This commission included married couples as well as many experts in the various fields pertinent to these questions. The consciousness of the same responsibility induced Us to confirm and expand the commission set up by Our predecessor Pope John XXIII, of happy memory, in March, 1963. These documents have been more copious in recent times. In carrying out this mandate, the Church has always issued appropriate documents on the nature of marriage, the correct use of conjugal rights, and the duties of spouses. For the natural law, too, declares the will of God, and its faithful observance is necessary for men's eternal salvation. It is in fact indisputable, as Our predecessors have many times declared, (l) that Jesus Christ, when He communicated His divine power to Peter and the other Apostles and sent them to teach all nations His commandments, (2) constituted them as the authentic guardians and interpreters of the whole moral law, not only, that is, of the law of the Gospel but also of the natural law. No member of the faithful could possibly deny that the Church is competent in her magisterium to interpret the natural moral law. This kind of question requires from the teaching authority of the Church a new and deeper reflection on the principles of the moral teaching on marriage-a teaching which is based on the natural law as illuminated and enriched by divine Revelation. Moreover, if one were to apply here the so called principle of totality, could it not be accepted that the intention to have a less prolific but more rationally planned family might transform an action which renders natural processes infertile into a licit and provident control of birth? Could it not be admitted, in other words, that procreative finality applies to the totality of married life rather than to each single act? A further question is whether, because people are more conscious today of their responsibilities, the time has not come when the transmission of life should be regulated by their intelligence and will rather than through the specific rhythms of their own bodies.Ĥ. Granted the conditions of life today and taking into account the relevance of married love to the harmony and mutual fidelity of husband and wife, would it not be right to review the moral norms in force till now, especially when it is felt that these can be observed only with the gravest difficulty, sometimes only by heroic effort? This new state of things gives rise to new questions. There is also the fact that not only working and housing conditions but the greater demands made both in the economic and educational field pose a living situation in which it is frequently difficult these days to provide properly for a large family.Īlso noteworthy is a new understanding of the dignity of woman and her place in society, of the value of conjugal love in marriage and the relationship of conjugal acts to this love.īut the most remarkable development of all is to be seen in man's stupendous progress in the domination and rational organization of the forces of nature to the point that he is endeavoring to extend this control over every aspect of his own life-over his body, over his mind and emotions, over his social life, and even over the laws that regulate the transmission of life.ģ. This can easily induce public authorities to be tempted to take even harsher measures to avert this danger. In the first place there is the rapid increase in population which has made many fear that world population is going to grow faster than available resources, with the consequence that many families and developing countries would be faced with greater hardships. ![]() The changes that have taken place are of considerable importance and varied in nature. The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings.Ģ. The fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people, but the recent course of human society and the concomitant changes have provoked new questions. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships. The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. TO THE CLERGY AND FAITHFUL OF THE WHOLE CATHOLIC WORLD, AND TO ALL MEN OF GOOD WILL, IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE,
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