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Sunday Quote: Catholic Social Teaching on Marriage and the Family

The Supreme Court decisions on the two marriage cases could come any day now. Instead of a Pope Quote, this Sunday we’re sharing two salient quotes from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, a compilation of Catholic Social Teaching. Both help us to understand why it is part of Catholic Social Teaching to uphold, strengthen, and defend marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

“The family, in fact, is born of the intimate communion of life and love founded on the marriage between one man and one woman. It possesses its own specific and original social dimension, in that it is the principal place of interpersonal relationships, the first and vital cell of society. The family is a divine institution that stands at the foundation of life of the human person as the prototype of every social order.” (no. 211, emphasis original)

“Society, and in particular State institutions, respecting the priority and ‘antecedence’ of the family, is called to guarantee and foster the genuine identity of family life and to avoid and fight all that alters or wounds it.” (no. 252, emphasis original)

3 responses to “Sunday Quote: Catholic Social Teaching on Marriage and the Family”

  1. […] (Source; from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church) […]

  2. John Buckley says:

    This might be your hope and dream for your idea of a utopian society, but it isn’t practical for many of us living in the real world. From ancient times through to the present the definition of family has constantly evolved to suit the society in which it exists. Your definition is not the only one nor does it promote the greater good for society as a whole.

    Just because biology permits only one male and one female to create a new life, it doesn’t automatically follow that any and all pairings must be one of each; nor does it follow that new life must result from every such pairing. It also does not automatically follow that every pairing becomes a family and would always create the best environment for a new life to flourish.

    There are as many dimensions to a family as there are people who want to form one and the gender of the couple is irrelevant to protecting the institution. Your version rejects a vast number of existing same sex families and actually causes them harm. Many have children who are thriving only because they were removed from families that did meet your narrow criteria of one man and one woman. Your crusade against gay marriage contradicts the values you claim you want to uphold, which is to protect and strengthened and unified family.

    If are truly concerned about strengthening the family, you would support all families, and not just some; and you would fight for everyone’s right to be protected under the laws written specifically for that purpose.

  3. DEBORAH WEBE says:

    John Buckley, What is a Utopian Society? How can it be achieved on Earth populated with sinful, weak people who are imperfect? Doesn’t Jesus tell us to be in the world and not of it?
    God set the definition of family when He started it with Adam as husband/father and Eve as wife/mother.
    For eons, the traditional family, led by one man married to one woman, has been the norm for many cultures. Polygamy was started by Lamech and a descendent of Cain, a son of man and not a son of God like his younger brother Seth. Polygamy was also a sin in God’s eyes.
    Since you came to a Catholic website, please use the online version of the catechism to educate yourself on what the Church teaches about marriage and homosexuality.
    Remember that the Church will ALWAYS promote Christ’s Truth not the latest trends/fads.

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