone
 * Opaque yellow (purulent) or bloody discharge from the tailbone area
 * Unexpected moisture in the tailbone region
 * Discomfort sitting on the tailbone, doing sit-ups or riding a bicycle—any activities that roll over the tailbone area

Some people with a pilonidal cyst will be asymptomatic.

Pilonidal sinus
Pilonidal sinus (PNS): is a sinus tract, or small channel, that may originate from the source of infection and open to the surface of the skin. Material from the cyst drains through the pilonidal sinus. A pilonidal cyst is usually painful, but if it is a draining sinus, the pressure is relieved and patient might not feel pain.

Causes
Hair insertion is the causative agent of pilonidal cysts. An analysis of 624 patients' cyst hair found that 74% of the hair was rootless, and resembled spiky, razor-cut hair rather than intact body hair. One proposed cause is ingrown hair, although hairs found in pilonidal sinus tracts have more often been found to originate from the head.

Excessive sitting is thought to predispose people to the condition, as sitting increases pressure on the coccygeal region.

Trauma is not believed to cause a pilonidal cyst; however, such an event may result in inflammation of an existing cyst; there are cases where this can occur months after a localized injury to the area.

Pilonidal cysts may be caused by a congenital pilonidal dimple.

Excessive sweating can also contribute to the formation of a pilonidal cyst: moisture can fill a stretched hair follicle, which helps create a low-oxygen environment that promotes the growth of anaerobic bacteria, often found in pilonidal cysts. The presence of bacteria and low oxygen levels hamper wound healing and exacerbate a forming pilonidal cyst.

Differential diagnosis
A pilonidal cyst can resemble a dermoid cyst, a kind of teratoma (germ cell tumor). In particular, a pilonidal cyst in the gluteal cleft can resemble a sacrococcygeal teratoma. Correct diagnosis is important because all teratomas require consultation with an oncologist and complete surgical excision, if possible without any spillage.

Treatment
If there is infection, treatment is generally by incision and drainage just off the midline because incisions in the midline have a hard time healing well. Following five simple rules has been known to prevent recurring inflammations for some people and avoid surgery: 1. Avoiding chairs and car seats that put pressure on the coccyx; 2. Being of average weight, preferably with low BMI; 3. Keeping the area clean; 4. Keeping the area dry by wearing exclusively cotton garments; 5. Keeping the area completely hair free, for example, by regularly using an IPL hair removal device.

The evidence for elective treatment of pilonidal sinus disease is poor. The most commonly performed surgery is for the pilonidal sinus complex to be surgically excised with the wound often left open to heal. Post-surgical wound packing may be necessary, and packing typically must be replaced daily for four to eight weeks. In some cases, two years may be required for complete granulation to occur. Sometimes the cyst is resolved via surgical marsupialization.

A 2018 literature review of 740 records of surgeries that included recurrence rates found that primary midline closure surgeries resulted in a 67.9% recurrence rate within 20 years, and recommended that they should be discontinued due to the high recurrence rate. Incision and drainage had a recurrence rate of 25.9% within 2 years, up to 40.2% in 5 years. Phenol treatment has a recurrence rate of 14.1% at 2 years and 40.4% at 5 years.

Surgeons can also excise the sinus and repair with a reconstructive flap technique, such as a "cleft lift" procedure or Z-plasty, usually done under general anesthetic. This approach is especially useful for complicated or recurring pilonidal disease, leaves little scar tissue and flattens the region between the buttocks, reducing the risk of recurrence. This approach typically results in a more rapid recovery than the traditional surgery, however there are fewer surgeons trained in the cleft lift procedure and it consequently may not be as accessible to patients, depending on their location. Meta-analysis shows recurrence rates were lower in open healing than with primary closure (RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.87), at the expense of healing time. Pilonidal cysts can recur, and do so more frequently if the surgical wound is sutured in the midline, as opposed to away from the midline, which obliterates the natal cleft and removes the focus of shearing stress. An incision lateral to the intergluteal cleft is therefore preferred, especially given the poor healing of midline incisions in this region. Minimally invasive techniques with no wound and rapid return to full activities have been reported but await double blind randomised trials.

Another technique is to treat pilonidal sinus with fibrin glue. This technique is of unclear benefit as of 2017 due to insufficient research. The evidence for any treatment is of low quality, and care must be taken not to over interpret any study in this field.

Since the 2010s, a number of minimally invasive techniques have been developed, with the purpose of minimising the impact of surgery on patients and of achieving less pain and shorter recovery times.

In some cases, the wounds are left open after surgery to heal naturally instead of being closed with stitches. There are a lot of different dressings and topical agents (creams or lotions) that are available for helping these open wounds to heal. A 2022 systematic review brought together evidence from 11 studies that compared dressings and topical agents for treating open wounds after surgical treatment for pilonidal sinus of the buttocks. The authors concluded that: platelet rich plasma may help wounds to heal quicker compared to sterile gauze; Lietofix skin repair cream may help wounds to heal by 30 days compared to iodine (which helps to reduce bacteria in the wound); but it is not clear whether hydrogel dressings (designed to keep the wound moist) reduce the time it takes wounds to heal compared with cleaning the wound with iodine.

Endoscopic pilonidal treatment, which uses a small camera to guide the surgeon in removing hair, is a newer method of treatment that has minimal pain and quick healing compared to surgery. A literature review of 497 patients found that the average endoscopic operation time was 34.7 minutes, and the average healing time was 32.9 days. Failure occurred in 8% of patients, who had persistent disease or recurrence.

Etymology
Pilonidal means 'nest of hair' and is derived from the Latin words for 'hair' (pilus) and 'nest' (nidus). The condition was first described by Herbert Mayo in 1833. R. M. Hodges was the first to use the phrase pilonidal cyst to describe the condition in 1880.

The condition was widespread in the United States Army during World War II. The condition was termed "Jeep seat" or "Jeep riders' disease", because a large portion of people who were being hospitalized for it rode in Jeeps, and prolonged bumpy rides in the vehicles were believed to have caused the condition due to irritation and pressure on the coccyx.

title: Pilonidal disease


text:
Talk:Bally Astrocade

Untitled
Actually, the group that bought the Bally Professional Arcade from Bally was not formed from a group of users. Known at first as Astrovision, the group had already been involved in producing another video game system that had failed to mature. The buyer that had brought the Bally Professional Arcade into Montgomery Ward put the groups together when he learned that Bally was interested in selling the home video game system. The company name was changed from Astrovision to Astrocade shortly after the purchase took place.

The reason for the confusion is that users did play a vital role in spreading the word about the system, including having key users attend the Consumer Electronic Shows to work as demonstrators.

While Dave Nutting's group may have built several of the Zgrass 'add-under' modules, only two working versions were delivered to Astrocade. The language was marvelous and it's a shame that they were never able to get the add-under into production.

 * Thanks for these notes! Maury 22:20, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

What was the launch price of the Astrocade? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.30.107.86 (talk) 05:10, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Image and fair use
I'll simply quote the template:

An image of an object is not reasonably replaceable if:
 * It is not located where the general public has access to it, or where photography is not regularly permitted.
 * It is a product that has not yet been released to the market, or is sold only in extremely limited quantities, or has been off the market for a long enough period of time that only limited quantities exist.

The Astrocade clearly falls into the later category. I'm sure there are remaining owners, and this image appears to be taken by one of them, but until they can be contacted and donate a free version, there's little reason to suggest this one should be removed. Maury 22:15, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

I had one of these in the early 80s, some game titles that I didn't see on your list: Pinball I, Pinball II, PakRat (similar to PacMan, but w/ simpler graphics.) I am fairly certain that the Pinball games were Midway games, but cannot verify, and the PakRat was typed in out of a Magazine, in basic. Also had Gunfight/Tanks-ntrcessor — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.15.207.174 (talk) 17:42, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Picture please
Can someone please get a picture for this article, as the Bally Astrocade is a games console, and It may be more helpful for a curious wikipedian looking at this article to have a idea of what this console looks like. mcjakqcool Mcjakeqcool (talk) 12:15, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Also this article should be put directly into the Second Genration article, to reprencent the fact that the Bally Astrocade was in direct competition with the Fairchid Channel F, Atari 2600 and Magnavox Odyssey 2 during the second generation. mcjakeqcool Mcjakeqcool (talk) 12:34, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Article name inaccurate?
Was the console ever actually marketed as the "Bally Astrocade"? As far as I can tell, "Astrocade" was the last name used for the console, it never had had the Bally brand name attached to it, and it remains the rarest version of this console. So why is it the main title? Unless someone can cite a legitimate source on the matter, the article's name needs to change. It's just plain incorrect. (Modern internet references to the "Bally Astrocade" don't count, as they're most likely parroting this Wikipedia article.)

The console was originally marketed as the Bally Home Library Computer, and was available through mail order in 1977. Due to manufacturing issues, none were shipped out until 1978, but at least some (if not all) of the original mail orders bore the "Bally Home Library Computer" label.

Most consoles in 1978 (and onward) were labeled the Bally Professional Arcade. This is the original name of the console (excepting the handful of early mail orders), and is the most common variant out there. This should probably be the name of the article.

In late 1979, Astrovision acquired the rights to the console. They continued to manufacture it as the "Bally Professional Arcade" for a couple more years.

In 1981 they renamed it the Bally Computer System for some reason, even though Bally was no longer involved.

In 1982, Astrovision released a few television advertisements referring to the "Astrovision AstroArcade", which was apparently how they intended to rebrand the console. (You can watch these on YouTube.) But some sort of copyright issues kept Astrovision from using their own name, so in 1982 they changed their name to Astrocade and sold the console as the Astrocade. This lasted until 1985, when production ceased.

Sources: http://retroauction.com/buying-and-selling-an-astrocade/ http://www.ballyalley.com/ballyalley/articles/Robert_Fabris_introduction-edited.html http://www.old-computers.com/history/detail.asp?n=22&t=9 http://www.glankonian.com/~lance/History.html

Kester Nethlo (talk) 17:23, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Bally Astrocade


text:
Talk:Annullment

Request someone to make this a redirect to Annulment :)

done :) Secretlondon 01:05, Dec 23, 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Annullment


text:
Marriage in the Catholic Church

Marriage in the Catholic Church, also known as holy matrimony, is the "covenant by which a man and 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", and which "has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized". Catholic matrimonial law, based on Roman law regarding its focus on marriage as a free mutual agreement or contract, became the basis for the marriage law of all European countries, at least up to the Reformation.

The Catholic Church recognizes as sacramental, (1) the marriages between two baptized non-Catholic Christians or between two baptized Orthodox Christians, as well as (2) marriages between baptized non-Catholic Christians and Catholic Christians, although in the latter case, consent from the diocesan bishop must be obtained, with this termed "permission to enter into a mixed marriage". To illustrate (1), for example, "if two Lutherans marry in the Lutheran Church in the presence of a Lutheran minister, the Catholic Church recognizes this as a valid sacrament of marriage". On the other hand, although the Catholic Church recognizes marriages between two non-Christians or those between a Catholic Christian and a non-Christian, these are not considered to be sacramental, and in the latter case, the Catholic Christian must seek permission from his/her bishop for the marriage to occur; this permission is known as "dispensation from disparity of cult".

Weddings in which both parties are Catholic faithful are ordinarily held in a Catholic church, while weddings in which one party is a Catholic faithful and the other party is a non-Catholic can be held in a Catholic church or a non-Catholic church, but in the latter case permission of one's Bishop or ordinary is required for the marriage to be free of defect of form.

Catholic Church view of the importance of marriage
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage. The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life".

It also says: "The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence. In his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning: permission given by Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the hardness of hearts. The matrimonial union of man and woman is indissoluble; God himself has determined it, 'what therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder'. This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to realize. However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too heavy – heavier than the Law of Moses. By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God".

Early period

Marriage was considered a necessary passage into adulthood, and strongly supported within the Jewish faith. The author of the letter to the Hebrews declared that marriage should be held in honor among all, and early Christians defended the holiness of marriage against the Gnostics and the Antinomians.

At the same time, some in the emerging Christian communities began to prize the celibate state higher than marriage, taking the model of Jesus as a guide. This was related to a widespread belief about the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God; and thus the exhortation by Jesus to avoid earthly ties. The apostle Paul in his letters also suggested a preference for celibacy, but recognized that not all Christians necessarily had the ability to live such a life: "Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion". This teaching suggested that marriage be used only as a last resort by those Christians who found it too difficult to exercise a level of self-control and remain abstinent, not having the gift of celibacy. Armstrong has argued that to a significant degree, early Christians "placed less value on the family" and saw celibacy and freedom from family ties as a preferable state for those capable of it. Nevertheless, this is tempered by other scholars who state Paul would no more impose celibacy than insist on marriage. What people instinctively choose manifests God's gift. Thus, he takes for granted that the married are not called to celibacy.

As the Church developed as an institution and came into contact with the Greek world, it reinforced the idea found in writers such as Plato and Aristotle that the celibate unmarried state was preferable and more holy than the married one. At the same time, it challenged some of the prevalent social norms such as the buying and selling of women into marriage, and defended the right of women to choose to remain unmarried virgins for the sake of Christ. The stories associated with the many virgin martyrs in the first few centuries of the Catholic Church often make it clear that they were martyred for their refusal to marry, not necessarily simply their belief in Christ.

The teaching on the superiority of virginity over marriage expressed by Saint Paul was accepted by the early Church, as shown in the 2nd-century Shepherd of Hermas. Justin Martyr, writing in the middle of the 2nd century, boasted of the "many men and women of sixty and seventy years of age who from their childhood have been the disciples of Christ, and have kept themselves uncorrupted". Virginity was praised by Cyprian (c. 200 – 258) and other prominent Christian figures and leaders. Philip Schaff admits that it cannot be denied that the later doctrine of the 16th century Council of Trent – "that it is more blessed to remain virgin or celibate than to be joined in marriage" – was the view that dominated the whole of the early Christian church. At the same time, the Church still discouraged anyone who would "condemn marriage, or abominate and condemn a woman who is a believer and devout, and sleeps with her own husband, as though she could not enter the Kingdom [of heaven]".

For much of the history of the Catholic Church, no specific ritual was therefore prescribed for celebrating a marriage – at least not until the late medieval period: "Marriage vows did not have to be exchanged in a church, nor was a priest's presence required. A couple could exchange consent anywhere, anytime".

Church Fathers

Markus notes this impact on the early Christian attitude, particularly as Christian anxiety about sex intensified after 400: "The superiority of virginity and sexual abstinence was generally taken for granted. But a dark undercurrent of hostility to sexuality and marriage became interwoven with the more benign attitudes towards the body. Attitudes diverged, and mainstream Christianity became infected with a pronounced streak of distrust towards bodily existence and sexuality. This permanent 'encratite' tendency was given powerful impetus in the debates about Christian perfection at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries".

While the Church Fathers of the Latin or Catholic Church did not condemn marriage, they nevertheless taught a preference for celibacy and virginity.

Bishop Ignatius of Antioch, writing around 110 to Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna said, "[I]t becomes both men and women who marry to form their union with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God, and not after their own lust".

In his On Exhortation to Chastity Tertullian argued that a second marriage, after someone has been freed from the first by the death of a spouse, "will have to be termed no other than a species of fornication". Claiming to find in the Book of Leviticus a prohibition of remarriage by the priests of the Old Law similar to that for Christian clergy in the Pauline pastoral epistles, he used it as an argument against remarrying even on the part of lay Christians, whom Christ made "a kingdom, priests to his God and Father": "If you are a digamist, do you baptize? If you are a digamist, do you offer? How much more capital (a crime) is it for a digamist laic to act as a priest, when the priest himself, if he turn digamist, is deprived of the power of acting the priest! 'But to necessity', you say, 'indulgence is granted'. No necessity is excusable which is avoidable. In a word, shun to be found guilty of digamy, and you do not expose yourself to the necessity of administering what a digamist may not lawfully administer. God wills us all to be so conditioned, as to be ready at all times and places to undertake (the duties of) His sacraments".

In his earlier Ad uxorem also, Tertullian argued against second marriages, but said that, if one must remarry, it should be with a Christian. In other writings, he argued strongly against ideas like those he expressed in his On Exhortation to Chastity; and in his De Anima he explicitly stated that "the married state is blessed, not cursed by God". Adhémar d'Alès has commented: "Tertullian wrote a lot about marriage, and on no other subject has he contradicted himself as much".

Cyprian (c. 200 – 258), Bishop of Carthage, recommended in his Three Books of Testimonies against the Jews that Christians should not marry pagans. Addressing consecrated virgins he wrote: "The first decree commanded to increase and to multiply; the second enjoined continency. While the world is still rough and void, we are propagated by the fruitful begetting of numbers, and we increase to the enlargement of the human race. Now, when the world is filled and the earth supplied, they who can receive continency, living after the manner of eunuchs, are made eunuchs unto the kingdom. Nor does the Lord command this, but He exhorts it; nor does He impose the yoke of necessity, since the free choice of the will is left".

Jerome (c. 347 – 420) commenting on Paul's letter to the Corinthians wrote: "If 'it is good for a man not to touch a woman', then it is bad for him to touch one, for bad, and bad only, is the opposite of good. But, if though bad, it is made venial, then it is allowed to prevent something which would be worse than bad. ... Notice the Apostle's carefulness. He does not say: 'It is good not to have a wife', but, 'It is good for a man not to touch a woman'. ... I am not expounding the law as to husbands and wives, but discussing the general question of sexual intercourse – how in comparison with chastity and virginity, the life of angels, 'It is good for a man not to touch a woman'". He also argued that marriage distracted from prayer, and so virginity was better: "If we are to pray always, it follows that we must never be in the bondage of wedlock, for as often as I render my wife her due, I cannot pray. The difference, then, between marriage and virginity is as great as that between not sinning and doing well; nay rather, to speak less harshly, as great as between good and better". Regarding the clergy, he said: "Now a priest must always offer sacrifices for the people: he must therefore always pray. And if he must always pray, he must always be released from the duties of marriage". In referring to Genesis chapter 2, he further argued that, "while Scripture on the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days relates that, having finished the works of each, God saw that it was good, on the second day it omitted this altogether, leaving us to understand that two is not a good number because it destroys unity, and prefigures the marriage compact". Jerome reaffirmed ("God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth") and  ("Marriage is honourable in all"), and distanced himself from the disparagement of marriage by Marcion and Manichaeus, and from Tatian, who thought all sexual intercourse, even in marriage, to be impure.

There were, of course, counter-views. Pelagius thought Jerome showed bitter hostility to marriage akin to Manichaean dualism, an accusation that Jerome attempted to rebut in his Adversus Jovinianum: "We do not follow the views of Marcion and Manichaeus, and disparage marriage; nor, deceived by the error of Tatian, the leader of the Encratites, do we think all intercourse impure; he condemns and rejects not only marriage but also food which God created for the use of man. We know that in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware. [...] While we honour marriage we prefer virginity which is the offspring of marriage. Will silver cease to be silver, if gold is more precious than silver?" Elsewhere he explained: "Someone may say: 'And do you dare disparage marriage, which is blessed by the Lord?' It is not disparaging marriage when virginity is preferred to it. No one compares evil with good. Let married women glory too, since they come second to virgins. Increase, He says, and multiply, and fill the earth. Let him who is to fill the earth increase and multiply. Your company is in heaven". Mocking a monk who accused him of condemning marriage, Jerome wrote: "He must hear at least the echo of my cry, 'I do not condemn marriage', 'I do not condemn wedlock'. Indeed — and this I say to make my meaning quite clear to him — I should like every one to take a wife who, because they get frightened in the night, cannot manage to sleep alone".

It was Augustine (354–430), whose views subsequently strongly influenced Western theology, that was most influential in developing a theology of the sacramentality of Christian marriage. In his youth, Augustine had also been a follower of Manichaeism, but after his conversion to Christianity he rejected the Manichaean condemnation of marriage and reproduction for imprisoning spiritual light within material darkness. He subsequently went on to teach that marriage is not evil, but good, even if it is not at the level of choosing virginity: "Marriage and fornication are not two evils, whereof the second is worse: but marriage and continence are two goods, whereof the second is better".

In his On the Good of Marriage, of 401, he distinguished three values in marriage: fidelity, which is more than sexual; offspring, which "entails the acceptance of children in love, their nurturance in affection, and their upbringing in the Christian religion; and sacrament, in that its indissolubility is a sign of the eternal unity of the blessed. Like the other Church Fathers of East and West, Augustine taught that virginity is a higher way of life, although it is not given to everyone to live at that higher level. In his De bono coniugali (On the Good of Marriage), he wrote: "I know what people are murmuring: 'Suppose', they remark, 'that everyone sought to abstain from all intercourse? How would the human race survive?' I only wish that this was everyone's concern so long as it was uttered in charity, 'from a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned'; then the city of God would be filled much more speedily, and the end of the world would be hastened". Armstrong sees this as an apocalyptic dimension in Augustine's teaching. Reynolds says that Augustine's comment on this wildly hypothetical objection by Jovinian may have been that the saintliness of a church in which all had chosen celibacy would mean that it comprised enough members to fill God's city or that the church would thereby gather souls to herself even more rapidly than she was already doing. Nevertheless, Augustine's name "could, indeed, be invoked through the medieval centuries to reinforce the exaltation of virginity at the expense of marriage and to curtail the role of sexuality even within Christian marriage".

Finally, Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – 636) refined and broadened Augustine's formulation and was part of the chain by which it was transmitted to the Middle Ages.

Although not a church father, but belonging to the same period, in Adomnan of Iona's biography of St Columba, the saint at one point is mentioned as meeting a woman who refuses to sleep with her husband and perform her marriage duties. When Columba meets the woman, she says that she would do anything, even to go to a monastery and become a nun, rather than to sleep with him. Columba tells the woman that the commandment of God is for her to sleep with her husband and not to leave the marriage to be a nun, because once they are married the two have become one flesh.

Sacramental development
The medieval Christian church, taking the lead of Augustine, developed the sacramental understanding of matrimony. However, even at this stage the Catholic Church did not consider the sacraments equal in importance. Marriage has never been considered either to be one of the sacraments of Christian initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) or of those that confer a character (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders). With the development of sacramental theology, marriage was included in the select seven to which the term "sacrament" was applied. Explicit classification of marriage in this way came in reaction to the contrary teaching of Catharism that marriage and procreation are evil: the first official declaration that marriage is a sacrament was made at the 1184 Council of Verona as part of a condemnation of the Cathars. In 1208, Pope Innocent III required members of another religious movement, that of the Waldensians, to recognize that marriage is a sacrament as a condition for being received back into the Catholic Church. In 1254, Catholics accused Waldensians of condemning the sacrament of marriage, "saying that married persons sin mortally if they come together without the hope of offspring". The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 had already stated in response to the teaching of the Cathars: "For not only virgins and the continent but also married persons find favour with God by right faith and good actions and deserve to attain to eternal blessedness". Marriage was also included in the list of the seven sacraments at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 as part of the profession of faith required of Michael VIII Palaiologos. The sacraments of marriage and holy orders were distinguished as sacraments that aim at the "increase of the Church" from the other five sacraments, which are intended for the spiritual perfection of individuals. The Council of Florence in 1439 again recognised marriage as a sacrament.

The medieval view of the sacramentality of marriage has been described as follows: "Like the other sacraments, medieval writers argued marriage was an instrument of sanctification, a channel of grace that caused God's gracious gifts and blessings to be poured upon humanity. Marriage sanctified the Christian couple by allowing them to comply with God's law for marriage and by providing them with an ideal model of marriage in Christ the bridegroom, who took the church as his bride and accorded it highest love, devotion, and sacrifice, even to the point of death".

Liturgical practice
Matrimony, for most of Church history, had been celebrated (as in traditions such as the Roman and Judaic) without clergy and was done according to local customs. The first available written detailed account of a Christian wedding in the West dates only from the 9th century and appears to be identical to the old nuptial service of Ancient Rome. However, early witnesses to the practice of intervention by the clergy in the marriage of early Christians include Tertullian, who speaks of Christians "requesting marriage" from them, and Ignatius of Antioch, who said Christians should form their union with the approval of the bishop – although the absence of clergy placed no bar, and there is no suggestion that the recommendation was widely adopted.

In the 4th century in the Eastern Church it was the custom in some areas for marriages to receive a blessing by a priest to ensure fertility. There are also a few accounts of religious nuptial services from the 7th century onward. However, while in the East the priest was seen as ministering the sacrament, in the West it was the two parties to the marriage (if baptized) who effectively ministered, and their concordant word was sufficient proof of the existence of a sacramental marriage, whose validity required neither the presence of witnesses nor observance of the law of the 1215 Fourth Lateran Council that demanded publication of the banns of marriage.

Thus, with few local exceptions, until in some cases long after the Council of Trent, marriages in Europe were by mutual consent, declaration of intention to marry and upon the subsequent physical union of the parties. The couple would promise verbally to each other that they would be married to each other; the presence of a priest or witnesses was not required. This promise was known as the "verbum". If freely given and made in the present tense (e.g., "I marry you"), it was unquestionably binding; if made in the future tense ("I will marry you"), it would constitute a betrothal. One of the functions of churches from the Middle Ages was to register marriages, which was not obligatory. There was no state involvement in marriage and personal status, with these issues being adjudicated in ecclesiastical courts. During the Middle Ages marriages were arranged, sometimes as early as birth, and these early pledges to marry were often used to ensure treaties between different royal families, nobles, and heirs of fiefdoms. The church resisted these imposed unions, and increased the number of causes for the nullification of these arrangements. As Christianity spread during the Roman period and the Middle Ages, the idea of free choice in selecting marriage partners increased and spread with it.

The validity of such marriages even if celebrated under a tree or in a tavern or in a bed was upheld even against that of a later marriage in a church. Even after the Council of Trent made the presence of the parish priest or his delegate and of at least two more witnesses a condition for validity, the previous situation continued in many countries where its decree was not promulgated. It ended only in 1908, with the coming into force of the Ne Temere decree.

In the 12th century, Pope Alexander III decreed that what made a marriage was the free mutual consent by the spouses themselves, not a decision by their parents or guardians. After that, clandestine marriages or youthful elopements began to proliferate, with the result that ecclesiastical courts had to decide which of a series of marriages that a man was accused of celebrating was the first and therefore the valid one. Though "detested and forbidden" by the Church, they were acknowledged to be valid. Similarly today, Catholics are forbidden to enter mixed marriages without permission from an authority of the Church, but if someone does enter such a marriage without permission, the marriage is reckoned to be valid, provided the other conditions are fulfilled, although illicit.

Counter-Reformation
In the 16th century, various groups adhering to the Protestant Reformation rejected to different degrees the sacramental nature of most Catholic sacraments. In reaction, the Council of Trent on 3 March 1547 carefully named and defined the Catholic Church's sacraments, reaffirming the teaching that marriage is a sacrament − from 1184, 1208, 1274 and 1439. Recalling scripture, the apostolic traditions and the declarations of previous councils and of the Church Fathers, the bishops declared that there were precisely seven sacraments, with marriage one of them, and that all seven are truly and properly sacraments.

Desiderius Erasmus influenced the debate in the first part of the 16th century by publishing 1518 an essay in praise of marriage (Encomium matrimonii), which argued that the single state was "a barren way of life hardly becoming to a man". The theologian Josse Clichtove working at the University of Paris interpreted this as an attack on chastity, but Erasmus had found favor with Protestant reformers who acknowledged the argument as a useful tool to undermine compulsory clerical celibacy and monasticism. Diarmaid MacCulloch argued that the action taken at Trent was therefore partly a response by Roman Catholicism to demonstrate that it was as serious about marriage and the family as the Protestants,.

On 11 November 1563, the Council of Trent condemned the view that "the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony". And while Catholics upheld the supernatural character of marriage, it was Protestants who viewed it as not a sacrament and who admitted divorce.

The decree Tametsi of 1563 was one of the last decisions made at Trent. The decree effectively sought to impose the Church's control over the process of marriage by laying down as strict conditions as possible for what constituted a marriage. John P. Beal says the Council, "stung by the Protestant reformers' castigation of the Catholic Church's failure to extirpate clandestine marriages", issued the decree "to safeguard against invalid marriages and abuses in clandestine marriages", which had become "the scourge of Europe". In 1215 the Fourth Lateran Council had prohibited marriages entered into clandestinely but, unless there was some other impediment, considered them valid though illicit. Tametsi made it a requirement even for validity, in any area where the decree was officially published, that the marriage take place in the presence of the parish priest and at least two witnesses. This revolutionised earlier practice in that "marriages that failed to meet these requirements would from the time of the promulgation of the decree be considered invalid and of no effect"; and it required that the priest keep written records, with the result that parents had more control over their children's marriages than before. It also instituted controls over the marriages of persons without fixed addresses ("vagrants are to be married with caution"), "regulated the times at which marriages could be celebrated, abolished the rule that sexual intercourse created affinity, and reiterated the ban on concubinage".

For fear that the decree would "identify and multiply the number of doubtful marriages, particularly in Protestant areas, where 'mixed' marriages were common", the council hesitated to impose it outright and decided to make its application dependent on local promulgation. In fact, Tametsi was never proclaimed worldwide. It had no effect in France, England, Scotland and many other countries and in 1907 was replaced by the decree Ne Temere, which came into effect universally at Easter 1908.

Validity of marriage in the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church also has requirements before Catholics can be considered validly married in the eyes of the Church. A valid Catholic marriage results from four elements: (1) the spouses are free to marry; (2) they freely exchange their consent; (3) in consenting to marry, they have the intention to marry for life, to be faithful to one another and be open to children; and (4) their consent is given in the canonical form, i.e., in the presence of two witnesses and before a properly authorized church minister. Exceptions to the last requirement must be approved by church authority. The Church provides classes several months before marriage to help the participants inform their consent. During or before this time, the would-be spouses are confirmed if they have not previously received confirmation and it can be done without grave inconvenience (Canon 1065).

The Catholic Church also recognizes as sacramental, (1) the marriages between two baptized Protestants or between two baptized Orthodox Christians, as well as (2) marriages between baptized non-Catholic Christians and Catholic Christians, although in the latter case, consent from the diocesan bishop must be obtained, with this termed "permission to enter into a mixed marriage". To illustrate (1), for example, "if two Lutherans marry in the Lutheran Church in the presence of a Lutheran minister, the Catholic Church recognizes this as a valid sacrament of marriage". On the other hand, although the Catholic Church recognizes marriages between two non-Christians or those between a Catholic Christian and a non-Christian, these are not considered to be sacramental, and in the latter case, the Catholic Christian must seek permission from his/her bishop for the marriage to occur; this permission is known as "dispensation from disparity of cult". The Church prefers that marriages between Catholics, or between Catholics and other Christians, be celebrated in the parish church of one of the spouses. Those helping to prepare the couple for marriage can assist with the permission process. In present-day circumstances, with communities no longer so homogeneous religiously, authorization is more easily granted than in earlier centuries.

Canonical form
The canonical form of marriage began to be required with the decree Tametsi issued by the Council of Trent on 11 November 1563. The decree Ne Temere of Pope Pius X in 1907 made the canonical form a requirement even where the decree of the Council of Trent had not been promulgated.

While allowing for exceptions, the canonical form of marriage, as laid down in Canons 1055–1165 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and Canons 776-866 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, normally recognizes marriages of Catholics as valid only if contracted before the local bishop or a parish priest delegated by the bishop or (in the Latin Church only) a deacon delegated by them, and also at least two witnesses. In earlier times, validity was not made dependent on the fulfillment of these two conditions.

Freedom to marry
The participants in a marriage contract must have the freedom to marry. That is, there must be no impediment according to canon law.

Impediments
A Catholic marriage cannot be formed if one or more of the following impediments are present, although for some of these a dispensation can be given:
 * Antecedent and perpetual impotence, whether on the part of the man or the woman
 * Consanguinity to the fourth degree in the collateral line (first cousin), including legal adoption to the second collateral line
 * Affinity – relationship by marriage, e.g. a brother-in-law, in the direct line
 * Prior bond – the bond of a previous marriage
 * Those in sacred orders
 * Public and perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute
 * Disparity of cult – one of the persons was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, and the other is not baptized
 * Crimen – one party previously conspiring to marry upon the condition of the death of their spouse while still married; also called conjugicide.
 * The minimum age for entering into a valid marriage has not yet been reached (14 for women, 16 for men)
 * Abduction

Times of year for celebrating a marriage

In the Latin Church, marriage may be celebrated during Lent even within a Nuptial Mass; however, it is considered inappropriate to have such a celebration during Holy Week and impossible during the Easter Triduum. In principle, no day of the week is excluded from marriage. Some Eastern Catholic Churches do not allow marriage during Lent. In earlier times, while the Latin Church allowed marriage to be celebrated at any time, it prohibited the solemn blessing of marriages during Advent and on Christmas Day, and during Lent and on Easter Sunday.

Mixed marriages
While marriage between a Catholic and any non-Catholic is commonly spoken of as a mixed marriage, in the strict sense a mixed marriage is one between a Catholic (baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it) and a non-Catholic Christian, known in popular parlance as an interdenominational marriage.

The Catholic Church has from the start opposed marriage between a Catholic and any non-Catholic, baptized or not, seeing it as "degrading the holy character of matrimony, involving as it did a communion in sacred things with those outside the fold. [...] it was but natural and logical for the Church to do all in her power to hinder her children from contracting marriage with those outside her pale, who did not recognize the sacramental character of the union on which they were entering". The Church thus saw as obstacles to a Catholic's marriage what came to be called the two impediments of mixed religion (in Latin, mixta religio) and of difference of worship (in Latin disparitas cultus).

Marriage with a non-Catholic Christian
From an early stage, Church councils forbade Catholic Christians to marry heretics or schismatics. Unlike marriage with a non-Christian, which came to be considered invalid, marriage with a heretic was seen as valid, though illicit unless a dispensation had been obtained. However, the Church's opposition to such unions is very ancient. Early regional councils, such as the 4th-century Council of Elvira and the Council of Laodicea, legislated against them; and the ecumenical Council of Chalcedon prohibited such unions especially between members of the lower ecclesiastical grades and heretical women.

In 692, the Council in Trullo declared such marriages invalid, a decision accepted in the East, but not in the West.

With the Reformation in the 16th century, more legislation regarding mixed marriages was passed. In those countries where the Council of Trent's Tametsi decree was promulgated, mixed marriages began to be viewed as invalid in the West, not directly because of being mixed, but because a condition for validity imposed by the decree was not observed, namely, that marriages be contracted before the parish priest or a priest delegated by him and at least two witnesses. This decree required the contract to be entered into before the parish priest or some other priest delegated by him, and in the presence of two or three witnesses under penalty of invalidity. Even where the Tametsi decree had been promulgated, the Church did not find it possible to insist on the rigour of this legislation in all countries, owing to strong Protestant opposition. However, the legislation was frequently enforced by Catholic parents stipulating in their wills that their children be disinherited if they renounced Catholicism.

Pope Benedict XIV issued a declaration (the "Benedictine dispensation") concerning marriages in the Netherlands and Belgium (1741), in which he declared mixed unions to be valid, provided they were according to the civil laws. A similar declaration was made concerning mixed marriages in Ireland by Pope Pius, in 1785, and gradually the "Benedictine dispensation" was extended to various localities. Pius VI allowed mixed marriages in Austria to take place in the presence of a priest, provided no religious solemnity was employed, and with the omission of public banns, as evidence of the unwillingness of the Church to sanction such unions. In 1869, the Congregation of the Propaganda further permitted such marriages but only under the condition of grave necessity, fearing the faithful "expose themselves to the grave dangers inherent in these unions". Bishops were to warn Catholics against such marriages and not to grant dispensations for them except for weighty reasons and not at the mere will of the petitioner. In countries where the decree was not promulgated, marriages otherwise contracted, called clandestine marriages, continued to be considered valid until the decree was replaced in 1908 by the decree Ne Temere of Pope Pius X, which revoked the "Benedictine dispensation".

Catholic Christians are permitted to marry validly baptized non-Catholic Christians if they receive permission to do so from a "competent authority" who is usually the Catholic Christian party's local ordinary; if the proper conditions are fulfilled, such a marriage entered into is seen as valid and also, since it is a marriage between baptized persons, it is a sacrament.

Weddings in which both parties are Catholic Christians are ordinarily held in a Catholic church, while weddings in which one party is a Catholic Christian and the other party is a non-Catholic Christian can be held in a Catholic church or a non-Catholic Christian church.

A condition for granting permission to marry a non-Catholic is that the Catholic Christian party undertake to remove dangers of defecting from the faith and to do all in his or her power so that all the children are baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church; the other party is to be made aware of this undertaking and obligation of the Catholic Christian party.

Marriage with a non-Christian
The early Church did not consider invalid a Catholic's marriage with a non-Christian (someone not baptized), especially when the marriage had taken place before the Catholic's conversion to the faith. It was nevertheless hoped that the converted wife or husband would be the means of bringing the other party into the Church, or at least safeguarding the Catholic upbringing of the children of the union. With the growth of the Church, the need for such unions diminished and the objection to them grew stronger. More by custom than by church legislation, such marriages gradually came to be considered invalid and disparitas cultus came to be seen as an impediment to marriage by a Catholic. There were also enactments on a local level against marriages with pagans (Council of Carthage (397), and under Stephen I of Hungary in the early 11th century) and with Jews (Third Council of Toledo in 589).

When the Decretum of Gratian was published in the 12th century, this impediment became part of canon law. From that time forward, all marriages contracted between Catholics and non-Christians were held to be invalid unless a dispensation had been obtained from the ecclesiastical authority.

A marriage between a Catholic and a non-Christian (someone not baptized) is seen by the Church as invalid unless a dispensation (called a dispensation from "disparity of cult", meaning a difference of worship) is granted from the law declaring such marriages invalid. This dispensation can only be granted under certain conditions. If the dispensation is granted, the Church recognizes the marriage as valid, but natural rather than sacramental, since the sacraments can be validly received only by the baptized, and the non-Christian person is not baptized.

Matrimonial Consent
According to Canon 1057 of the Code of Canon Law (1983), marriage is established through the consent of the parties legitimately manifested between persons who are capable, according to the law, of giving consent.

Consent, which no human power can replace, is the efficient cause of marriage. It is defined by Canon 1057.1 as an act of the will by which a man and a woman through an irrevocable personal covenant mutually give and accept each other for the purpose of establishing marriage.

Such consent, however, must be manifested in a legitimate manner, that is, in a manner that has been determined by the Church in the formal solemnities prescribed for the validity of marriage (the canonical form).

The persons manifesting their consent must be capable of doing that according to the law.

Remarriage of widows or widowers
The teaching of the Catholic Church is that a married couple commits themselves totally to one another until death. The vows they make to each other in the wedding rite are a commitment "til death do us part". After the death of one, the other is free to marry again or to remain single. Some choose to become priests or religious. This path was chosen by some even in the early Christian centuries by people such as Saint Marcella, Saint Paula, Saint Galla of Rome and Saint Olympias the Deaconess.

Western Church
The husband and wife must validly execute the marriage contract. In the Latin Catholic tradition, it is the spouses who are understood to confer marriage on each other. The spouses, as ministers of grace, naturally confer upon each other the sacrament of matrimony, expressing their consent before the church.

This does not eliminate the need for church involvement in the marriage; under normal circumstances, canon law requires for validity the attendance of the local bishop or parish priest (or a priest or deacon delegated by either of them) and at least two witnesses. The priest has merely the role to "assist" the spouses in order to ensure that the marriage is contracted in accord with canon law, and is supposed to attend whenever it is possible. A competent layperson may be delegated by the Church, or may just attend in place of the priest, if it is impractical to have a priest attending. In the event that no competent layperson is found, the marriage is valid even if done in the presence of two witnesses alone. For example, in May 2017, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments granted a bishop's request that a nun be granted permission to officiate at a marriage ceremony in Quebec because of a shortage of priests.

Eastern Churches
Eastern Catholic churches share the tradition common throughout Eastern Christianity, according to which the minister of the sacrament is the bishop or priest who "crowns the bridegroom and the bride as a sign of the marriage covenant", a ceremony that has led to the rite being called the Mystery of Crowning.

Indissolubility
Catholic theology teaches that a validly contracted sacramental marriage is accompanied by divine ratification, creating a virtually indissoluble union until the couple consummate, after which the sacramental marriage is dissoluble only by the death of a spouse. An unconsummated marriage can be dissolved by the Pope, as Vicar of Christ.

In the eyes of the Church, even validly contracted natural marriages (marriages in which at least one of the parties is not baptized) cannot be dissolved by the will of the couple or by any action of the state. Accordingly, "the Catholic Church does not recognize or endorse civil divorce of a natural marriage, as of a sacramental marriage". However, a natural marriage, even if consummated, can be dissolved by the Church when to do so favours the maintenance of the faith on the part of a Christian, cases of what has been called Pauline privilege and Petrine privilege. In these cases, which require intervention by the Holy See, the Church admits real divorce, the actual dissolution of a valid marriage, as distinct from the granting by merely human power of a divorce that, according to Catholic theology, does not really dissolve the marriage bond.

While the violation of some regulations may make a marriage illicit, but not invalid, some conditions are essential and their absence means that there is in fact no valid marriage, and the participants are considered not to be actually married. However, Canon 1137 states that children born to a "putative" marriage (defined in Canon 1061, sec. 3 as one that is not valid but was entered into in good faith by at least one spouse) are legitimate; therefore, the declaration that a marriage is null does not render the children of that marriage illegitimate.

Annulments
The Catholic Church has consistently taken the position that, while the dissolution of a valid natural marriage, even if consummated, may be granted for the sake of someone's Christian faith ("in favorem fidei"), though not for other reasons, and that a valid sacramental marriage, if not consummated, may be dissolved, a valid sacramental consummated marriage is indissoluble. There is no divorce from such a marriage. However, what is referred to as a marriage annulment occurs when two competent ecclesiastical tribunals hand down concordant judgments that a particular marriage was not in fact a valid one.

Requirements for the validity of marriage are listed in the Code of Canon Law under the headings "Diriment Impediments" (such as being too young, being impotent, being already married, being ordained), "Matrimonial Consent" (which requires, for instance, sufficient use of reason, psychic ability to assume the essential obligations of marriage, and freedom from force and fear), and "The Form of the Celebration of Marriage" (normally requiring that it be contracted in the presence of the parish priest or his delegate and at least two other witnesses).

An annulment is a declaration that the marriage was invalid (or null) at the time the vows were exchanged. Thus, an annulment is declared only when an ecclesial tribunal finds a lack of validity in the marriage at the time of the marital contract. Behaviour subsequent to the contract is not directly relevant, except as post factum evidence of the validity or invalidity of the contract. That is, behaviour subsequent to the contract cannot actually change the validity of the contract. For example, a marriage would be invalid if one of the parties, at the time of marriage, did not intend to honour the vow of fidelity. If the spouse did intend to be faithful at the time of the marriage but later committed adultery this does not invalidate the marriage.

The teaching of the Catholic church is that annulment and divorce therefore differ, both in rationale and effect; an annulment is a finding that a true marriage never existed, whereas a divorce is a dissolution of marriage.

In canon law there are numerous reasons for granting annulments of marriages that were entered into invalidly. MacCulloch has noted the "ingenuity" of Roman Catholic lawyers in deploying these in the historical context.

Annulments are not restricted to marriages. A similar process can lead to the annulment of an ordination.

Sins against marriage and conjugal chastity
The teaching of the Catholic Church is that marriage may only be between one man and one woman with each partner's free and willing consent for the good of each other and for the transmission of human life. The church believes adultery, divorce, remarriage after divorce, marriage without the intent to transmit life, polygamy, incest, child abuse, free union, and trial marriage are sins against the dignity of marriage. The church also believes that chastity must be practiced by spouses, and that sins against chastity include lust, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, incest, child abuse, and homosexuality in any shape or form.

The Catholic Church opposes the introduction of both civil and religious same-sex marriage. The Church also holds that same-sex unions are an unfavourable environment for children and that the legalization of such unions damages society. Leading figures in the Catholic hierarchy, including cardinals and bishops, have publicly voiced or actively opposed legislation of civil same-sex marriage   and encouraged others to do the same,         and have done likewise with regard to same-sex civil unions  and adoption by same-sex couples.

There are a growing number of Catholics globally who dissent from the official position of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and express support for civil unions or same-sex marriage. In some locations, for example North America, Northern and Western Europe, there is stronger support for LGBT rights (such as civil unions, civil same-sex marriage and protection against discrimination) among Catholics than the general population at large. See *
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
 * Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research

In 2021, the Catholic Church reaffirmed its position: That "the Church does not have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons the same sex". In 2023 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith clarified that individual sinners may be blessed in non-liturgical settings that do not confuse the simple blessing with sacramental marriage in a decree called Fiducia Supplicans.

title: Marriage in the Catholic Church