(39) Different elements must be distinguished among these factors of fragility that give rise to de facto unions characterized by what is called “free” love which neglects or excludes the bond characteristic of conjugal love.  Moreover, as we said earlier, a distinction must be made between the de facto unions into which some consider themselves compelled by difficult situations, and the others which are sought by people who “scorn, rebel against or reject society, the institution of the family and the social and political order, or who are solely seeking pleasure”.[91][91]  It is also necessary to consider those who are driven into de facto unions “by extreme ignorance or poverty, sometimes by a conditioning due to situations of real injustice, or by a certain psychological immaturity that makes them uncertain or afraid to enter into a stable and definitive union”.[92][92]

Ethical discernment, pastoral action and Christian engagement in political realities will thus have to take into consideration the many real situations included under the common term “de facto unions” as we said earlier.[93][93]  Whatever the causes that give rise to these unions, they entail “serious pastoral problems, because of the grave religious and moral consequences that are derived from them (loss of the religious meaning of marriage seen in the light of God’s Covenant with his People, deprivation of the sacramental grace, serious scandal), as well as social consequences (destruction of the concept of family, lessening of the significance of fidelity, also toward society, possible psychological traumas in the children, and the reaffirmation of selfishness)”.[94][94]  For this reason, the Church is sensitive to the spread of non-matrimonial unions due to the moral and pastoral dimensions of the problem.