Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Vatican releases new document: "Family and Human Procreation"

Document Deals With "Family and Procreation"
Echoes Teachings of "Humanae Vitae"

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 6, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A new Vatican document on "Family and Human Procreation" aims to "open the doors to the future research into these debated issues."

The Pontifical Council for the Family published the 57-page document today. Among other things, the document recalls that "the family is the only appropriate place for procreation."

The introduction quotes the words given by Pope John Paul II in Puebla, Mexico, in 1979.

The Holy Father had stated that "the family is inbred in man and has been established by God. But today man has become a riddle to himself and is experiencing the deepest crisis in history in his family dimension: The family is attacked as it has never been before; the new forms of union are destroying it; the fertilization techniques are totally ousting human love; the birth control policies are leading to today's 'birth winter.'"

The document later states that procreation, "which is the means of transmitting life through the loving union of man and woman, must be human"; that is, it must be "the fruit of man's actions."

"The act of union of man and woman," states the document, "cannot be separated by its inbred dimension, which is procreation and makes for responsible fatherhood and motherhood. The marital moral rests all on this ground."
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 9:06 AM