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SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
DECLARATION ON CERTAIN QUESTIONS CONCERNING SEXUAL ETHICS
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1. According to contemporary scientific research, the human
person is so profoundly affected by sexuality that it must be
considered as one of the factors which give to each individual's
life the principal traits that distinguish it. In fact it is
from sex that the human person receives the characteristics
which, on the biological, psychological, and spiritual levels,
make that person a man or a woman, and thereby largely condition
his or her progress towards maturity and insertion into society.
Hence sexual matters, as is obvious to everyone, today constitute
a theme frequently and openly dealt with in books, reviews,
magazines, and other means of social communication.
In the present period, the corruption of morals has
increased, and one of the most serious indications of this
corruption is the unbridled exaltation of sex. Moreover, through
the means of social communication and through public
entertainment this corruption has reached the point of invading
the field of education and of infecting the general mentality.
In this context certain educators, teachers, and moralists
have been able to contribute to a better understanding and
integration into life of the values proper to each of the sexes;
on the other hand there are those who have put forward concepts
and modes of behavior which are contrary to the true moral
exigencies of the human person. Some members of the latter group
have even gone so far as to favor a licentious hedonism.
As a result, in the course of a few years, teachings, moral
criteria and modes of living hitherto faithfully preserved have
been very much unsettled, even among Christians. There are many
people today who, being confronted with so many widespread
opinions opposed to the teaching which they received from the
Church, have come to wonder what they must still hold as true.
2. The Church cannot remain indifferent to this confusion of
minds and relaxation of morals. It is a question, in fact, of a
matter which is of the utmost importance both for the personal
lives of Christians and for the social life of our time. [1]
The bishops are daily led to note the growing difficulties
experienced by the faithful in obtaining knowledge of wholesome
moral teaching, especially in sexual matters, and of the growing
difficulties experienced by pastors in expounding this teaching
effectively. The bishops know that by their pastoral charge they
are called upon to meet the needs of their faithful in this very
serious matter, and important documents dealing with it have
already been published by some of them or by Episcopal
Conferences. Nevertheless, since the erroneous opinions and
resulting deviations are continuing to spread everywhere, the
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, by virtue of
its function in the Universal Church [2] and by a mandate of
the Supreme Pontiff, has judged it necessary to publish the
present Declaration.
3. The people of our time are more and more convinced that the
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human person's dignity and vocation demand that they should
discover, by the light of their own intelligence, the values
innate in their nature, that they should ceaselessly develop
those values and realize them in their lives, in order to achieve
an ever greater development.
In moral matters man cannot make value judgments according to
his personal whim: "In the depths of his conscience, man detects
a law which he does not impose on himself, but which holds him to
obedience....For man has in his heart a law written by God. To
obey it is the very dignity of man; according to it he will be
judged." [3]
Moreover, through His revelation God has made known to us
Christians His plan of salvation, and He has held up to us
Christ, the Savior and Sanctifier, in His teaching and example,
as the supreme and immutable law of life: "I am the light of the
world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, he
will have the light of life." [4]
Therefore there can be no true promotion of man's dignity
unless the essential order of his nature is respected. Of
course, in the history of civilization many of the concrete
conditions and needs of human life have changed and will continue
to change. But all evolution of morals and every type of life
must be kept within the limits imposed by the immutable
principles based upon every human person's constitutive elements
and essential relations -- elements and relations which transcend
historical contingency.
These fundamental principles, which can be grasped by reason,
are contained in "the divine law -- eternal, objective, and
universal -- whereby God orders, directs and governs the entire
universe and all the ways of the human community, by a plan
conceived in wisdom and love. Man has been made by God to
participate in this law, with the result that, under the gentle
disposition of divine Providence, he can come to perceive ever
increasingly the unchanging truth." [5] This divine law is
accessible to our minds.
4. Hence, those many people are in error who today assert that
one can find neither in human nature nor in the revealed law
any absolute and immutable norm to serve for particular actions
other than the one which expresses itself in the general law of
charity and respect for human dignity. As a proof of their
assertion they put forward the view the so-called norms of the
natural law or precepts of Sacred Scripture are to be regarded
only as given expressions of a form of particular culture at a
certain moment of history.
But, in fact, divine Revelation and, in its own proper order,
philosophical wisdom, emphasize the authentic exigencies of human
nature. They thereby necessarily manifest the existence of
immutable laws inscribed in the constitutive elements of human
nature and which are revealed to be identical in all beings
endowed with reason.
Furthermore, Christ instituted His Church as "the pillar and
bulwark of truth." [6] With the Holy Spirit's assistance, she
ceaselessly preserves and transmits without error the truths of
the moral order, and she authentically interprets not only the
revealed positive law but "also...those principles of the moral
order which have their origin in human nature itself" [7] and
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which concern man's full development and sanctification. Now in
fact the Church throughout her history has always considered a
certain number of precepts of the natural law as having an
absolute and immutable value, and in their transgression she has
seen a contradiction of the teaching and spirit of the Gospel.
5. Since sexual ethics concern certain fundamental values of
human and Christian life, this general teaching equally applies
to sexual ethics. In this domain there exist principles and
norms which the Church has always unhesitatingly transmitted as
part of her teaching, however much the opinions and morals of the
world may have been opposed to them. These principles and norms
in no way owe their origin to a certain type of culture, but
rather to knowledge of the divine law and of human nature. They
therefore cannot be considered as having become out of date or
doubtful under the pretext that a new cultural situation has
arisen.
It is these principles which inspired the exhortations and
directives given by the Second Vatican Council for an education
and an organization of social life taking account of the equal
dignity of man and woman while respecting their difference. [8]
Speaking of "the sexual nature of man and the human faculty
of procreation", the Council noted that they "wonderfully exceed
the dispositions of lower forms of life." [9] It then took
particular care to expound the principles and criteria which
concern human sexuality in marriage, and which are based upon the
finality of the specific function of sexuality.
In this regard the Council declares that the moral goodness
of the acts proper to conjugal life, acts which are ordered
according to true human dignity, "does not depend solely on
sincere intentions or on an evaluation of motives. It must be
determined by objective standards. These, based on the nature of
the human person and his acts, preserve the full sense of mutual
self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love."
[10]
These final words briefly sum up the Council's teaching --
more fully expounded in an earlier part of the same Constitution
[11] -- on the finality of the sexual act and on the principal
criterion of its morality: it is respect for its finality that
ensures the moral goodness of this act.
This same principle, which the Church holds from divine
Revelation and from her authentic interpretation of the natural
law, is also the basis of her traditional doctrine, which states
that the use of the sexual function has its true meaning and
moral rectitude only in true marriage. [12]
6. It is not the purpose of the present Declaration to deal with
all the abuses of the sexual faculty, nor with all the elements
involved in the practice of chastity. Its object is rather to
repeat the Church's doctrine on certain particular points, in
view of the urgent need to oppose serious errors and widespread
aberrant modes of behavior.
7. Today there are many who vindicate the right to sexual union
before marriage, at least in those cases where a firm intention
to marry and an affection which is already in some way conjugal
in the psychology of the subjects require this completion, which
they judge to be connatural. This is especially the case when
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the celebration of the marriage is impeded by circumstances or
when this intimate relationship seems necessary in order for love
to be preserved.
This opinion is contrary to Christian doctrine, which states
that every genital act must be within the framework of marriage.
However firm the intention of those who practice such premature
sexual relations may be, the fact remains that these relations
cannot ensure, in sincerity and fidelity, the interpersonal
relationship between a man and a woman, nor especially can they
protect this relationship from whims and caprices. Now it is a
stable union that Jesus willed, and He restored its original
requirement, beginning with the sexual difference. "Have you not
read that the creator from the beginning made them male and
female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and
mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They
are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God
has united, man must not divide." [13] St. Paul will be even
more explicit when he shows that if unmarried people or widows
cannot live chastely they have no other alternative than the
stable union of marriage: "....it is better to marry than to be
aflame with passion." [14] Through marriage, in fact, the love
of married people is taken up into that love which Christ
irrevocably has for the Church, [15] while dissolute sexual union
[16] defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit which the Christian
has become. Sexual union therefore is only legitimate if a
definitive community of life has been established between the man
and the woman.
This is what the Church has always understood and taught,
[17] and she finds a profound agreement with her doctrine in
men's reflection and in the lessons of history.
Experience teaches us that love must find its safeguard in
the stability of marriage, if sexual intercourse is truly to
respond to the requirements of its own finality and to those of
human dignity. These requirements call for a conjugal contract
sanctioned and guaranteed by society -- a contract which
establishes a state of life of capital importance both for the
exclusive union of the man and the woman and for the good of
their family and of the human community. Most often, in fact,
premarital relations exclude the possibility of children. What
is represented by conjugal love is not able, as it absolutely
should be, to develop into paternal and maternal love. Or, if it
does happen to do so, this will be to the detriment of the
children, who will be deprived of the stable environment in which
they ought to develop in order to find in it the way and the
means of their insertion into society as a whole.
The consent given by people who wish to be united in marriage
must therefore be manifested externally and in a manner which
makes it valid in the eyes of society. As far as the faithful
are concerned, their consent to the setting up of a community of
conjugal life must be expressed according to the laws of the
Church. It is a consent which makes their marriage a sacrament
of Christ.
8. At the present time there are those who, basing themselves on
observations in the psychological order, have begun to judge
indulgently, and even to excuse completely, homosexual relations
between certain people. This they do in opposition to the
constant teaching of the magisterium and to the moral sense of
the Christian people.
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A distinction is drawn, and it seems with some reason,
between homosexuals whose tendency comes from a false education,
from a lack of normal sexual development, from habit, from bad
example, or from other similar causes, and is transitory or at
least not incurable; and homosexuals who are definitively such
because of some kind of innate instinct or a pathological
constitution judged to be incurable.
In regard to this second category of subjects, some people
conclude that their tendency is so natural that it justifies in
their case homosexual relations within a sincere communion of
life and love analogous to marriage, insofar as such homosexuals
feel incapable of enduring a solitary life.
In the pastoral field, those homosexuals must certainly be
treated with understanding and sustained in the hope of
overcoming their personal difficulties and their inability to fit
into society. Their culpability will be judged with prudence.
But no pastoral method can be employed which would give moral
justification to these acts on the grounds that they would be
consonant with the condition of such people. For, according to
the objective moral order, homosexual relations are acts which
lack an essential and indispensable finality. In Sacred
Scripture they are condemned as a serious depravity and even
presented as the sad consequence of rejecting God. [18] This
judgment of Scripture does not of course permit us to conclude
that all who suffer from this anomaly are personally responsible
for it, but it does attest to the fact that homosexual acts are
intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of.
9. The traditional Catholic doctrine that masturbation
constitutes a grave moral disorder is often called into doubt or
expressly denied today. It is said that psychology and sociology
show that it is a normal phenomenon of sexual development,
especially among the young. It is stated that there is real and
serious fault only in the measure that the subject deliberately
indulges in solitary pleasure closed in on self ("ipsation"),
because in this case the act would indeed be radically opposed to
the loving communion between persons of different sex which some
hold is what is principally sought in the use of the sexual
faculty.
This opinion is contradictory to the teaching and pastoral
practice of the Catholic Church. Whatever the force of certain
arguments of a biological and philosophical nature, which have
sometimes been used by theologians, in fact both the magisterium
of the Church -- in the course of a constant tradition -- and the
moral sense of the faithful have declared without hesitation that
masturbation is an intrinsically and seriously disordered act.
[19] The main reason is that, whatever the motive for acting in
this way, the deliberate use of the sexual faculty outside normal
conjugal relations essentially contradicts the finality of the
faculty. For it lacks the sexual relationship called for by the
moral order, namely, the relationship which realizes "the full
sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context
of true love." [20] All deliberate exercise of sexuality must
be reserved to this regular relationship. Even if it cannot be
proved that Scripture condemns this sin by name, the tradition of
the Church has rightly understood it to be condemned in the New
Testament when the latter speaks of "impurity," "unchasteness,"
and other vices contrary to chastity and continence.
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Sociological surveys are able to show the frequency of this
disorder according to the places, populations, or circumstances
studied. In this way facts are discovered, but facts do not
constitute a criterion for judging the moral value of human acts.
[21] The frequency of the phenomenon in question is certainly to
be linked with man's innate weakness following original sin; but
it is also to be linked with the loss of a sense of God, with the
corruption of morals engendered by the commercialization of vice,
with the unrestrained licentiousness of so many public
entertainments and publications, as well as with the neglect of
modesty, which is the guardian of chastity.
On the subject of masturbation modern psychology provides
much valid and useful information for formulating a more
equitable judgment on moral responsibility and for orienting
pastoral action. Psychology helps one to see how the immaturity
of adolescence (which can sometimes persist after that age),
psychological imbalance or habit can influence behavior,
diminishing the deliberate character of the act and bringing
about a situation whereby subjectively there may not always be
serious fault. But, in general, the absence of serious
responsibility must not be presumed; this would be to
misunderstand people's moral capacity.
In the pastoral ministry, in order to form an adequate
judgment in concrete cases, the habitual behavior of people will
be considered in its totality, not only with regard to the
individual's practice of charity and of justice but also with
regard to the individual's care in observing the particular
precepts of chastity. In particular, one will have to examine
whether the individual is using the necessary means, both natural
and supernatural, which Christian asceticism from its long
experience recommends for overcoming the passions and progressing
in virtue.
10. The observance of the moral law in the field of sexuality and
the practice of chastity have been considerably endangered,
especially among less fervent Christians, by the current tendency
to minimize as far as possible, when not denying outright, the
reality of grave sin, at least in people's actual lives.
There are those who go as far as to affirm that mortal sin,
which causes separation from God, only exists in the formal
refusal directly opposed to God's call, or in that selfishness
which completely and deliberately closes itself to the love of
neighbor. They say that it is only then that there comes into
play the fundamental option, that is to say, the decision which
totally commits the person and which is necessary if mortal sin
is to exist; by this option the person, from the depths of the
personality, takes up or ratifies a fundamental attitude towards
God or people. On the contrary, so-called "peripheral" actions
(which, it is said, usually do not involve decisive choice), do
not go so far as to change the fundamental option, the less so
since they often come, as is observed, from habit. Thus such
actions can weaken the fundamental option, but not to such a
degree as to change it completely. Now according to these
authors, a change of the fundamental option towards God less
easily comes about in the field of sexual activity, where a
person generally does not transgress the moral order in a fully
deliberate and responsible manner but rather under the influence
of passion, weakness, immaturity, sometimes even through the
illusion of thus showing love for someone else. To these causes
there is often added the pressure of the social environment.
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In reality, it is precisely the fundamental option which in
the last resort defines a person's moral disposition. But it can
be completely changed by particular acts, especially when, as
often happens, these have been prepared for by previous more
superficial acts. Whatever the case, it is wrong to say that
particular acts are not enough to constitute mortal sin.
According to the Church's teaching, mortal sin, which is
opposed to God, does not consist only in formal and direct
resistance to the commandment of charity. It is equally to be
found in this opposition to authentic love which is included in
every deliberate transgression, in serious matter, of each of the
moral laws.
Christ Himself has indicated the double commandment of love
as the basis of the moral life. But on this commandment depends
"the whole Law, and the prophets also." [22] It therefore
includes the other particular precepts. In fact, to the young
man who asked, "...what good deed must I do to possess eternal
life?" Jesus replied: "...if you wish to enter into life, keep
the commandments....You must not kill. You must not commit
adultery. You must not steal. You must not bear false witness.
Honor your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbor as
yourself." [23]
A person therefore sins mortally not only when his action
comes from direct contempt for love of God and neighbor, but also
when he consciously and freely, for whatever reason, chooses
something which is seriously disordered. For in this choice, as
has been said above, there is already included contempt for the
divine commandment: the person turns himself away from God and
loses charity. Now according to Christian tradition and the
Church's teaching, and as right reason also recognizes, the moral
order of sexuality involves such high values of human life that
every direct violation of this order is objectively serious.
[24]
It is true that in sins of the sexual order, in view of their
kind and their causes, it more easily happens that free consent
is not fully given; this is a fact which calls for caution in
all judgment as to the subject's responsibility. In this matter
it is particularly opportune to recall the following words of
Scripture: "Man looks at appearances but God looks at the
heart." [25] However, although prudence is recommended in
judging the subjective seriousness of a particular sinful act,
it in no way follows that one can hold the view that in the
sexual field mortal sins are not committed.
Pastors of souls must therefore exercise patience and
goodness; but they are not allowed to render God's commandments
null, nor to reduce unreasonably people's responsibility. "To
diminish in no way the saving teaching of Christ constitutes an
eminent form of charity for souls. But this must ever be
accompanied by patience and goodness, such as the Lord Himself
gave example of in dealing with people. Having come not to
condemn but to save, He was indeed intransigent with evil, but
merciful towards individuals." [26]
11. As has been said above, the purpose of this Declaration is to
draw the attention of the faithful in present-day circumstances
to certain errors and modes of behavior which they must guard
against. The virtue of chastity, however, is in no way confined
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solely to avoiding the faults already listed. It is aimed at
attaining higher and more positive goals. It is a virtue which
concerns the whole personality, as regards both interior and
outward behavior.
Individuals should be endowed with this virtue according to
their state in life: for some it will mean virginity or celibacy
consecrated to God, which is an eminent way of giving oneself
more easily to God alone with an undivided heart. [27] For
others it will take the form determined by the moral law,
according to whether they are married or single. But whatever
the state of life, chastity is not simply an external state: it
must make a person's heart pure in accordance with Christ's
words: "You have learned how it was said: You must not commit
adultery. But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman
lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his
heart." [28]
Chastity is included in that continence which St. Paul
numbers among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, while he condemns
sensuality as a vice particularly unworthy of the Christian and
one which precludes entry into the kingdom of heaven. [29]
"What God wants is for all to keep away from fornication, and
each one of you to know how to use the body that belongs to him
in a way that is holy and honorable, not giving way to selfish
lust like the pagans who do not know God. He wants nobody at all
ever to sin by taking advantage of a brother in these
matters....We have been called by God to be holy, not to be
immoral. In other words, anyone who objects is not objecting to
a human authority, but to God, who gives you his Holy Spirit."
[30] "Among you there must not be even a mention of fornication
or impurity in any of its forms, or promiscuity: this would
hardly become the saints! For you can be quite certain that
nobody who actually indulges in fornication or impurity or
promiscuity -- which is worshipping a false god -- can inherit
anything in the kingdom of God. Do not let anyone deceive you
with empty arguments: it is for this loose living that God's
anger comes down on those who rebel against him. Make sure that
you are not included with them. You were darkness once, but now
you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the
effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right
living and truth." [31]
In addition, the Apostle points out the specifically
Christian motive for practicing chastity when he condemns the sin
of fornication not only in the measure that this action is
injurious to one's neighbor or to the social order but because
the fornicator offends against Christ who has redeemed him with
His blood and of whom he is a member, and against the Holy Spirit
of whom he is the temple. "You know, surely, that your bodies
are members making up the body of Christ....All the other sins
are committed outside the body; but to fornicate is to sin
against your own body. Your body, you know, is the temple of the
Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You
are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for.
That is why you should use your body for the glory of God." [32]
The more the faithful appreciate the value of chastity and
its necessary role in their lives as men and women, the better
they will understand, by a kind of spiritual instinct, its moral
requirements and counsels. In the same way they will know better
how to accept and carry out, in a spirit of docility to the
Church's teaching, what an upright conscience dictates in
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concrete cases.
12. The Apostle St. Paul describes in vivid terms the painful
interior conflict of the person enslaved to sin: the conflict
between the "law of his mind" and the "law of sin which dwells in
his members" and which holds him captive. [33] But man can
achieve liberation from his "body doomed to death" through the
grace of Jesus Christ. [34] This grace is enjoyed by those who
have been justified by it and whom "the law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set free from the law of sin and death."
[35] It is for this reason that the Apostle adjures them: "That
is why you must not let sin reign in your mortal bodies or
command your obedience to bodily passions." [36]
This liberation, which fits one to serve God in newness of
life, does not however suppress the concupiscence deriving from
original sin, nor the promptings to evil in this world, which is
"in the power of the evil one." [37] This is why the Apostle
exhorts the faithful to overcome temptations by the power of God
[38] and to "stand against the wiles of the devil" [39] by faith,
watchful prayer [40] and an austerity of life that brings the
body into subjection to the spirit. [41]
Living the Christian life by following in the footsteps of
Christ requires that everyone should "deny himself and take up
his cross daily," [42] sustained by the hope of reward, for "if
we have died with him, we shall also reign with him." [43]
In accordance with these pressing exhortations, the faithful
of the present time, and indeed today more than ever, must use
the means which have always been recommended by the Church for
living a chaste life. These means are: discipline of the senses
and of the mind, watchfulness and prudence in avoiding occasions
of sin, the observance of modesty, moderation in recreation,
wholesome pursuits, assiduous prayer and frequent reception of
the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. Young people
especially should earnestly foster devotion to the Immaculate
Mother of God, and take as examples the lives of the saints and
other faithful people, especially young ones, who excelled in the
practice of chastity.
It is important in particular that everyone should have a
high esteem for the virtue of chastity, its beauty and its power
of attraction. This virtue increases the human person's dignity
and enables him to love truly, disinterestedly, unselfishly and
with respect for others.
13. It is up to the bishops to instruct the faithful in the moral
teaching concerning sexual morality, however great this work in
the face of ideas and practices generally prevailing today. This
traditional doctrine must be studied more deeply. It must be
handed on in a way capable of properly enlightening the
consciences of those confronted with new situations and it must
be enriched with a discernment of all the elements that can
truthfully and usefully be brought forward about the meaning and
value of human sexuality. But the principles and norms of moral
living reaffirmed in this Declaration must be faithfully held and
taught. It will especially be necessary to bring the faithful to
understand that the Church holds these principles not as old and
inviolable superstitions, nor out of some Manichaean prejudice,
as is often alleged, but rather because she knows with certainty
that they are in complete harmony with the divine order of
Creation and with the spirit of Christ, and therefore also with
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human dignity.
It is likewise the bishops' mission to see that a sound
doctrine enlightened by faith and directed by the magisterium of
the Church is taught in faculties of theology and in seminaries.
Bishops must also ensure that confessors enlighten people's
consciences and that catechetical instruction is given in perfect
fidelity to Catholic doctrine.
It rests with the bishops, the priests, and their
collaborators to alert the faithful against the erroneous
opinions often expressed in books, reviews, and public meetings.
Parents, in the first place, and also teachers of the young
must endeavor to lead their children and their pupils, by way of
a complete education, to the psychological, emotional, and moral
maturity befitting their age. They will therefore prudently give
them information suited to their age; and they will assiduously
form their wills in accordance with Christian morals, not only by
advice but above all by the example of their own lives, relying
on God's help, which they will obtain in prayer. They will
likewise protect the young from the many dangers of which they
are quite unaware.
Artists, writers, and all those who use the means of social
communication should exercise their profession in accordance with
their Christian faith and with a clear awareness of the enormous
influence which they can have. They should remember that "the
primacy of the objective moral order must be regarded as absolute
by all," [44] and that it is wrong for them to give priority
above it to any so-called aesthetic purpose, or to material
advantage or to success. Whether it be a question of artistic or
literary works, public entertainment or providing information,
each individual in his or her own domain must show tact,
discretion, moderation, and a true sense of values. In this way,
far from adding to the growing permissiveness of behavior, each
individual will contribute towards controlling it and even
towards making the moral climate of society more wholesome.
All lay people, for their part, by virtue of their rights and
duties in the work of the apostolate, should endeavor to act in
the same way.
Finally, it is necessary to remind everyone of the words of
the Second Vatican Council: "This Holy Synod likewise affirms
that children and young people have a right to be encouraged to
weigh moral values with an upright conscience, and to embrace
them by personal choice, to know and love God more adequately.
Hence, it earnestly entreats all who exercise government over
people or preside over the work of education to see that youth is
never deprived of this sacred right." [45]
At the audience granted on November 7, 1975, to the
undersigned Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith, the Sovereign Pontiff by divine providence Pope
Paul VI approved this Declaration, "On certain questions
concerning sexual ethics," confirmed it and ordered its
publication.
Given in Rome, at the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith, on December 29, 1975.
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Franjo Card. Seper
Fr. Jerome Hamer, O.P.
Footnotes
_________
1. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 47: AAS 58 (1966), p. 1067.
2. Cf. Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae, 29
(15 August 1967): AAS 59 (1967), p. 897
3. Gaudium et Spes, 16: AAS 58 (1966), p. 1037.
4. Jn 8:12.
5. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Declaration Dignitatis
Humanae, 3: AAS 58 (1966), p. 931.
6. 1 Tim 3:15.
7. Dignitatis Humanae, 14: AAS 58 (1966), p. 940; cf. Pius XI,
Encyclical Letter Casti Connubii, 31 December 1930: AAS 22 (1930),
pp. 579-580; Pius XII, Allocution of 2 November 1954: AAS 46 (1954),
pp. 671-672; John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra, 15 May
1961: AAS 53 (1961), p. 457; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Humanae
Vitae, 4, 25 July 1968: AAS 60 (1968), p. 483.
8. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Declaration
Gravissimum Educationis, 1, 8: AAS 58 (1966), pp. 729-730; 734-736.
Gaudium et Spes, 29, 60, 67: AAS 58 (1966), pp. 1048-1049,
1080-1081, 1088-1089.
9. Gaudium et Spes, 51: AAS 58 (1966), pp. 1072.
10. Ibid., cf. also 49: loc. cit., pp. 1069-1070.
11. Ibid., 49, 50: loc. cit., pp. 1069-1072.
12. The present Declaration does not go into further detail
regarding the norms of sexual life within marriage; these norms have
been clearly taught in the Encyclical Letters Casti Connubii and
Humanae Vitae.
13. Cf. Mt 19:4-6.
14. 1 Cor 7:9.
15. Cf. Eph. 5:25-32.
16. Sexual intercourse outside marriage is formally condemned:
1 Cor 5:1; 6:9; 7:2; 10:8; Eph 5:5; 1 Tim 1:10; Heb 13:4; and with
explicit reasons: 1 Cor 6:12-20.
17. Cf. Innocent IV, Letter Sub catholica professione, 6 March
1254, DS 835; Pius II, Propos. damn in Ep. Cum sicut accepimus, 14
November 1459, DS 1367; Decrees of the Holy Office, 24 September
1665, DS 2045; 2 March 1679, DS 2148. Pius XI, Encyclical Letter
Casti Connubii, 31 December 1930: AAS 22 (1930), pp. 558-559.
Pg. 12
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18. Rom 1:24-27: "That is why God left them to their filthy
enjoyments and the practices with which they dishonor their own
bodies, since they have given up divine truth for a life and have
worshipped and served creatures instead of the creator, who is
blessed for ever. Amen! That is why God has abandoned them to
degrading passions: why their women have turned from natural
intercourse to unnatural practices and why their menfolk have given
up natural intercourse to be consumed with passion for each other,
men doing shameless things with men and getting an appropriate reward
for their perversion". See also what Saint Paul says of "masculorum
concubitores" in 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10.
19. Cf. Leo IX, Letter Ad splendidum nitentis, in the year
1054: DS 687-688, Decree of the Holy Office, 2 March 1679: DS 2149;
Pius XII, Allocutio, 8 October 1953: AAS 45 (1953), pp. 677-678; 19
May 1956: AAS 48 (1956), pp. 472-473.
20. Gaudium et Spes, 51: AAS 58 (1966), p. 1072.
21. "... if sociological surveys are useful for better
discovering the thought patterns of the people of a particular place,
the anxieties and needs of those to whom we proclaim the wod of God,
and also the opposition made to it by modern reasoning through the
widespread notion from outside science there exists no legitimate
form of knowledge, still the conclusions drawn from such surveys
could not of themselves constitute a determining criterion of truth",
Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Quinque iam anni, 8 December 1970, AAS
63 (1971), p. 102.
22. Mt 22:38, 40.
23. Mt 19:16-19.
24. Cf. note 17 and 19 above: Decree of the Holy Office, 18
March 1666, DS 2060; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae, 13,
14: AAS 60 (1968), pp. 489-496.
25. 1 Sam 16:7.
26. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae, 29: AAS 60
(1968), p. 501.
27. Cf. 1 Cor 7:7, 34; Council of Trent, Session XXIV, can. 10:
DS 1810; Second Vatican Council, Constitution Lumen Gentium, 42, 43,
44: AAS 57 (1965), pp. 47-51; Synod of Bishops, De Sacerdotio
Ministeriali, part II, 4, b: AAS 63 (1971), pp. 915-916.
28. Mt 5:28.
29. Cf. Gal 5:19-23; 1 Cor 6:9-11.
30. 1 Thess 4:3-8; cf. Col 3:5-7; 1 Tim 1:10.
31. Eph 5:3-8; cf. 4:18-19.
32. 1 Cor 6:15, 18-20.
33. Cf. Rom 7:23.
34. Cf. Rom 7:24-25.
Pg. 13
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35. Cf. Rom 8:2.
36. Rom 6:12.
37. 1 Jn 5:19.
38. Cf. 1 Cor 10:13.
39. Eph 6:11.
40. Cf. Eph 6:16, 18.
41. Cf. 1 Cor 9:27.
42. Lk 9:23.
43. 2 Tim 2:11-12.
44. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree Inter Mirifica,
6: AAS 56 (1964), p. 147.
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FOOTNOTES
1) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the
Church in the Modern Word "Gaudium et Spes" 47: AAS 58
(1966), p. 1007.
2) Cf. Apostolic Constitution "Regimini Ecclesiae Universae" 29
(15 August 1967): AAS 59 (1967) p. 897.
3) "Gaudium et Spes", 16: AAS 58 (1966) p.1037
4) In 8:12.
5) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Declaration "Dignitas
Humanitae", 3: AAS 58 (1966) p. 931.
6) 1 Timothy 3:15.
7) "Dignitatis Humanae" 14: AAS 58 (1966), p. 940; cf. Pius XI,
Encyclical Letter "Casti Canubii", 31 December 1930; AAS 22
(1930, pp. 579-580; Pius XII, Allocution of 2 November 1954;
AAS 46 (1954), pp. 671-672; John XXIII, Encyclical Letter
"Mater et Magistra", 15 May 1961; AAS 53 (1961), p. 457;
Paul VI, Encyclical Letter "Humanae Vitae", 4, 25 July 1968;
AAS 60 (1968), p. 483.
8) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Declaration
"Gravissimum Educationis", 1, 8: AAS 58 (1966), pp.729-730;
734-736. "Gaudium et Spes", 29, 60, 67: AAS 58 (1966), pp.
1048-1049, 1080-1081, 1088-1089.
9) "Gaudium et Spes", 51: AAS 58 (1966) pp. 1072.
10) ; cf. also 49: pp. 1069-1070.
11) , 49, 50: , pp. 1069-1072.
12) The present Declaration does not go into further detail
regarding the norms of sexual life within marriage; these
norms have been clearly taught in the Encyclical Letters
"Casti Connubii" and "Humanae Vitae".
13) Matthew 19:4-6.
14) 1 Corinthians 7:9.
15) Ephesians 5:25-32.
16) Sexual intercourse outside marriage is formally condemned: 1
Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 7:2; 10:8; Ephesians 5:5; 1 Timothy
1:10; Hebrews 13:4; and with explicit reasons: 1 Corinthians
6:12-20.
17) Cf. Innocent IV, Letter "Sub Catholica Professione", 6 March
1254, 835; Pius II, "Propos Damn, In Ep. Cum sicut
acceptimus", 14 November 1459, 1367; Decrees of the Holy
Office, 24 September 1665, 2045; 2 March 1679,
2148, Pius XI, Encyclical Letter "Casti Connubii", 31
December 1930: AAS 22 (1930) pp. 558-559.
18) Romans 1:24-27: "That is why God left them to their filthy
enjoyments and the practices with which they dishonor their
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Pg 13:
-----
own bodies, since they have given up divine truth for a lie
and have served creatures instead of the creator, who is
blessed for ever, Amen! That is why God has abandoned them
to degrading passions: why their women have turned from
natural intercourse to unnatural practices and why their
menfolk have given up natural intercourse to be consumed with
passion for each other, men doing shameless things with men
and getting an appropriate reward for their perversion." See
also what Saint Paul says of in 1
Corinthians 6:10, 1 Timothy 1:10.
19) Cf. Leo IX, Letter "Ad splendidum nitentis", in the year
1054; 687-688, Decree of the Holy Office, 2 March 1679;
2149; Pius XII, "Allocutio", 8 October 1953; AAS 45
(1953) pp. 677-678; 19 May 1956, AAS 48 (1956) pp. 472-473.
20) "Gaudium et Spes", 51: AAS 58 (1966), p.1072.
21) "...if sociological surveys are useful for better discovering
the thought patterns of a particular place, the anxieties and
needs of those to whom we proclaim the word of God, and also
the opposition made to it by modern reasoning through the
widespread notion that outside science there exists no
legitimate form of knowledge, still the conclusions drawn
from such surveys could not of themselves constitute a
determining criterion of truth." Paul VI, Apostolic
Exhortation "Quinque iam anni", 8 December 1970; AAS 63
(1971), p. 102.
22) Matthew 22:38, 40.
23) Matthew 19:16-19.
24) Cf. note 17 and 19 above: Decree of the Holy Office, 18 March
1666, 2060; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter "Humanae Vitae",
13, 14; AAS 60 (1968), pp. 489-496.
25) 1 Samuel 16:7.
26) Paul VI, Encyclical Letter "Humanae Vitae", 29: AAS 60 (1968)
p. 50.
27) Cf. 1 Corinthians 7:7, 34; Council of Trent, Session XXIV,
can. 10; 1810; Second Vatican Council, Constitution
"Lumen Gentium", 42, 43, 44; AAS 57 (1965), pp. 47-51; Synod
of Bishops, "De Sacerdotio Ministeriali", part II, 4, b: AAS
63 (1971), pp. 915-916.
28) Matthew 5:28.
29) Cf. Galatians 5:190-23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
30) 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. Cf. Colossians 3:5-7; 1 Timothy 1:10.
31) Ephesians 5:3-8; cf. 4:18-19.
32) 1 Corinthians 6:15, 18-20.
33) Cf. Romans 7:23.
34) Cf. Romans 7:24-25.
35) Cf. Romans 8:2.
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36) Romans 6:12.
37) 1 John 5:19.
38) Cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13.
39) Ephesians 6:11.
40) Cf. Ephesians 6:16, 18.
41) Cf. 1 Corinthians 9:27.
42) Luke 9:23.
43) 2 Timothy 2:11-12.
44) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council Decree "Inter Mirifica" 6.
AAS 56 (1964) p. 147.
45) "Gravissimum Educationis", 1: AAS 58 (1966), p. 730.
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