458. What are the duties that society has toward the family? (part 2 continuation)
(Comp 458 repetition) Society, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity, has the duty to
support and strengthen marriage and the family. Public authority must respect,
protect and foster the true nature of marriage and the family, public morality,
the rights of parents, and domestic prosperity.
“In brief”
(CCC 2250) "The well-being of
the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound
up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life" (GS 47 § 1).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2210) The importance of the
family for the life and well-being of society
(Cf. GS 47 § 1) entails a particular responsibility for society to
support and strengthen marriage and the family. Civil authority should consider
it a grave duty "to acknowledge the true nature of marriage and the
family, to protect and foster them, to safeguard public morality, and promote
domestic prosperity" (GS 52 § 2).
Reflection
(CCC 2212) The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in society.
In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our cousins,
the descendants of our ancestors; in our fellow citizens, the children of our
country; in the baptized, the children of our mother the Church; in every human
person, a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called "our
Father." In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized
as personal in character. The neighbor is not a "unit" in the human
collective; he is "someone" who by his known origins deserves
particular attention and respect. (CCC 2213)
Human communities are made up of persons.
Governing them well is not limited to guaranteeing rights and fulfilling duties
such as honoring contracts. Right relations between employers and employees,
between those who govern and citizens, presuppose a natural good will in
keeping with the dignity of human persons concerned for justice and fraternity.
[END]
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