Catechism index

2361 III. The Love of Husband and Wife "Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but concerns the innermost …
2362 III. The Love of Husband and Wife "The acts in marriage by which the intimate and chaste union of the spouses takes place are noble and honorable; the truly human performance of these acts fosters the self-giving they signify …
2363 III. The Love of Husband and Wife The spouses' union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life. These two meanings or values of marriage cannot be separated without altering …
2364 III. The Love of Husband and Wife The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable …
2365 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Fidelity expresses constancy in keeping one's given word. God is faithful. the Sacrament of Matrimony enables man and woman to enter into Christ's fidelity for his Church. Through conjugal chastity, they bear …
2366 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Fecundity is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of …
2367 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God. 153 "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their …
2368 III. The Love of Husband and Wife A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that …
2369 III. The Love of Husband and Wife "By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its orientation toward man's exalted vocation to …
2370 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. 157 These methods respect the …
2371 III. The Love of Husband and Wife "Let all be convinced that human life and the duty of transmitting it are not limited by the horizons of this life only: their true evaluation and full significance can be understood …
2372 III. The Love of Husband and Wife The state has a responsibility for its citizens' well-being. In this capacity it is legitimate for it to intervene to orient the demography of the population. This can be done by means …
2373 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Sacred Scripture and the Church's traditional practice see in large families a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity. 162
2374 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. "What will you give me," asks Abraham of God, "for I continue childless?" 163 and Rachel cries to her husband Jacob, "Give me …
2375 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed "at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, and his true and integral …
2376 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous …
2377 III. The Love of Husband and Wife Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. the act which brings …
2378 III. The Love of Husband and Wife A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. the "supreme gift of marriage" is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an …
2379 III. The Love of Husband and Wife The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical procedures should unite themselves with the Lord's Cross, the source of …
2380 IV. Offenses Against the Dignity of Marriage Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations - even transient ones - they commit adultery. Christ condemns even …