Full text of House Bill No.

5043 (Reproductive Health

and Population Development Act of 2008)
Published by Atty. Fred September 22nd, 2008 in Family and Property Law andObiter/News. 4 Comments

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(Knowing the details of the proposed law is important in having a healthy debate on the

issue. Here’s the full text of House Bill No. 5043, which is in substitution to HB Nos. 17,

812, 2753 & 3970, introduced during the first regular session of the 14th Congress by

Honorables Edcel C. Lagman, Janettte L. Garin, Narciso D. Santiago III, Mark Llandro

Mendoza, Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel and Elandro Jesus F. Madrona. You could also

read the Facts Sheet and the Explanatory Note relating to the Reproductive Health and

Population Development Act. Poll also here. )

HOUSE BILL NO. 5043

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A NATIONAL POLICY ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH,

RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD AND POPULATION DEVELOPMENT, AND FOR OTHER

PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress

assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Reproductive Health and

Population Development Act of 2008“.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – The State upholds and promotes responsible parenthood,

informed choice, birth spacing and respect for life in conformity with internationally

recognized human rights standards.

The State shall uphold the right of the people, particularly women and their organizations,

to effective and reasonable participation in the formulation and implementation of the

declared policy.

This policy is anchored on the rationale that sustainable human development is better

assured with a manageable population of healthy, educated and productive citizens.

The State likewise guarantees universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and

quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant

information thereon even as it prioritizes the needs of women and children,among other

underprivileged sectors.

SEC. 3. Guiding Principles. – This Act declares the following as basic guiding principles:

a. In the promotion of reproductive health, there should be no bias for either modern or

natural methods of family planning;

b. Reproductive health goes beyond a demographic target because it is principally about

health and rights;

c. Gender equality and women empowerment are central elements of reproductive health

and population development;

d. Since manpower is the principal asset of every country, effective reproductive health care

services must be given primacy to ensure the birth and care of healthy children and to

promote responsible parenting;

e. The limited resources of the country cannot be suffered to, be spread so thinly to service

a burgeoning multitude that makes the allocations grossly inadequate and effectively

meaningless;

f. Freedom of informed choice, which is central to the exercise of any right, must be fully

guaranteed by the State like the right itself;

g. While the number and spacing of children are left to the sound judgment of parents and

couples based on their personal conviction and religious beliefs, such concerned parents and

couples, including unmarried individuals, should be afforded free and full access to relevant,

adequate and correct information on reproductive health and human sexuality and should

be guided by qualified State workers and professional private practitioners;

h. Reproductive health, including the promotion of breastfeeding, must be the joint concern

of the National Government and Local Government Units(LGUs);

i. Protection and promotion of gender equality, women empowerment and human rights,

including reproductive health rights, are imperative;

j. Development is a multi-faceted process that calls for the coordination and integration of

policies, plans, programs and projects that seek to uplift the quality of life of the people,

more particularly the poor, the needy and the marginalized;

k. Active participation by and thorough consultation with concerned non-government

organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs) and communities are imperative to

ensure that basic policies, plans, programs and projects address the priority needs of

stakeholders;

l. Respect for, protection and fulfillment of reproductive health rights seek to promote not

only the rights and welfare of adult individuals and couples but those of adolescents’ and

children’s as well; and

m. While nothing in this Act changes the law on abortion, as abortion remains a crime and is

punishable, the government shall ensure that women seeking care for post-abortion

complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and

compassionate manner.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. – For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be

defined as follows:

a. Responsible Parenthood – refers to the will, ability and cornmitTrient of parents to

respond to the needs and aspirations of the family and children more particularly through

family planning;

b. Family Planning – refers to a program which enables couple, and individuals to decide

freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information
and means to carry out their decisions, and to have informed choice and access to a full

range of safe, legal and effective family planning methods, techniques and devices.

c. Reproductive Health -refers to the state of physical, mental and social well-being and not

merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system

and to its funcitions and processes. This implies that people are able to have a satisfying

and safe sex life, that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if,

when and how often to do so, provided that these are not against the law. This further

implies that women and men are afforded equal status in matters related to sexual relations

and reproduction.

d. Reproductive Health Rights – refers to the rights of individuals and couples do decide

freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children; to make other

decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence; to have the

information and means to carry out their decisions; and to attain the highest standard of

sexual and reproductive health.

e. Gender Equality – refers to the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex,

in opportunities, allocation of resources and benefits, and access to services.

f. Gender Equity – refers to fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and

responsibilities between women and men, and often requires. women-specific projects and

programs to eliminate existing inequalities, inequities, policies and practices unfavorable too

women.

g. Reproductive Health Care – refers to the availability of and access to a full range of

methods, techniques, supplies and services that contribute to reproductive and sexual

health and well-being by preventing and solving reproductive health-related problems in

order to achieve enhancement of life and personal relations. The elements of reproductive

health care include:

1. Maternal, infant and child health and nutrition;

2. Promotion of breastfeeding;

3. Family planning information end services;

4. Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications;

5. Adolescent and youth health;

6. Prevention and management of reproductive tract infections (RTIs), HIV/AIDS and other

sexually transmittable infections (STIs);

7. Elimination of violence against women;

8. Education and counseling on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health;

9. Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers and other gynecological conditions;

10. Male involvement and participation in reproductive health;,

11. Prevention and treatment of infertility and sexual dysfunction; and

12. Reproductive health education for the youth.

h. Reproductive Health Education – refers to the process of acquiring complete, accurate

and relevant information on all matters relating to the reproductive system, its functions

and processes and human sexuality; and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual

identity, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy and gender roles. It also includes

developing the necessary skills do be able to distinguish between facts and myths on sex

and sexuality; and critically evaluate. and discuss the moral, religious, social and cultural

dimensions of related sensitive issues such as contraception and abortion.

i. Male involvement and participation – refers to the involvement, participation, commitment

and joint responsibility of men with women in all areas of sexual and reproductive health, as

well as reproductive health concerns specific to men.

j. Reproductive tract infection (RTI) – refers do sexually transmitted infections, sexually

transmitted diseases and other types of-infections affecting the reproductive system.

k. Basic Emergency Obstetric Care – refers to lifesaving services for maternal complication

being provided by a health facility or professional which must include the following six signal

functions: administration of parenteral antibiotics; administration of parrenteral oxyttocic

drugs; administration of parenteral anticonvulsants for pre-eclampsia and iampsia; manual

removal of placenta; and assisted vaginal delivery.

l. Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care – refers to basic emergency obstetric care plus

two other signal functions: performance of caesarean section and blood transfusion.

m. Maternal Death Review – refers to a qualitative and in-depth study of the causes of

maternal death with the primary purpose of preventing future deaths through changes or

additions to programs, plans and policies.

n. Skilled Attendant – refers to an accredited health professional such as a licensed midwife,

doctor or nurse who has adequate proficiency and the skills to manage normal

(uncomplicated) pregnancies, childbirth and the immediate postnatal period, and in the

identification, management and referral of complication in women and newborns.

o. Skilled Attendance – refers to childbirth managed by a skilled attendant under the

enabling conditions of a functional emergencyobstetric care and referral system.

p. Development – refers to a multi-dimensional process involving major changes in social

structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions as well as the acceleration of

economic growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of widespread poverty.

q. Sustainable Human Development – refers to the totality of the process of expending

human choices by enabling people to enjoy long, healthy and productive lives, affording

them access to resources needed for a decent standard of living and assuring continuity and

acceleration of development by achieving a balance between and among a manageable

population, adequate resources and a healthy environment.

r. Population Development – refers to a program that aims to: (1) help couples and parents

achieve their desired family size; (2) improve reproductive health of individuals by

addressing reproductive health problems; (3) contribute to decreased maternal and infant

mortality rates and early child mortality; (4) reduce incidence of teenage pregnancy; and

(5) enable government to achieve a balanced population distribution.

SEC. 5. The Commission on Population (POPC0NI). – Pursuant to the herein declared policy,

the Commission on Population (POPCOM) shall serve as the central planning, coordinating,

implementing and monitoring body for the comprehensive and integrated policy on

reproductive health and population development. In the implementation of this policy,

POPCOM, which shall be an attached agency of the Department of Health (DOH) shall have

the following functions:

a. To create an enabling environment for women and couples to make an informed choice

regarding the family planning method that is best suited to their needs and personal

convictions;

b. To integrate on a continuing basis the interrelated reproductive health and population

development agenda into a national policy, taking into account regional and local concerns;

c. To provide the mechanism to ensure active and full participation of the private sector and

the citizenry through their organizations in the planning and implementation of reproductive

health care and population development programs and projects;

d. To ensure people’s access to medically safe, legal, quality and affordable reproductive

health goods and services;

e. To facilitate the involvement and participation of non-government organizations and the

private sector in reproductive health care service delivery and in the production, distribution

and delivery of quality reproductive: health and family planning supplies and commodities to

make them accessible and affordable to ordinary citizens;

f. To fully implement the Reproductive Health Care Program with the following components:
(1) Reproductive health education including but not limited to counseling on the full range of

legal and medically-safe family planning methods including surgical methods;

(2) Maternal, pen-natal and post-natal education, care and services;

(3) Promotion of breastfeeding;

(4) Promotion of male involvement, participation and responsibility in reproductive health as

well as other reproductive health concerns of men;

(5) Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications; and

(6) Provision of information and services addressing the reproductive health needs of the

poor, senior citizens, women in prostitution, differently-abled persons, and women and

children in war AND crisis situations.

g. To ensure that reproductive health services are delivered with a full range of supplies,

facilities and equipment and that service providers are adequately trained for reproductive

health care;

h. To endeavor to furnish local Family Planning Offices with appropriate information and

resources to keep the latter updated on current studies and research relating to family

planning, responsible parenthood, breastfeeding and infant nutrition;

i. To direct all public hospitals to make available to indigent mothers who deliver their

children in these government hospitals, upon the mothers request, the procedure of ligation

without cost to her;

j. To recommend the enactment of legislation and adoption of executive measures that will

strengthen and enhance the national policy on reproductive health and population

development;

k. To ensure a massive and sustained information drive on responsible parenthood and on

all methods and techniques to prevent unwanted, unplanned and mistimed pregnancies, it
shall release information bulletins on the same for nationwide circulation to all government

departments, agencies and instrumentalities, non-government organizations and the private

sector, schools, public and private libraries, tri-media outlets, workplaces, hospitals and

concerned health institutions;

l. To strengthen the capacities of health regulatory agencies to ensure safe, high-quality,

accessible, and affordable reproductive health services and commodities with the concurrent

strengthening and enforcement of regulatory mandates and mechanisms;

m. To take active steps to expand the coverage of the National Health Insurance Program

(NHIP), especially among poor and marginalized women, to include the full range of

reproductive health services and supplies as health insurance benefits; and

n. To perform such other functions necessary to attain the purposes of this Act.

The membership of the Board of Commissioners of POPCOM shall consist of the heads of the

following AGENCIES:

1. National Economic DevelopmentAuthority (VEDA)

2. Department of Health (DOH)

3. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

4. Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

5. Department of Agriculture (DA)

6. Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)

7. Department of Education (DepEd)

8. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

9. Commission on Higher Education (CHED)

10. University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI)

11. Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAFI)

12. National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPQ

13. National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)

14. National Youth Commission (NYC)

In addition to the aforementioned, members, there shall be three private sector

representatives to the Board of Commissioners of POPCOM who shall come from NGOs.

There shall be one (1) representative each from women, youth and health sectors who have

a proven track record of involvement in the promotion of reproductive health. These

representatives shall be nominated in a process determined by the above-mentioned

sectors, and to be appointed by the President for a term of three (3)years.

SEC. 6. Midwives for Skilled Attendance. -Every city and municipality shall endeavor to

employ adequate number of midwives or other skilled attendants to achieve a minimum

ratio of one (1)for every one hundred fifty (150) deliveries per year, to be based on the

average annual number of actual deliveries or live births for the past two years.

SEC. 7. Emergency Obstetric Care. – Each province. and city shall endeavor to ensure

the establishment and operation of hospitals with adequate and qualified personnel that

provide emergency obstetric care. For every 500,000 population, there shall be at least one

(1) hospital for comprehensive emergency obstetric care and four (4) hospitals for basic

emergency obstetric care.

SEC. 8. Maternal Death Review. – All LGUs, national and local government hospitals, and

other public health units shall conduct maternal death review in accordance with the

guidelines to be issued by the DOH in consultation with the POPCOM.

SEC. 9. Hospital-Based Family Planning. -Tubal ligation, vasectomy, intrauterine device

insertion and other family planning methods requiring hospital services shall be available in

all national and local government hospitals, except: in specialty hospitals which may render

such services on an optional basis. For indigent patients, such services shall be fully covered

by PhilHealth insurance and/or government financial assistance.

SEC. 10. Contraceptives as Essential Medicines. – Hormonal contraceptives,

intrauterine devices, injectables and other allied reproductive health products and supplies

shall be considered under the category of essential medicines and supplies which shall form

part of the National Drug Formulary and the same shall be included in the regular purchase

of essential medicines and supplies of all national and lord hospitals and other government

health units.
SEC. 11. Mobile Health Care Service. -Each Congressional District shall be provided with

a van to be known as the Mobile Health Care Service (MHOS) to deliver health care goods

and services to its constituents, more particularly to the poor and needy, as well as

disseminate knowledge and information on reproductive health: Provided, That reproductive

health education shall be conducted by competent and adequately trained persons

preferably reproductive health care providers: Provided, further, That the full range of

family planning methods, both natural and modern, shall be promoted.

The acquisition, operation and maintenance of the MRCS shall be funded from the Priority

Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of each Congressional District.

The MHCS shall be adequately equipped with a wide range of reproductive health care

materials and information dissemination devices and equipment, the latter including but not

limited to, a television set for audio-visual presentation.

SEC. 12. Mandatory Age-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education. – Recognizing

the importance of reproductive health rights in empowering the youth and developing them

into responsible adults, Reproductive Health Education in an age-appropriate manner shall

be taught by adequately trained teachers starting from Grade 5 up to Fourth Year High

School. In order to assure the prior training of teachers on reproductive health, the

implementation of Reproductive Health Education shall commence at the start of the school

year one year following the effectivity of this Act. The POPCOM, in coordination with the

Department of Education, shall formulate the Reproductive Health Education curriculum,

which shall be common to both public and private schools and shall include related

population and development concepts in addition to the following subjects and standards:

a. Reproductive health and sexual rights;

b. Reproductive health care and services;

c. Attitudes, beliefs and values on sexual development, sexual behavior and sexual health;

d. Proscription and hazards of abortion and management of post-abortion complications;

e. Responsible parenthood.

f. Use and application of natural and modern family planning methods to promote

reproductive health, achieve desired family size and prevent unwanted, unplanned and

mistimed pregnancies;

g. Abstinence before marriage;

h. Prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other, STIs/STDs, prostate cancer, breast

cancer, cervical cancer and other gynecological disorders;

i. Responsible sexuality; and

j. Maternal, peri-natal and post-natal education, care and services.

In support of the natural, and primary right of parents in the rearing of the youth, the

POPCOM shall provide concerned parents with adequate and relevant scientific materials on

the age-appropriate topics and manner of teaching reproductive health education to their

children.

In the elementary level, reproductive health education shall focus, among others, on values

formation.

Non-formal education programs shall likewise include the abovementioned reproductive

Health Education.

SEC. 13. Additional Duty of Family Planning 0ffice. – Each local Family Planning Office

shall furnish for free instructions and information on family planning, responsible

parenthood, breastfeeding and infant nutrition to all applicants for marriage license.

SEC. 14. Certificate of Compliance. – No marriage license shall be issued by the Local

Civil Registrar unless the applicants present a Certificate of Compliance issued for free by

the local Family Planning Office certifying that they had duly received adequate instructions

and information on family planning, responsible parenthood, breastfeeding and infant

nutrition.
SEC. 15. Capability Building of Community-Based Volunteer Workers. – Community-

based volunteer workers, like but not limited to, Barangay Health Workers, shall undergo

additional and updated training on the delivery of reproductive health care services and

shall receive not less than 10% increase in honoraria upon successful completion of training.

The increase in honoraria shall be funded from the Gender and Development (GAD) budget

of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Health (DOH)

and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

SEC. 16. Ideal Family Size. – The State shall assist couples, parents and individuals to

achieve their desired family size within the context of responsible parenthood for

sustainable development and encourage them to have two children as the ideal family size.

Attaining the ideal family size is neither mandatory nor compulsory. No punitive action shall

be imposed on parents having more than two children.

SEC. 17. Employers’ Responsibilities. – Employers shall respect the reproductive health

rights of all their workers. Women shall not be discriminated against in the matter of hiring,

regularization of employment status or selection for retrenchment.

All Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) shall provide for the free delivery by the

employer of reasonable quantity of reproductive health care services, supplies and devices

to all workers, more particularly women workers. In establishments or enterprises where

there are no CBAs or where the employees are unorganized, the employer shall have the

same obligation.

SEC. 18. Support of Private and Non-government Health Care Service Providers. –

Pursuant to Section 5(b) hereof, private reproductive health care service providers,

including but not limited to gynecologists and obstetricians, are encouraged to join their

colleagues in non-government organizations in rendering such services free of charge or at

reduced professional fee rates to indigent and low income patients.

SEC. 19. Multi-Media Campaign. – POPCOM shall initiate and sustain an intensified

nationwide multi-media campaign to raise the level of public awareness on the urgent need

to protect and promote reproductive health and rights.

SEC. 20. Reporting Requirements. – Before the end of April of each year,the DOH shall

submit an annual report to the President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate and

the Speaker of the House of Representatives on a definitive and comprehensive assessment

of the implementation of this Act and shall make the necessary recommendations for

executive and legislative action. The report shall be posted in the website of DOH and

printed copies shall be made available to all stakeholders.

SEC. 21. Prohibited Acts. – The following acts are prohibited:

a) Any health care service provider, whether public or private, who shall:

1. Knowingly withhold information or impede the dissemination thereof, and/or intentionally

provide incorrect information regarding programs and services on reproductive health

including the right to informed choice and access to a full range of legal, medically-safe and

effective family planning methods;

2. Refuse to perform voluntary ligation and vasectomy and other legal and medically-safe

reproductive health care services on any person of legal age on the ground of lack of

spousal consent or authorization.

3. Refuse to provide reproductive health care services to an abused minor, whose abused

condition is certified by the proper official or personnel of the Department of Social Welfare

and Development (DSWD) or to duly DSWD-certified abused pregnant minor on whose case

no parental consent is necessary.

4. Fail to provide, either deliberately or through gross or inexcusable negligence,

reproductive health care services as mandated under this Act, the Local Government Code

of 1991, theLabor Code, and Presidential Decree 79, as amended; and

5. Refuse to extend reproductive health care services and information on account of the

patient’s civil status, gender or sexual orientation, age, religion, personal circumstances,

and nature of work; Provided, That all conscientious objections of health care service

providers based on religious grounds shall be respected:Provided, further, That the

conscientious objector shall immediately refer the person seeking such care and services to
another health care service provider within the same facility or one which is conveniently

accessible: Provided, finally, That the patient is not in an emergency or serious case as

defined in RA 8344 penalizing the refusal of hospitals and medical clinics to administer

appropriate initial medical treatment and support in emergency and serious cases.

b) Any public official who prohibits or restricts personally or through a subordinate the

delivery of legal and medically-safe reproductive health care services, including family

planning;

c) Any employer who shall fail to comply with his obligation under Section 17 of this Act or

an employer who requires a female applicant or employee, as a condition for employment or

continued employment, to involuntarily undergo sterilization, tubal ligation or any other

form of contraceptive method;

d) Any person who shall falsify a certificate of compliance as required in Section 14 of this

Act; and

e) Any person who maliciously engages in disinformation about the intent or provisions of

this Act.

SEC. 22. Penalties. – The proper city or municipal court shall exercise jurisdiction over

violations of this Act and the accused who is found guilty shall be sentenced to an

imprisonment ranging from one (1) month to six (6) months or a fine ranging from Ten

Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) to Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) or both such fine and

imprisonment at the discretion of the court. If the offender is a juridical person, the penalty

shall be imposed upon the president, treasurer, secretary or any responsible officer. An

offender who is an alien shall, after service of sentence, be deported immediately without

further proceedings by the Bureau of Immigration. An offender who is a public officer or

employee shall suffer the accessory penalty of dismissal from the government service.

Violators of this Act shall be civilly liable to the offended party in such amount at the

discretion of the proper court.

SEC. 23. Appropriations. – The amounts appropriated in the current annual General

Appropriations Act for reproductive health and family planning under the DOH and POPCOM

together with ten percent (10%) of the Gender and Development (GAD) budgets of all

government departments, agencies, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities funded in the

annual General Appropriations Act in accordance with Republic Act No. 7192 (Women in

Development and Nation-building Act) and Executive Order No. 273 (Philippine Plan for

Gender Responsive Development 1995-2025) shall be allocated and utilized for the

implementation of this Act. Such additional sums as may be necessary for the effective

implementation of this Act shall be Included in the subsequent years’ General

Appropriations Acts.

SEC. 24. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within sixty (60) days from the

effectivity of this Act, the Department of Health shall promulgate, after thorough

consultation with the Commission on Population (POPCOM), the National Economic

Development Authority (NEDA), concerned non-government organizations (NGOs) and

known reproductive health advocates, the requisite implementing rules and regulations.

SEC. 25. Separability Clause. – If any part, section or provision of this Act is held invalid

or unconstitutional, other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in full force and

effect.

SEC. 26. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, Orders, issuances, rules and regulations

contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or

modified accordingly.

SEC. 27. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at

least two (2) newspapers of national circulation.

 SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

DECLARATION ON PROCURED ABORTION

1. The problem of procured abortion and of its possible legal liberalization has become more or
less everywhere the subject of impassioned discussions. These debates would be less grave were
it not a question of human life, a primordial value, which must be protected and promoted.
Everyone understands this, although many look for reasons, even against all evidence, to
promote the use of abortion. One cannot but be astonished to see a simultaneous increase of
unqualified protests against the death penalty and every form of war and the vindication of the
liberalization of abortion, either in its entirety or in ever broader indications. The Church is too
conscious of the fact that it belongs to her vocation to defend man against everything that could
disintegrate or lessen his dignity to remain silent on such a topic. Because the Son of God
became man, there is no man who is not His brother in humanity and who is not called to
become a Christian in order to receive salvation from Him.

2. In many countries the public authorities which resist the liberalization of abortion laws are the
object of powerful pressures aimed at leading them to this goal. This, it is said, would violate no
one's conscience, for each individual would be left free to follow his own opinion, while being
prevented from imposing it on others. Ethical pluralism is claimed to be a normal consequence of
ideological pluralism. There is, however, a great difference between the one and the other, for
action affects the interests of others more quickly than does mere opinion. Moreover, one can
never claim freedom of opinion as a pretext for attacking the rights of others, most especially the
right to life.

3. Numerous Christian lay people, especially doctors, but also parents' associations, statesmen, or
leading figures in posts of responsibility have vigorously reacted against this propaganda
campaign. Above all, many episcopal conferences and many bishops acting in their own name
have judged it opportune to recall very strongly the traditional doctrine of the Church.[1] With a
striking convergence these documents admirably emphasize an attitude of respect for life which
is at the same time human and Christian. Nevertheless, it has happened that several of these
documents here or there have encountered reservation or even opposition.

4. Charged with the promotion and the defense of faith and morals in the universal Church,[2]
the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith proposes to recall this teaching in its
essential aspects to all the faithful. Thus in showing the unity of the Church, it will confirm by
the authority proper to the Holy See what the bishops have opportunely undertaken. It hopes that
all the faithful, including those who might have been unsettled by the controversies and new
opinions, will understand that it is not a question of opposing one opinion to another, but of
transmitting to the faithful a constant teaching of the supreme Magisterium, which teaches moral
norms in the light of faith.[3] It is therefore clear that this declaration necessarily entails a grave
obligation for Christian consciences.[4] May God deign to enlighten also all men who strive with
their whole heart to "act in truth" (Jn. 3:21).
5. "Death was not God's doing, he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living" (Wis. 1:13).
Certainly God has created beings who have only one lifetime and physical death cannot be
absent from the world of those with a bodily existence. But what is immediately willed is life,
and in the visible universe everything has been made for man, who is the image of God and the
world's crowning glory (cf. Gen. 1:26-28). On the human level, "it was the devil's envy that
brought death into the world" (Wis. 2:24). Introduced by sin, death remains bound up with it:
death is the sign and fruit of sin. But there is no final triumph for death. Confirming faith in the
Resurrection, the Lord proclaims in the Gospel: "God is God, not of the dead, but of the living"
(Mt. 22:32). And death like sin will be definitively defeated by resurrection in Christ (cf. 1 Cor.
15:20-27). Thus we understand that human life, even on this earth, is precious. Infused by the
Creator,[5] life is again taken back by Him (cf. Gen. 2:7; Wis. 15:11). It remains under His
protection: man's blood cries out to Him (cf.Gen. 4:10) and He will demand an account of it, "for
in the image of God man was made" (Gen. 9:5-6). The commandment of God is formal: "You
shall not kill" (Ex. 20:13). Life is at the same time a gift and a responsibility. It is received as a
"talent" (cf. Mt. 25:14-30); it must be put to proper use. In order that life may bring forth fruit,
many tasks are offered to man in this world and he must not shirk them. More important still, the
Christian knows that eternal life depends on what, with the grace of God, he does with his life on
earth.

6. The tradition of the Church has always held that human life must be protected and favored
from the beginning, just as at the various stages of its development. Opposing the morals of the
Greco-Roman world, the Church of the first centuries insisted on the difference that exists on this
point between those morals and Christian morals. In the Didache it is clearly said: "You shall not
kill by abortion the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder the infant already born."[6]
Athenagoras emphasizes that Christians consider as murderers those women who take medicines
to procure an abortion; he condemns the killers of children, including those still living in their
mother's womb, "where they are already the object of the care of divine Providence." Tertullian
did not always perhaps use the same language; he nevertheless clearly affirms the essential
principle: "To prevent birth is anticipated murder; it makes little difference whether one destroys
a life already born or does away with it in its nascent stage. The one who will be a man is already
one."[8]

7. In the course of history, the Fathers of the Church, her Pastors and her Doctors have taught the
same doctrine - the various opinions on the infusion of the spiritual soul did not introduce any
doubt about the illicitness of abortion. It is true that in the Middle Ages, when the opinion was
generally held that the spiritual soul was not present until after the first few weeks, a distinction
was made in the evaluation of the sin and the gravity of penal sanctions. Excellent authors
allowed for this first period more lenient case solutions which they rejected for following
periods. But it was never denied at that time that procured abortion, even during the first days,
was objectively grave fault. This condemnation was in fact unanimous. Among the many
documents it is sufficient to recall certain ones. The first Council of Mainz in 847 reconsidered
the penalties against abortion which had been established by preceding Councils. It decided that
the most rigorous penance would be imposed "on women who procure the elimination of the
fruit conceived in their womb."[9] The Decree of Gratian reported the following words of Pope
Stephen V: "That person is a murderer who causes to perish by abortion what has been
conceived."[10] St. Thomas, the Common Doctor of the Church, teaches that abortion is a grave
sin against the natural law." At the time of the Renaissance Pope Sixtus V condemned abortion
with the greatest severity.[12] A century later, Innocent XI rejected the propositions of certain
lax canonists who sought to excuse an abortion procured before the moment accepted by some as
the moment of the spiritual animation of the new being.[13] In our days the recent Roman
Pontiffs have proclaimed the same doctrine with the greatest clarity. Pius XI explicitly answered
the most serious objections.[14] Pius XII clearly excluded all direct abortion, that is, abortion
which is either an end or a means.[15] John XXIII recalled the teaching of the Fathers on the
sacred character of life "which from its beginning demands the action of God the Creator."[16]
Most recently, the Second Vatican Council, presided over by Paul VI, has most severely
condemned abortion: "Life must be safeguarded with extreme care from conception; abortion
and infanticide are abominable crimes."[17] The same Paul VI, speaking on this subject on many
occasions, has not been afraid to declare that this teaching of the Church "has not changed and is
unchangeable."[18]

8. Respect for human life is not just a Christian obligation. Human reason is sufficient to impose
it on the basis of the analysis of what a human person is and should be. Constituted by a rational
nature, man is a personal subject capable of reflecting on himself and of determining his acts and
hence his own destiny: he is free. He is consequently master of himself; or rather, because this
takes place in the course of time, he has the means of becoming so: this is his task. Created
immediately by God, man's soul is spiritual and therefore immortal. Hence man is open to God,
he finds his fulfillment only in Him. But man lives in the community of his equals; he is
nourished by interpersonal communication with men in the indispensable social setting. In the
face of society and other men, each human person possesses himself, he possesses life and
different goods, he has these as a right. It is this that strict justice demands from all in his regard.

9. Nevertheless, temporal life lived in this world is not identified with the person. The person
possesses as his own a level of life that is more profound and that cannot end. Bodily life is a
fundamental good, here below it is the condition for all other goods. But there are higher values
for which it could be legitimate or even necessary to be willing to expose oneself to the risk of
losing bodily life. In a society of persons the common good is for each individual an end which
he must serve and to which he must subordinate his particular interest. But it is not his last end
and, from this point of view, it is society which is at the service of the person, because the person
will not fulfill his destiny except in God. The person can be definitively subordinated only to
God. Man can never be treated simply as a means to be disposed of in order to obtain a higher
end.

10. In regard to the mutual rights and duties of the person and of society, it belongs to moral
teaching to enlighten consciences; it belongs to the law to specify and organize external
behavior. There is precisely a certain number of rights which society is not in a position to grant
since these rights precede society; but society has the function to preserve and to enforce them.
These are the greater part of those which are today called "human rights" and which our age
boasts of having formulated.

11. The first right of the human person is his life. He has other goods and some are more
precious, but this one is fundamental -  the condition of all the others. Hence it must be protected
above all others. It does not belong to society, nor does it belong to public authority in any form
to recognize this right for some and not for others: all discrimination is evil, whether it be
founded on race, sex, color or religion. It is not recognition by another that constitutes this right.
This right is antecedent to its recognition; it demands recognition and it is strictly unjust to refuse
it.

12. Any discrimination based on the various stages of life is no more justified than any other
discrimination. The right to life remains complete in an old person, even one greatly weakened;
it is not lost by one who is incurably sick. The right to life is no less to be respected in the small
infant just born than in the mature person. In reality, respect for human life is called for from the
time that the process of generation begins. From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is
begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother, it is rather the life of a new human
being with his own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already.

13. To this perpetual evidence - perfectly independent of the discussions on the moment of
animation[19] - modern genetic science brings valuable confirmation. It has demonstrated that,
from the first instant, there is established the program of what this living being will be: a man,
this individual man with his characteristic aspects already well determined. Right from
fertilization is begun the adventure of a human life, and each of its capacities requires time- a
rather lengthy time- to find its place and to be in a position to act. The least that can be said is
that present science, in its most evolved state, does not give any substantial support to those who
defend abortion. Moreover, it is not up to biological sciences to make a definitive judgment on
questions which are properly philosophical and moral such as the moment when a human person
is constituted or the legitimacy of abortion. From a moral point of view this is certain: even if a
doubt existed concerning whether the fruit of conception is already a human person, it is
objectively a grave sin to dare to risk murder. "The one who will be a man is already one."[20]

14. Divine law and natural reason, therefore, exclude all right to the direct killing of an innocent
man. However, if the reasons given to justify an abortion were always manifestly evil and
valueless the problem would not be so dramatic. The gravity of the problem comes from the fact
that in certain cases, perhaps in quite a considerable number of cases, by denying abortion one
endangers important values to which it is normal to attach great value, and which may sometimes
even seem to have priority. We do not deny these very great difficulties. It may be a serious
question of health, sometimes of life or death, for the mother; it may be the burden represented
by an additional child, especially if there are good reasons to fear that the child will be abnormal
or retarded; it may be the importance attributed in different classes of society to considerations of
honor or dishonor, of loss of social standing, and so forth. We proclaim only that none of these
reasons can ever objectively confer the right to dispose of another's life, even when that life is
only beginning. With regard to the future unhappiness of the child, no one, not even the father or
mother, can act as its substitute- even if it is still in the embryonic stage- to choose in the child's
name, life or death. The child itself, when grown up, will never have the right to choose suicide;
no more may his parents choose death for the child while it is not of an age to decide for itself.
Life is too fundamental a value to be weighed against even very serious disadvantages.[21]

15. The movement for the emancipation of women, insofar as it seeks essentially to free them
from all unjust discrimination, is on perfectly sound ground.[22] In the different forms of cultural
background there is a great deal to be done in this regard. But one cannot change nature. Nor can
one exempt women, any more than men, from what nature demands of them. Furthermore, all
publicly recognized freedom is always limited by the certain rights of others.

16. The same must be said of the claim to sexual freedom. If by this expression one is to
understand the mastery progressively acquired by reason and by authentic love over instinctive
impulse, without diminishing pleasure but keeping it in its proper place - and in this sphere this is
the only authentic freedom - then there is nothing to object to. But this kind of freedom will
always be careful not to violate justice. It; on the contrary, one is to understand that men and
women are "free" to seek sexual pleasure to the point of satiety, without taking into account any
law or the essential orientation of sexual life to its fruits of fertility,[23] then this idea has
nothing Christian in it. It is even unworthy of man. In any case it does not confer any right to
dispose of human life - even if embryonic- or to suppress it on the pretext that it is burdensome.

17. Scientific progress is opening to technology - and will open still more - the possibility of
delicate interventions, the consequences of which can be very serious, for good as well as for
evil. These are achievements of the human spirit which in themselves are admirable. But
technology can never be independent of the criterion of morality, since technology exists for man
and must respect his finality. Just as there is no right to use nuclear energy for every possible
purpose, so there is no right to manipulate human life in every possible direction. Technology
must be at the service of man, so as better to ensure the functioning of his normal abilities, to
prevent or to cure his illnesses, and to contribute to his better human development. It is true that
the evolution of technology makes early abortion more and more easy, but the moral evaluation
is in no way modified because of this.

18. We know what seriousness the problem of birth control can assume for some families and for
some countries. That is why the last Council and subsequently the encyclical "Humanae vitae" of
July 25, 1968, spoke of "responsible parenthood."[24] What we wish to say again with emphasis,
as was pointed out in the conciliar constitution "Gaudium et spes," in the encyclical "Populorum
progressio" and in other papal documents, is that never, under any pretext, may abortion be
resorted to, either by a family or by the political authority, as a legitimate means of regulating
births.[25] The damage to moral values is always a greater evil for the common good than any
disadvantage in the economic or demographic order.

19. The moral discussion is being accompanied more or less everywhere by serious juridical
debates. There is no country where legislation does not forbid and punish murder. Furthermore,
many countries had specifically applied this condemnation and these penalties to the particular
case of procured abortion. In these days a vast body of opinion petitions the liberalization of this
latter prohibition. There already exists a fairly general tendency which seeks to limit, as far as
possible, all restrictive legislation, especially when it seems to touch upon private life. The
argument of pluralism is also used. Although many citizens, in particular the Catholic faithful,
condemn abortion, many others hold that it is licit, at least as a lesser evil. Why force them to
follow an opinion which is not theirs, especially in a country where they are in the majority? In
addition it is apparent that, where they still exist, the laws condemning abortion appear difficult
to apply. The crime has become too common for it to be punished every time, and the public
authorities often find that it is wiser to close their eyes to it. But the preservation of a law which
is not applied is always to the detriment of authority and of all the other laws. It must be added
that clandestine abortion puts women, who resign themselves to it and have recourse to it, in the
most serious dangers for future pregnancies and also in many cases for their lives. Even if the
legislator continues to regard abortion as an evil, may he not propose to restrict its damage?

20. These arguments and others in addition that are heard from varying quarters are not
conclusive. It is true that civil law cannot expect to cover the whole field of morality or to punish
all faults. No one expects it to do so. It must often tolerate what is in fact a lesser evil, in order to
avoid a greater one. One must, however, be attentive to what a change in legislation can
represent. Many will take as authorization what is perhaps only the abstention from punishment.
Even more, in the present case, this very renunciation seems at the very least to admit that the
legislator no longer considers abortion a crime against human life, since murder is still always
severely punished. It is true that it is not the task of the law to choose between points of view or
to impose one rather than another. But the life of the child takes precedence over all opinions.
One cannot invoke freedom of thought to destroy this life.

21. The role of law is not to record what is done, hut to help in promoting improvement. It is at
all times the task of the State to preserve each person's rights and to protect the weakest. In order
to do so the State will have to right many wrongs. The law is not obliged to sanction everything,
but it cannot act contrary to a law which is deeper and more majestic than any human law: the
natural law engraved in men's hearts by the Creator as a norm which reason clarifies and strives
to formulate properly, and which one must always struggle to understand better, but which it is
always wrong to contradict. Human law can abstain from punishment, but it cannot declare to be
right what would be opposed to the natural law, for this opposition suffices to give the assurance
that a law is not a law at all.

22. It must in any case be clearly understood that whatever may be laid down by civil law in this
matter, man can never obey a law which is in itself immoral, and such is the case of a law which
would admit in principle the liceity of abortion. Nor can he take part in a propaganda campaign
in favor of such a law, or vote for it. Moreover, he may not collaborate in its application. It is, for
instance, inadmissible that doctors or nurses should find themselves obliged to cooperate closely
in abortions and have to choose between the law of God and their professional situation.

23. On the contrary, it is the task of law to pursue a reform of society and of conditions of life in
all milieux, starting with the most deprived, so that always and everywhere it may be possible to
give every child coming into this world a welcome worthy of a person. Help for families and for
unmarried mothers, assured grants for children, a statute for illegitimate children and reasonable
arrangements for adoption - a whole positive policy must be put into force so that there will
always be a concrete, honorable and possible alternative to abortion.

24. Following one's conscience in obedience to the law of God is not always the easy way. One
must not fail to recognize the weight of the sacrifices and the burdens which it can impose.
Heroism is sometimes called for in order to remain faithful to the requirements of the divine law.
Therefore, we must emphasize that the path of true progress of the human person passes through
this constant fidelity to a conscience maintained in uprightness and truth; and we must exhort all
those who are able to do so to lighten the burdens still crushing so many men and women,
families and children, who are placed in situations to which, in human terms, there is no solution.
25. A Christian's outlook cannot be limited to the horizon of life in this world. He knows that
during the present life another one is being prepared, one of such importance that it is in its light
that judgments must be made.[26] From this viewpoint there is no absolute misfortune here
below, not even the terrible sorrow of bringing up a handicapped child. This is the contradiction
proclaimed by the Lord: "Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted" (Mt. 5:5). To
measure happiness by the absence of sorrow and misery in this world is to turn one's back on the
Gospel.

26. But this does not mean that one can remain indifferent to these sorrows and miseries. Every
man and woman with feeling, and certainly every Christian, must be ready to do what he can to
remedy them. This is the law of charity, of which the first preoccupation must always be the
establishment of justice. One can never approve of abortion; but it is above all necessary to
combat its causes. This includes political action, which will be in particular the task of the law.
But it is necessary at the same time to influence morality and to do everything possible to help
families, mothers and children. Considerable progress in the service of life has been
accomplished by medicine. One can hope that such progress will continue, in accordance with
the vocation of doctors, which is not to suppress life but to care for it and favor it as much as
possible. It is equally desirable that, in suitable institutions, or, in their absence, in the outpouring
of Christian generosity and charity every form of assistance should be developed.

27. There will be no effective action on the level of morality unless at the same time an effort is
made on the level of ideas. A point of view - or even more, perhaps a way of thinking - which
considers fertility as an evil cannot be allowed to spread without contradiction. It is true that not
all forms of culture are equally in favor of large families. Such families come up against much
greater difficulties in an industrial and urban civilization. Thus in recent times the Church has
insisted on the idea of responsible parenthood, the exercise of true human and Christian
prudence.

Such prudence would not be authentic if it did not include generosity. It must preserve awareness
of the grandeur of the task of cooperating with the Creator in the transmission of life, which
gives new members to society and new children to the Church. Christ's Church has the
fundamental solicitude of protecting and favoring life. She certainly thinks before all else of the
life which Christ came to bring: "I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full"
(Jn. 10:10). But life at all its levels comes from God, and bodily life is for man the indispensable
beginning. In this life on earth sin has introduced, multiplied and made harder to bear suffering
and death. But in taking their burden upon Himself, Jesus Christ has transformed them: for
whoever believes in Him, suffering and death itself become instruments of resurrection. Hence
Saint Paul can say: "I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as
yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us" (Rom. 8:18). And, if we make this comparison we shall
add with him: "Yes, the troubles which are soon over, though they weigh little, train us for the
carrying of a weight of eternal glory which is out of all proportion to them" (2 Cor. 4:17).

The Supreme Pontiff Pope Paul VI, in an audience granted to the undersigned Secretary of the
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on June 28, 1974, has ratified this
Declaration on Procured Abortion and has confirmed it and ordered it to be promulgated.
Given in Rome, at the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on November 18, the
Commemoration of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, in the year 1974.

Franciscus Card. SEPER 

Prefect

Hieronymus HAMER 
Titular Archbishop of Lorium
Secretary

ENDNOTES

1. A certain number of bishops' documents are to be found in Gr. Caprile, "Non Uccidere, Il
Magistero della Chiesa sull'aborto." Part II, pp. 47-300, Rome, 1973.

2. "Regimini Ecclesiae Universae," III, 1, 29. Cf. ibid., 31 (AAS 59 [1967], p. 897). On the
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith depend all the questions which are related to
faith and morals or which are bound up with the faith.

3. "Lumen Gentium," 12 (AAS 57 [1965], pp. 16-17). The present Declaration does not envisage
all the questions which can arise in connection with abortion: it is for theologians to examine and
discuss them. Only certain basic principles are here recalled which must be for the theologians
themselves a guide and a rule, and confirm certain fundamental truths of Catholic doctrine for all
Christians.

4. "Lumen Gentium," 25 (AAS 57 [1965], pp. 29-31).

5. The authors of Scripture do not make any philosophical observations on when life begins, but
they speak of the period of life which precedes birth as being the object of God's attention: He
creates and forms the human being, like that which is moulded by His hand (cf. Ps. 118:73). It
would seem that this theme finds expression for the first time in Jer. 1:5. It appears later in many
other texts. Cf. Is. 49:1-5; 46:3; Jb. 10:8-12; Ps. 22:10; 71:6; 139:13. In the Gospels we read in
Luke 1:44: "For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy."

6. "Didache Apostolorum," edition Funk, "Patres Apostolici," V, 2. "The Epistle of Barnabas,"

IX, 5 uses the same expressions (cf. Funk, l.c., 91-93).

7. Athenagoras, "A plea on behalf of Christians," 35 (cf. PG. 6, 970: S.C. 3, pp. 166-167). One
may also consult the "Epistle to Diogentus" (V, 6 Funk, o.c., I 399: S.C. 33), where it says of
Christians: "They procreate children, but they do not reject the foetus."

8. Tertullian, "Apologeticum" (IX. 8 PL. 1, 371-372: Corp. Christ. 1, p. 103, 1, 31-36).

9. Canon 21 (Mansi, 14, p. 909). Cf. Council of Elvira, canon 63 (Mansi, 2, p. 16) and the
Council of Ancyra, canon 21 (ibid., 519). See also the decree of Gregory III regarding the
penance to be imposed upon those who are culpable of this crime (Mansi 13, 292, c. 17).

10. Gratian, "Concordantia Discordantium Canonum," c. 20, C. 2, q.[2]. During the Middle Ages
appeal was often made to the authority of St. Augustine who wrote as follows in regard to this
matter in "De Nuptiis et Concupiscentiis," c. 15: "Sometimes this sexually indulgent cruelty or
this cruel sexual indulgence goes so far as to procure potions which produce sterility. If the
desired result is not achieved, the mother terminates the life and expels the foetus which was in
her womb in such a way that the child dies before having lived, or, if the baby was living already
in its mother's womb, it is killed before being born." (PL 44, 423-424: CSEL 33, 619. Cf. the
"Decree of Gratian" q. 2, C. 32, c. 7.)

11. "Commentary on the Sentences," book IV, dist. 31, exposition of the text.

12. Constitution "Effraenatum" in 1588 ("Bullarium Romanum," V, 1, pp. 25-27; "Fontes Iuris
Canonici," I, no. 165, pp. 308-311).

13. Dz-Sch. 1184. Cf. also the Constitution "Apostolicae Sedis" of Pius IX (Acta Pii IX, V, 55-
72; AAS 5 [1869], pp. 305-331; "Fontes Iuris Canonici," III, no. 552, pp. 24-31).

14. Encyclical "Casti Connubii," AAS 22 (1930), pp. 562-565; Dz- Sch. 3719-21.

15. The statements of Pius XII are express, precise and numerous; they would require a whole
study on their own. We quote only this one from the Discourse to the Saint Luke Union of Italian
Doctors of November 12, 1944, because it formulates the principle in all its universality: "As
long as a man is not guilty, his life is untouchable, and therefore any act directly tending to
destroy it is illicit, whether such destruction is intended as an end in itself or only as a means to
an end, whether it is a question of life in the embryonic stage or in a stage of full development or
already in its final stages" (Discourses and Radio-messages, VI, 183ff.).

16. Encyclical "Mater et magistra," AAS 53 (1961), p. 447.

17. "Gaudium et spes," 51. Cf. 27 (AAS 58 [1966], p. 1072; cf. 1047).

18. The speech, "Salutiamo con paterna effusione," December 9, 1972, AAS 64 (1972), p. 737.
Among the witnesses of this unchangeable doctrine one will recall the declaration of the Holy
Office, condemning direct abortion (Denzinger 1890, AAS 17 [1884], p. 556; 22 [1888-1890],
748; Dz-Sch 3258).

19. This declaration expressly leaves aside the question of the moment when the spiritual soul is
infused. There is not a unanimous tradition on this point and authors are as yet in disagreement.
For some it dates from the first instant; for others it could not at least precede nidation. It is not
within the competence of science to decide between these views, because the existence of an
immortal soul is not a question in its field. It is a philosophical problem from which our moral
affirmation remains independent for two reasons: (1) supposing a belated animation, there is still
nothing less than a human life, preparing for and calling for a soul in which the nature received
from parents is completed, (2) on the other hand, it suffices that this presence of the soul be
probable (and one can never prove the contrary) in order that the taking of life involve accepting
the risk of killing a man, not only waiting for, but already in possession of his soul.

20. Tertullian, cited in footnote 8.

21. Cardinal Villot, Secretary of State, wrote on October 19, 1973, to Cardinal Dopfner,
regarding the protection of human life: "(Die Kirche) kann jedoch sur Behebung solcher
Notsituationen weder empfangnisverhutende Mittel noch erst recht nicht die Abtreibung als
sittlich erlaubt erkennen" ("L'Osservatore Romano," German edition, October 26, 1973, p. 3).

22. Encyclical "Pacem in terris." AAS 55 (1963), p. 267. Constitution "Gaudium et spes," 29.
Speech of Paul VI, "Salutiamo," AAS 64 (1972), 779.

23. "Gaudium et spes," 48: "Indole autem sua naturali, ipsum institutum matrimonii amorque
coniugalis ad procreationem et educationem prolis ordinantur, iisque veluti suo fastigio
coronantur." Also paragraph 50: "Matrimonium et amor coniugalis indole sua ad prolem
procreandam et educandam ordinantur."

24. "Gaudium et spes," 50-51. Paul VI, Encyclical "Humanae vitae," 10 (AAS 60, [1968], p.
487).

25. "Gaudium et spes," 87. Paul VI, Encyclical "Populorum progressio," 31: Address to the
United Nations, AAS 57 (1965), p. 883. John XXIII, "Mater et magistra," AAS 53 (1961), pp.
445-448). Responsible parenthood supposes the use of only morally licit methods of birth
regulation. Cf. "Humanae vitae,"[14] (ibid., p. 490).

26. Cardinal Villot, Secretary of State, wrote to the World Congress of Catholic Doctors held in
Barcelona, May 26, 1974: "Por lo que a la vida humana se refiere, esta non es ciertamente
univoca, mas bien se podria decir que es un haz de vidas. No se puede reducir, sin mutilarlas
gravemente, las zonas de su ser, que, en su estrecha dependencia e interaccion estan ordenadas
las unas a las otras: zona corporal, zona afectiva, zona mental, y ese transfondo del alma donde la
vida divina, recibida por la gracia, puede desplegarse mediante los dones del Espiritu Santo"
("L'Osservatore Romano," May 29, 1974).

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19741118_de
claration-abortion_en.html

DECLARATION ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

GRAVISSIMUM EDUCATIONIS 
 PROCLAIMED BY
HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON OCTOBER 28, 1965

INTRODUCTION

The Sacred Ecumenical Council has considered with care how extremely important
education is in the life of man and how its influence ever grows in the social progress
of this age.(1)

Indeed, the circumstances of our time have made it easier and at once more urgent to
educate young people and, what is more, to continue the education of adults. Men are
more aware of their own dignity and position; more and more they want to take an
active part in social and especially in economic and political life.(2) Enjoying more
leisure, as they sometimes do, men find that the remarkable development of
technology and scientific investigation and the new means of communication offer
them an opportunity of attaining more easily their cultural and spiritual inheritance
and of fulfilling one another in the closer ties between groups and even between
peoples.

Consequently, attempts are being made everywhere to promote more education. The
rights of men to an education, particularly the primary rights of children and parents,
are being proclaimed and recognized in public documents.(3) As the number of pupils
rapidly increases, schools are multiplied and expanded far and wide and other
educational institutions are established. New experiments are conducted in methods of
education and teaching. Mighty attempts are being made to obtain education for all,
even though vast numbers of children and young people are still deprived of even
rudimentary training and so many others lack a suitable education in which truth and
love are developed together.

To fulfill the mandate she has received from her divine founder of proclaiming the
mystery of salvation to all men and of restoring all things in Christ, Holy Mother the
Church must be concerned with the whole of man's life, even the secular part of it
insofar as it has a bearing on his heavenly calling.(4) Therefore she has a role in the
progress and development of education. Hence this sacred synod declares certain
fundamental principles of Christian education especially in schools. These principles
will have to be developed at greater length by a special post-conciliar commission and
applied by episcopal conferences to varying local situations.
1. The Meaning of the Universal Right to an Education

All men of every race, condition and age, since they enjoy the dignity of a human
being, have an inalienable right to an education (5) that is in keeping with their
ultimate goal,(6) their ability, their sex, and the culture and tradition of their country,
and also in harmony with their fraternal association with other peoples in the fostering
of true unity and peace on earth. For a true education aims at the formation of the
human person in the pursuit of his ultimate end and of the good of the societies of
which, as man, he is a member, and in whose obligations, as an adult, he will share.

Therefore children and young people must be helped, with the aid of the latest
advances in psychology and the arts and science of teaching, to develop harmoniously
their physical, moral and intellectual endowments so that they may gradually acquire
a mature sense of responsibility in striving endlessly to form their own lives properly
and in pursuing true freedom as they surmount the vicissitudes of life with courage
and constancy. Let them be given also, as they advance in years, a positive and
prudent sexual education. Moreover they should be so trained to take their part in
social life that properly instructed in the necessary and opportune skills they can
become actively involved in various community organizations, open to discourse with
others and willing to do their best to promote the common good.

This sacred synod likewise declares that children and young people have a right to be
motivated to appraise moral values with a right conscience, to embrace them with a
personal adherence, together with a deeper knowledge and love of God. Consequently
it earnestly entreats all those who hold a position of public authority or who are in
charge of education to see to it that youth is never deprived of this sacred right. It
further exhorts the sons of the Church to give their attention with generosity to the
entire field of education, having especially in mind the need of extending very soon
the benefits of a suitable education and training to everyone in all parts of the world.
(7)

2. Christian Education

Since all Christians have become by rebirth of water and the Holy Spirit a new
creature(8) so that they should be called and should be children of God, they have a
right to a Christian education. A Christian education does not merely strive for the
maturing of a human person as just now described, but has as its principal purpose this
goal: that the baptized, while they are gradually introduced the knowledge of the
mystery of salvation, become ever more aware of the gift of Faith they have received,
and that they learn in addition how to worship God the Father in spirit and truth (cf.
John 4:23) especially in liturgical action, and be conformed in their personal lives
according to the new man created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:22-24); also
that they develop into perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fullness of
Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13) and strive for the growth of the Mystical Body; moreover, that
aware of their calling, they learn not only how to bear witness to the hope that is in
them (cf. Peter 3:15) but also how to help in the Christian formation of the world that
takes place when natural powers viewed in the full consideration of man redeemed by
Christ contribute to the good of the whole society.(9) Wherefore this sacred synod
recalls to pastors of souls their most serious obligation to see to it that all the faithful,
but especially the youth who are the hope of the Church, enjoy this Christian
education.(10)

3. The Authors of Education

Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious
obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary
and principal educators.(11) This role in education is so important that only with
difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a
family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-
rounded personal and social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the
first school of the social virtues that every society needs. It is particularly in the
Christian family, enriched by the grace and office of the sacrament of matrimony, that
children should be taught from their early years to have a knowledge of God
according to the faith received in Baptism, to worship Him, and to love their neighbor.
Here, too, they find their first experience of a wholesome human society and of the
Church. Finally, it is through the family that they are gradually led to a
companionship with their fellowmen and with the people of God. Let parents, then,
recognize the inestimable importance a truly Christian family has for the life and
progress of God's own people.(12)

The family which has the primary duty of imparting education needs help of the
whole community. In addition, therefore, to the rights of parents and others to whom
the parents entrust a share in the work of education, certain rights and duties belong
indeed to civil society, whose role is to direct what is required for the common
temporal good. Its function is to promote the education of youth in many ways,
namely: to protect the duties and rights of parents and others who share in education
and to give them aid; according to the principle of subsidiarity, when the endeavors of
parents and other societies are lacking, to carry out the work of education in
accordance with the wishes of the parents; and, moreover, as the common good
demands, to build schools and institutions.(13)

Finally, in a special way, the duty of educating belongs to the Church, not merely
because she must be recognized as a human society capable of educating, but
especially because she has the responsibility of announcing the way of salvation to all
men, of communicating the life of Christ to those who believe, and, in her unfailing
solicitude, of assisting men to be able to come to the fullness of this life.(14) The
Church is bound as a mother to give to these children of hers an education by which
their whole life can be imbued with the spirit of Christ and at the same time do all she
can to promote for all peoples the complete perfection of the human person, the good
of earthly society and the building of a world that is more human.(15)

4. Various Aids to Christian Education

In fulfilling its educational role, the Church, eager to employ all suitable aids, is
concerned especially about those which are her very own. Foremost among these is
catechetical instruction,(16) which enlightens and strengthens the faith, nourishes life
according to the spirit of Christ, leads to intelligent and active participation in the
liturgical mystery(17) and gives motivation for apostolic activity. The Church esteems
highly and seeks to penetrate and ennoble with her own spirit also other aids which
belong to the general heritage of man and which are of great influence in forming
souls and molding men, such as the media of communication,(18) various groups for
mental and physical development, youth associations, and, in particular, schools.

5. The Importance of Schools

Among all educational instruments the school has a special importance.(19) It is

designed not only to develop with special care the intellectual faculties but also to
form the ability to judge rightly, to hand on the cultural legacy of previous
generations, to foster a sense of values, to prepare for professional life. Between
pupils of different talents and backgrounds it promotes friendly relations and fosters a
spirit of mutual understanding; and it establishes as it were a center whose work and
progress must be shared together by families, teachers, associations of various types
that foster cultural, civic, and religious life, as well as by civil society and the entire
human community.

Beautiful indeed and of great importance is the vocation of all those who aid parents
in fulfilling their duties and who, as representatives of the human community,
undertake the task of education in schools. This vocation demands special qualities of
mind and heart, very careful preparation, and continuing readiness to renew and to
adapt.

6. The Duties and Rights of Parents

Parents who have the primary and inalienable right and duty to educate their children
must enjoy true liberty in their choice of schools. Consequently, the public power,
which has the obligation to protect and defend the rights of citizens, must see to it, in
its concern for distributive justice, that public subsidies are paid out in such a way that
parents are truly free to choose according to their conscience the schools they want for
their children.(20)

In addition it is the task of the state to see to it that all citizens are able to come to a
suitable share in culture and are properly prepared to exercise their civic duties and
rights. Therefore the state must protect the right of children to an adequate school
education, check on the ability of teachers and the excellence of their training, look
after the health of the pupils and in general, promote the whole school project. But it
must always keep in mind the principle of subsidiarity so that there is no kind of
school monopoly, for this is opposed to the native rights of the human person, to the
development and spread of culture, to the peaceful association of citizens and to the
pluralism that exists today in ever so many societies.(21)

Therefore this sacred synod exhorts the faithful to assist to their utmost in finding
suitable methods of education and programs of study and in forming teachers who can
give youth a true education. Through the associations of parents in particular they
should further with their assistance all the work of the school but especially the moral
education it must impart.(22)

7. Moral and Religious Education in all Schools

Feeling very keenly the weighty responsibility of diligently caring for the moral and
religious education of all her children, the Church must be present with her own
special affection and help for the great number who are being trained in schools that
are not Catholic. This is possible by the witness of the lives of those who teach and
direct them, by the apostolic action of their fellow-students,(23) but especially by the
ministry of priests and laymen who give them the doctrine of salvation in a way suited
to their age and circumstances and provide spiritual aid in every way the times and
conditions allow.

The Church reminds parents of the duty that is theirs to arrange and even demand that
their children be able to enjoy these aids and advance in their Christian formation to a
degree that is abreast of their development in secular subjects. Therefore the Church
esteems highly those civil authorities and societies which, bearing in mind the
pluralism of contemporary society and respecting religious freedom, assist families so
that the education of their children can be imparted in all schools according to the
individual moral and religious principles of the families.(24)

8. Catholic Schools
The influence of the Church in the field of education is shown in a special manner by
the Catholic school. No less than other schools does the Catholic school pursue
cultural goals and the human formation of youth. But its proper function is to create
for the school community a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of
freedom and charity, to help youth grow according to the new creatures they were
made through baptism as they develop their own personalities, and finally to order the
whole of human culture to the news of salvation so that the knowledge the students
gradually acquire of the world, life and man is illumined by faith.(25) So indeed the
Catholic school, while it is open, as it must be, to the situation of the contemporary
world, leads its students to promote efficaciously the good of the earthly city and also
prepares them for service in the spread of the Kingdom of God, so that by leading an
exemplary apostolic life they become, as it were, a saving leaven in the human
community.

Since, therefore, the Catholic school can be such an aid to the fulfillment of the
mission of the People of God and to the fostering of the dialogue between the Church
and mankind, to the benefit of both, it retains even in our present circumstances the
utmost importance. Consequently this sacred synod proclaims anew what has already
been taught in several documents of the magisterium,(26) namely: the right of the
Church freely to establish and to conduct schools of every type and level. And the
council calls to mind that the exercise of a right of this kind contributes in the highest
degree to the protection of freedom of conscience, the rights of parents, as well as to
the betterment of culture itself.

But let teachers recognize that the Catholic school depends upon them almost entirely
for the accomplishment of its goals and programs.(27) They should therefore be very
carefully prepared so that both in secular and religious knowledge they are equipped
with suitable qualifications and also with a pedagogical skill that is in keeping with
the findings of the contemporary world. Intimately linked in charity to one another
and to their students and endowed with an apostolic spirit, may teachers by their life
as much as by their instruction bear witness to Christ, the unique Teacher. Let them
work as partners with parents and together with them in every phase of education give
due consideration to the difference of sex and the proper ends Divine Providence
assigns to each sex in the family and in society. Let them do all they can to stimulate
their students to act for themselves and even after graduation to continue to assist
them with advice, friendship and by establishing special associations imbued with the
true spirit of the Church. The work of these teachers, this sacred synod declares, is in
the real sense of the word an apostolate most suited to and necessary for our times and
at once a true service offered to society. The Council also reminds Catholic parents of
the duty of entrusting their children to Catholic schools wherever and whenever it is
possible and of supporting these schools to the best of their ability and of cooperating
with them for the education of their children.(28)

9. Different Types of Catholic Schools

To this concept of a Catholic school all schools that are in any way dependent on the
Church must conform as far as possible, though the Catholic school is to take on
different forms in keeping with local circumstances.(29) Thus the Church considers
very dear to her heart those Catholic schools, found especially in the areas of the new
churches, which are attended also by students who are not Catholics.

Attention should be paid to the needs of today in establishing and directing Catholic
schools. Therefore, though primary and secondary schools, the foundation of
education, must still be fostered, great importance is to be attached to those which are
required in a particular way by contemporary conditions, such as: professional(30)
and technical schools, centers for educating adults and promoting social welfare, or
for the retarded in need of special care, and also schools for preparing teachers for
religious instruction and other types of education.

This Sacred Council of the Church earnestly entreats pastors and all the faithful to
spare no sacrifice in helping Catholic schools fulfill their function in a continually
more perfect way, and especially in caring for the needs of those who are poor in the
goods of this world or who are deprived of the assistance and affection of a family or
who are strangers to the gift of Faith.

10. Catholic Colleges and Universities

The Church is concerned also with schools of a higher level, especially colleges and
universities. In those schools dependent on her she intends that by their very
constitution individual subjects be pursued according to their own principles, method,
and liberty of scientific inquiry, in such a way that an ever deeper understanding in
these fields may be obtained and that, as questions that are new and current are raised
and investigations carefully made according to the example of the doctors of the
Church and especially of St. Thomas Aquinas,(31) there may be a deeper realization
of the harmony of faith and science. Thus there is accomplished a public, enduring
and pervasive influence of the Christian mind in the furtherance of culture and the
students of these institutions are molded into men truly outstanding in their training,
ready to undertake weighty responsibilities in society and witness to the faith in the
world.(32)

In Catholic universities where there is no faculty of sacred theology there should be

established an institute or chair of sacred theology in which there should be lectures
suited to lay students. Since science advances by means of the investigations peculiar
to higher scientific studies, special attention should be given in Catholic universities
and colleges to institutes that serve primarily the development of scientific research.

The sacred synod heartily recommends that Catholic colleges and universities be
conveniently located in different parts of the world, but in such a way that they are
outstanding not for their numbers but for their pursuit of knowledge. Matriculation
should be readily available to students of real promise, even though they be of slender
means, especially to students from the newly emerging nations.

Since the destiny of society and of the Church itself is intimately linked with the
progress of young people pursuing higher studies,(33) the pastors of the Church are to
expend their energies not only on the spiritual life of students who attend Catholic
universities, but, solicitous for the spiritual formation of all their children, they must
see to it, after consultations between bishops, that even at universities that are not
Catholic there should be associations and university centers under Catholic auspices
in which priests, religious and laity, carefully selected and prepared, should give
abiding spiritual and intellectual assistance to the youth of the university. Whether in
Catholic universities or others, young people of greater ability who seem suited for
teaching or research should be specially helped and encouraged to undertake a
teaching career.

11. Faculties of Sacred Sciences

The Church expects much from the zealous endeavors of the faculties of the sacred
sciences.(34) For to them she entrusts the very serious responsibility of preparing her
own students not only for the priestly ministry, but especially for teaching in the seats
of higher ecclesiastical studies or for promoting learning on their own or for
undertaking the work of a more rigorous intellectual apostolate. Likewise it is the role
of these very faculties to make more penetrating inquiry into the various aspects of the
sacred sciences so that an ever deepening understanding of sacred Revelation is
obtained, the legacy of Christian wisdom handed down by our forefathers is more
fully developed, the dialogue with our separated brethren and with non-Christians is
fostered, and answers are given to questions arising from the development of doctrine.
(35)

Therefore ecclesiastical faculties should reappraise their own laws so that they can
better promote the sacred sciences and those linked with them and, by employing up-
to-date methods and aids, lead their students to more penetrating inquiry.

12. Coordination to be Fostered in Scholastic Matters

Cooperation is the order of the day. It increases more and more to supply the demand
on a diocesan, national and international level. Since it is altogether necessary in
scholastic matters, every means should be employed to foster suitable cooperation
between Catholic schools, and between these and other schools that collaboration
should be developed which the good of all mankind requires.(36) From greater
coordination and cooperative endeavor greater fruits will be derived particularly in the
area of academic institutions. Therefore in every university let the various faculties
work mutually to this end, insofar as their goal will permit. In addition, let the
universities also endeavor to work together by promoting international gatherings, by
sharing scientific inquiries with one another, by communicating their discoveries to
one another, by having exchange of professors for a time and by promoting all else
that is conducive to greater assistance.

CONCLUSION

The sacred synod earnestly entreats young people themselves to become aware of the
importance of the work of education and to prepare themselves to take it up,
especially where because of a shortage of teachers the education of youth is in
jeopardy. This same sacred synod, while professing its gratitude to priests, Religious
men and women, and the laity who by their evangelical self-dedication are devoted to
the noble work of education and of schools of every type and level, exhorts them to
persevere generously in the work they have undertaken and, imbuing their students
with the spirit of Christ, to strive to excel in pedagogy and the pursuit of knowledge in
such a way that they not merely advance the internal renewal of the Church but
preserve and enhance its beneficent influence upon today's world, especially the
intellectual world.

NOTES

1. Among many documents illustrating the importance of education confer above all
apostolic letter of Benedict XV, Communes Litteras, April 10, 1919: A.A.S. 11 (1919)
p. 172. Pius XI's apostolic encyclical, Divini Illius Magistri, Dec. 31, 1929: A.A.S. 22
(1930) pp. 49-86. Pius XII's allocution to the youths of Italian Catholic Action, April
20, 1946: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 8, pp. 53-57. Allocution to fathers of
French families, Sept. 18, 1951: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 13, pp. 241-
245. John XXIII's 30th anniversary message on the publication of the encyclical letter,
Divini Illius Magistri, Dec. 30, 1959: A.A.S. 52 (1960) pp. 57-S9. Paul VI's allocution
to members of Federated Institutes Dependent on Ecclesiastic Authority, Dec. 30,
1963: Encyclicals and Discourses of His Holiness Paul VI, Rome, 1964, pp. 601-603.
Above all are to be consulted the Acts and Documents of the Second Vatican Council
appearing in the first series of the ante-preparatrory phase. vol. 3. pp. 363-364; 370-
371; 373-374.

2. Cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961: A.A.S. 53
(1961) pp. 413-415; 417-424; Encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:
A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 278 ff.

3. Declaration on the Rights of Man of Dec. 10, 1948, adopted by the General
Assembly of the United Nations, and also cf. the Declaration of the Rights of Children
of Nov. 20 1959; additional protocol to the Convention Safeguarding the Rights of
Men and Fundamental Liberties, Paris, March 20, 1952; regarding that universal
profession of the character of human laws cf. apostolic letter Pacem in Terris, of John
XXIII of April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 295 ff.

4. Cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter, Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961: A.A.S. 53
(1961) p. 402. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,
no. 17: A.A.S. 57 (1965) p. 21, and schema on the Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World, 1965.

5. Pius XII's radio message of Dec. 24, 1942: A.A.S. 35 (1943) pp. 12-19, and John
XXIII's encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 259 ff.
Also cf. declaration cited on the rights of man in footnote 3.

6. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, Dec. 31, 1929: A.A.S. 22
(1930) p. 50 ff.

7. Cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter, Mater et Magistra, May 15 1961: A.A.S. 53
(1961) p. 441 ff.

8. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 83.

9. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 36: A.A.S.
57 (1965) p. 41 ff.

10. Cf. Second Vatican Council's schema on the Decree on the Lay Apostolate (1965),
no. 12.

11. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 59 ff., encyclical letter
Mit Brennender Sorge, March 14, 1937: A.A.S. 29; Pius XII's allocution to the first
national congress of the Italian Catholic Teachers' Association, Sept. 8, 1946:
Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 8, p. 218.
12. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, nos. 11 and
35: A.A.S. 57 (1965) pp. 16, 40 ff.

13. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 63 ff. Pius XII's radio
message of June 1, 1941: A.A.S. 33 (1941) p. 200; allocution to the first national
congress of the Association of Italian Catholic Teachers, Sept 8, 1946: Discourses and
Radio Messages, vol. 8, 1946: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 8 p. 218.
Regarding the principle of subsidiarity, cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter, Pacem in
Terris, April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 294.

14. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1 pp. 53 ff. and 56 ff.;
Encyclical letter, Non Abbiamo Bisogno June 29, 1931: A.A.S. 23 (1931) p. 311 ff.
Pius XII's letter from Secretariat of State to 28th Italian Social Week, Sept. 20, 1955;
L'Osservatore Romano, Sept. 29, 1955.

15. The Church praises those local, national and international civic authorities who,
conscious of the urgent necessity in these times, expend all their energy so that all
peoples may benefit from more education and human culture. Cf. Paul VI's allocution
to the United Nations General Assembly, Oct. 4, 1965: L'Osservatore Romano, Oct. 6,
1965.

16. Cf. Pius XI's motu proprio. Orbem Catholicum, June 29 1923: A.A.S. 15 (1923)
pp. 327-329; decree, Provide Sane, Jan. 12, 1935: A.A.S. 27 (1935) pp. 145-152.
Second Vatican Council's Decree on Bishops and Pastoral Duties, nos. 13 and 14.

17. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 14: A.A.S.
56 (1964) p. 104.

18. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Decree on Communications Media, nos. 13 and 14:
A.A.S. 56 (1964) p. 149 ff.

19. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 76; Pius XII's allocution
to Bavarian Association of Catholic Teachers, Dec. 31, 1956: Discourses and Radio
Messages, vol. 18, p. 746.

20. Cf. Provincial Council of Cincinnati III, a. 1861: Collatio Lacensis, III, col. 1240,
c/d; Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, pp. 60, 63 ff.

21. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 63; encyclical letter,
Non Abbiamo Misogno, June 29, 1931: A.A.S. 23 (1931) p. 305, Pius XII's letter
from the Secretary of State to the 28th Italian Social Week, Sept. 20, 1955:
L'Osservatore Romano, Sept. 29, 1955. Paul VI's allocution to the Association of
Italian Christian Workers, Oct. 6, 1963: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, vol. 1,
Rome, 1964, p. 230.

22. Cf. John XXIII's message on the 30th anniversary of the encyclical letter, Divini
Illius Magistri, Dec. 30, 1959: A.A.S. 52 (1960) p. 57.

23. The Church considers it as apostolic action of great worth also when Catholic
teachers and associates work in these schools. Cf. Second Vatican Council's schema
of the Decree on the Lay Apostolate (1965), nos. 12 and 16.

24. Cf. Second Vatican Council's schema on the Declaration on Religious Liberty
(1965), no. 5.

25. Cf. Provincial Council of Westminster I, a. 1852: Collatio Lacensis III, col. 1334,
a/b; Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 77 ff.; Pius XII's allocution
to the Bavarian Association of Catholic Teachers, Dec. 31, 1956: Discourses and
Radio Messages, vol. 18, p. 746; Paul VI's allocution to the members of Federated
Institutes Dependent on Ecclesiastic Authority, Dec. 30, 1963: Encyclicals and
Discourses of Paul VI, 1, Rome, 1964, 602 ff.

26. Cf. especially the document mentioned in the first note; moreover this law of the
Church is proclaimed by many provincial councils and in the most recent declarations
of very many of the episcopal conferences.

27. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1 p. 80 ff.; Pius XII's
allocution to the Catholic Association of Italian Teachers in Secondary Schools, Jan.
5, 1954: Discourses and Radio Messages, 15, pp. 551-55B; John XXIII's allocution to
the 6th Congress of the Associations of Catholic Italian Teachers Sept. 5, 1959:
Discourses, Messages, Conversations, 1, Rome,1960, pp. 427-431.

28. Cf. Pius XII's allocution to the Catholic Association of Italian Teachers in
Secondary Schools, Jan. 5, 1954, 1, p. 555.

29. Cf. Paul VI's allocution to the International Office of Catholic Education, Feb. 25,
1964: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, 2, Rome, 1964, p. 232.

30. Cf. Paul VI's allocution to the Christian Association of Italian Workers, Oct. 6,
1963: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, 1, Rome, 1964, p. 229.

31. Cf. Paul VI's allocution to the International Thomistic Congress, Sept. 10, 1965:
L'Osservatore Romano, Sept. 13-14, 1965.
32. Cf. Pius XII's allocution to teachers and students of French Institutes of Higher
Catholic Education, Sept. 21, 1950: Discourses and Radio Messages, 12, pp. 219-221;
letters to the 22nd congress of Pax Romana, Aug. 12, 1952: Discourses and Radio
Messages, 14, pp. 567-569; John XXIII's allocution to the Federation of Catholic
Universities, April 1, 1959: Discourses, Messages and Conversations, 1, Rome, 1960,
pp. 226-229; Paul VI's allocution to the Academic Senate of the Catholic University
of Milan, April 5, 1964: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, 2, Rome, 1964, pp.
438-443.

33. Cf. Pius XII's allocution to the academic senate and students of the University of
Rome, June 15, 1952: Discourses and Radio Messages, 14, p. 208: "The direction of
today's society principally is placed in the mentality and hearts of the universities of
today."

34. Cf. Pius XII's apostolic constitution, Deus Scientiarum Dominus, May 24, 1931:
A.A.S. 23 (1931) pp. 245-247.

35. Cf. Pius XII's encyclical letter, Humani Generis Aug. 12, 1950 A.A.S. 42 (1950)
pp. 568 ff. and 578; Paul VI's encyclical letter, Ecclesiam Suam, part III Aug. 6, 1964;
A.A.S. 56 (1964) pp. 637-659; Second Vatican Council's Decree on Eccumenism:
A.A.S. 57 (1965) pp. 90-107.

36. Cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55
(1963) p. 284 and elsewhere.

ACRED CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION 

EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN HUMAN LOVE 

Outlines for sex education 

 INTRODUCTION 

1. The harmonious development of the human person progressively reveals in each of us the
image of a child of God. " True education aims at the formation of the human person with
respect to his ultimate goal ".(1) Treating christian education, Vatican Council II drew attention
to the necessity of offering " a positive and prudent sex education " to children and youth.(2) 

The Congregation for Catholic Education, within the sphere of its competence, considers it
proper to make its contribution for the application of the Conciliar Declarations, as some
Episcopal Conferences have done already. 
2. This document, drawn up with the help of educational experts and submitted to wide
consultation, sets itself a precise objective: to examine the pedagogic aspect of sex education,
indicating appropriate guidelines for the integral formation of a christian, according to the
vocation of each.

Also, though it does not make explicit citations at every turn, it always presupposes the doctrinal
principles and moral norms pertaining to the matter as proposed by the Magisterium.

3. The Congregation for Catholic Education is aware of the cultural and social differences
existing in different countries. These guidelines, therefore, should be adapted by the respective
Episcopates to the pastoral necessities of each local Church. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF SEXUALITY 

4. Sexuality is a fundamental component of personality, one of its modes of being, of

manifestation, of communicating with others, of feeling, of expressing and of living human love.
Therefore it is an integral part of the development of the personality and of its educative process:
" It is, in fact, 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 ".(3)

5. Sexuality characterises man and woman not only on the physical level, but also on the
psychological and spiritual, making its mark on each of their expressions. Such diversity, linked
to the complementarity of the two sexes, allows thorough response to the design of God
according to the vocation to which each one is called. 

Sexual intercourse, ordained towards procreation, is the maximum expression on the physical
level of the communion of love of the married. Divorced from this context of reciprocal gift - a
reality which the christian enjoys, sustained and enriched in a particular way by the grace of God
it loses its significance, exposes the selfishness of the individual, and is a moral disorder.(4) 

6. Sexuality, oriented, elevated and integrated by love acquires truly human quality. Prepared by
biological and psychological development, it grows harmoniously and is achieved in the full
sense only with the realisation of affective maturity, which manifests itself in unselfish love and
in the total gift of self. 

THE ACTUAL SITUATION 

7. One can see - among christians, too - that there are notable differences with regard to sex
education. In today's climate of moral disorientation a danger arises, whether of a harmful
conformism or prejudice which falsifies the intimate nature of being human, ushered whole from
the hands of the Creator.

8. In order to respond to such a situation one looks for a suitable sex education from every
source. But if the conviction of its necessity is fairly widely held in theory, in practice there
remain uncertainties and significant differences, either with regard to the persons and institutions
who must assume the educational responsibility, or in connection with , the contents and
methodologies.

9. Educators and parents are often aware of not being sufficiently prepared to impart adequate
sex education. The school is not always in a position to offer that integral vision of the matter
which would remain incomplete with the scientific information alone. 

10. Particular difficulties are found in those countries where the urgency of the problem is not
recognised, or where perhaps it is thought that it resolves itself without specific education. 

11. In general, there is need to recognise that one treats of a difficult undertaking by reason of the
complexity of the diverse elements (physical, psychological, pedagogic, socio-cultural, juridical,
moral and religious) which come together in educational action. 

12. Some catholic organisations in different parts - with the approval and encouragement of the
local Episcopate - have begun to carry out a positive work of sex education; it is directed not
only to help children and adolescents on the way to psychological and spiritual maturity, but also
and above all to protect them from the dangers of ignorance and widespread degradation. 

13. Also praiseworthy are the efforts of many who, with scientific seriousness, dedicate
themselves to study the problem, moving from the human sciences and integrating the results of
such research in a project which conforms with human dignity, a project by the light of the
Gospel. 

DECLARATIONS OF THE MAGISTERIUM 

14. The Magisterium's declarations on sex education mark out a course which satisfies the just
requirements of history on the one hand and fidelity to tradition on the other.(5)

Vatican Council II in the " Declaration on Christian Education " presents the perspective in
which sex education must be set,(6) affirming the right of young people to receive an education
adequate to their personal requirements. 

The Council states: " With the help of advances in psychology and in the art and science of
teaching, children and young people should be assisted in the harmonious development of their
physical, moral and intellectual endowments. Surmounting hardships with a gallant and steady
heart, they should be helped to acquire gradually a more mature sense of responsibility towards
ennobling their own lives through constant effort, and toward pursuing authentic freedom. As
they advance in years they should be given positive and prudent sex education ".(7) 

15. The Pastoral Constitution " Gaudium et spes ", in speaking of the dignity of marriage and the
family presents the latter as the preferential place for the education of young people in chastity.
(8) But since this is an aspect of education as a whole, the co-operation of teachers with parents
is needed in the accomplishment of their mission.(9) Such education, therefore, must be offered
within the family to children and adolescents in a gradual manner, always considering the total
formation of the person (10)
16. In the Apostolic Exhortation on the mission of the christian family in the world as it is, John
Paul II reserves an important place to sex education as valuable to the person. " Education to
love as self giving, says the Holy Father, also constitutes the indispensable premise for parents
called to offer their children a clear and delicate sex education. Faced with a culture which
largely reduces human sexuality to the level of something commonplace, since it interprets and
lives it in a reductive and impoverished way by linking it solely with the body and with selfish
pleasure, the educational service of parents must aim firmly at a training in the area of sex that is
truly and fully personal: for sexuality is an enrichment of the whole person - body, emotions and
soul - and manifests its inmost meaning in leading the person to the gift of self in love ".(11)

17. The Holy Father immediately goes on to speak of the school, which is responsible for this
education in service of and in harmony with parents. " Sex education, which is a basic right and
duty of parents, must also be carried out under their attentive guidance, whether at home or in
educational centres chosen and controlled by them. In this regard, the Church reaffirms the law
of subsidiarity, which the school is bound to observe when it cooperates in sex education, by
entering into the same spirit that animates the parents ".(12)

In order for the value of sexuality to reach its full realisation, " education for chastity is
absolutely essential, for it is a virtue that develops a person's authentic maturity and makes him
or her capable of respecting and fostering the "nuptial meaning " of the body ".(13) It consists in
self control, in the capacity of guiding the sexual instinct to the service of love and of integrating
it in the development of the person. Fruit of the grace of God and of our cooperation, chastity
tends to harmonise the different components of the human person, and to overcome the frailty of
human nature, marked by sin, so that each person can follow the vocation to which God has
called. 

In the commitment to an enlightened education in chastity, "Christian parents, discerning the

signs of God's call, will devote special attention and care to education in virginity or celibacy as
the supreme form of that self giving that constitutes the very meaning of human sexuality " (14)

19. In the teaching of John Paul II, the positive consideration of values, which one ought to
discover and appreciate, precedes the norm which one must not violate. This norm, nevertheless,
interprets and formulates the values for which people must strive. 

" In view of the close links between the sexual dimension of the person and his or her ethical
values, education must bring the children to a knowledge of and respect for the moral norms as
the necessary and highly valuable guarantee for responsible personal growth in human sexuality.
For this reason the Church is firmly opposed to an often widespread form of imparting sex
information dissociated from moral principles. That would merely be an introduction to the
experience of pleasure and a stimulus leading to the loss of serenity - while still in the years of
innocence - by opening the way to vice ".(15)

20. This document, therefore, starting from the christian vision of man and woman and appealing
to the principles enunciated recently by the Magisterium, desires to present to educators some
fundamental guidelines for sex education and for the conditions and mode of presenting it at the
operative level. 
I. 
SOME FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

21. Every type of education is inspired by a specific conception of man and woman. Christian
education aims to promote the realisation of man and woman through the development of all
their being, incarnate spirits, and of the gifts of nature and of grace by which they are enriched
by God. Christian education is rooted in the faith which " throws a new light on all things and
makes known the full ideal which God has set for man ".(16)

 CHRISTIAN CONCEPT OF SEXUALITY 

22. In the christian vision of man and woman, a particular function of the body is recognised,
because it contributes to the revealing of the meaning of life and of the human vocation.
Corporeality is, in fact, a specific mode of existing and operating proper to the human spirit: This
significance is first of all of an anthropological nature: the body reveals man,(17) " expresses the
person " (18) and is therefore the first message of God to the same man and woman, almost a
species of " primordial sacrament, understood as a sign which efficaciously transmits in the
visible world the invisible mystery hidden in God from all eternity " .(19)

23. There is a second significance of a theological nature: the body contributes to revealing God
and his creative love, in as much as it manifests the creatureliness of man and woman, whose
dependence bestows a fundamental gift, which is the gift of love. " This is the body: a witness to
creation as a fundamental gift, and so a witness to love as the source from which this same
giving springs ".(20)

24. The body, in as much as it is sexual, expresses the vocation of man and woman to
reciprocity, which is to love and to the mutual gift of self.(21) The body, in short, calls man and
woman to the constitutive vocation to fecundity as one of the fundamental meanings of their
being sexual.(22)

25. The sexual distinction, which appears as a determination of human being, is diversity, but in
equality of nature and dignity.(23) 

The human person, through his or her intimate nature, exists in relation to others, implying a
reciprocity of love. The sexes are complementary: similar and dissimilar at the same time; not
identical, the same, though, in dignity of person; they are peers so that they may mutually
understand each other, diverse in their reciprocal completion. 

26. Man and woman constitute two modes of realising, on the part of the human creature, a
determined participation in the Divine Being: they are created in the " image and likeness of God
" and they fully accomplish such vocation not only as single persons, but also as couples, which
are communities of love.(25) Oriented to unity and fecundity, the married man and woman
participate in the creative love of God, living in communion with Him through the other.(26)

27 The presence of sin obscures original innocence, rendering less easy to man and woman the
perception of these truths: their decipherment has become an ethical task, the object of a difficult
engagement entrusted to man and woman: " After original sin the man and the woman will lose
the grace of original innocence. The discovery of the nuptial meaning of the body will cease to
be for them a simple reality of revelation and of grace. This meaning will remain as a
commitment given to man by the ethos of the gift, inscribed in the depths of the human heart, as
a distant echo of original innocence "(27)

Faced with this capacity of the body to be at the same time sign and instrument of ethical
vocation, one can establish an analogy between the body itself and sacramental economy, which
is the concrete means through which grace and salvation reach us. 

28. Since men and women in their time have been inclined to reduce sexuality to genital
experience alone, there have been reactions tending to devalue sex, as though by its nature men
and women were defiled by it. These present guidelines intend to oppose such devaluation. 

29. " It is only in the Mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes
clear",(28) and human existence acquires its full meaning in the vocation to the divine life. Only
by following Christ does man respond to this vocation and become so fully man, growing finally
to reach the perfect man in the measure approaching the full maturity of Christ.(29)

30. In the light of the Mystery of Christ, sexuality appears to us as a vocation to realise that love
which the Holy Spirit instills in the hearts of the redeemed. Jesus Christ has enriched such
vocation with the Sacrament of Marriage. 

31. Furthermore, Jesus has pointed out by word and example the vocation to virginity for the
sake of the kingdom of heaven.(30) Virginity is a vocation to love: it renders the heart more free
to love God.(31) Free of the duties of conjugal love, the virgin heart can feel, therefore, more
disposed to the gratuitous love of one's brothers and sisters. 

In consequence, virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven better expresses the gift of
Christ to the Father on behalf of us and prefigures with greater precision the reality of eternal
life, all substantiated in charity.(32)

Virginity, certainly is a renunciation of the form of love which typifies marriage, but committed
to undertaking in greater profundity the dynamism, inherent in sexuality, of self-giving openness
to others. It seeks to obtain its strengthening and transfiguring by the presence of the Spirit, who
teaches us to love the Father and the brethren, after the example of the Lord Jesus. 

32. In synthesis, sexuality is called to express different values to which specific moral exigencies
correspond. Oriented towards interpersonal dialogue, it contributes to the integral maturation of
people, opening them to the gift of self in love; furthermore, tied to the order of creation, to
fecundity and to the transmission of life, it is called to be faithful to this inner purpose also. Love
and fecundity are meanings and values of sexuality which include and summons each other in
turn, and cannot therefore be considered as either alternatives or opposites. 

33. The affective life, proper to each sex, expresses itself in a characteristic mode in the different
states of life: conjugal union, consecrated celibacy chosen for the sake of the kingdom, the
condition of the christian who has not yet reached marriage, or who remains celibate, or who has
chosen to remain such. In all these cases the affective life must be gathered and integrated in the
human person.

NATURE, PURPOSE AND MEANS OF SEX EDUCATION 

34. A fundamental objective of this education is an adequate knowledge of the nature and
importance of sexuality and of the harmonious and integral development of the person towards
psychological maturity, with full spiritual maturity in view, to which all believers are called.(33)

To this end, the christian educator will remember the principles of faith and the different
methods of educational aid, taking account of the positive evaluation which actual pedagogy
makes of sexuality. 

35. In the christian anthropological perspective, affective-sex education must consider the
totality of the person and insist therefore on the integration of the biological, psycho-affective,
social and spiritual elements. This integration has become more difficult because the believer
also bears the consequences of sin from the beginning. 

A true " formation ", is not limited to the informing of the intellect, but must pay particular
attention to the will, to feelings and emotions. In fact, in order to move to maturation in
affective-sexual life, self control is necessary, which presupposes such virtues as modesty,
temperance, respect for self and for others, openness to one's neighbour. 

All this is not possible if not in the power of the salvation which comes from Jesus Christ. 

36. Also, if the modes are diverse which sexuality assumes in single people, education must first
of all promote that mafiurity which " entails not only accepting sex as part of the totality of
human values, but also seeing it as giving a possibility for " offering ", that is, a capacity for
giving pure love, altruistic love. When such a capacity is sufficiently acquired, an individual
becomes capable of spontaneous contacts, emotional self control and commitment of his free will
".(34)

37. Contemporary pedagogy of christian inspiration sees in the person being educated,
considered in all his or her totality and complexity, the principle subject of education. He or she
must be helped to develop capacities for good, above all in a trustworthy relationship. This is
very easily forgotten when excessive weight is given to simple information, at the expense of
other dimensions of sex education. In education, in fact, a knowledge of new notions is of utmost
importance, but enlivened by the assimilation of corresponding values and by a lively grasp of
understanding of the personal responsibilities associated with entry into adulthood. 

38. Given the repercussions which sexuality has in the whole person, it is necessary that multiple
aspects be kept in mind: conditions of health, the influence of the family and the social
environment, impressions received and the reactions, of the pupil, education of the will, and the
degree of development of spiritual life sustained with the help of grace. 
39. All that has been stated so far serves educators in helping and guiding the formation of
personality in the young. They must stimulate them to a critical reflection on received
impressions, and, while they propose values, must give testimony of an authentic spiritual life,
both personal and communal. 

40. Having seen the close links existing between morality and sexuality, it is necessary that the
knowledge of moral norms be accompained by clear motivation, so as to bring a sincere personal
adherence to maturity. 

41. Contemporary pedagogy has full consciousness of the fact that human life is characterised by
a constant evolution and that personal formation is a permanent process. This is also according to
age true for sexuality, which expresses itself with particular characteristics in the different phases
of life. It evidently brings riches and notable difficulties at every stage of maturation. 

42. Educators will have to bear in mind the fundamental stages of such evolution: the primitive
instinct, which in the beginning is manifested in a rudimentary state, meets in its turn the
ambivalence of good and evil. Then with the help of education, the feelings are stabilised and at
the same time augment the sense of responsibility. Gradually selfishness is eliminated, a certain
asceticism is stabilised, others are accepted and loved for themselves, the elements of sexuality
are integrated: genitality, eroticism, love and charity. Also if the result is not always fully
attained, they are more numerous than may be thought who come near the goal to which they
aspire. 

43. Christian educators are persuaded that sex education is realised in full in the context of faith.
Incorporated by Baptism into the Risen Christ, the christian knows that his or her body, too, has
been vivified and purified by the Spirit which Jesus communicates.(35)

Faith in the mystery of the Risen Christ, which through his Spirit actualises and prolongs in the
faithful the paschal mystery, uncovers in the believer the vocation to the resurrection of the flesh,
already begun thanks to the Spirit who dwells in the just as pledge and seed of the total and
definitive resurrection. 

44. The disorder provoked by sin, present and operating in the individual as well as in the culture
which characterises society, exercises a strong pressure to conceive and live sexuality in a
manner opposed to the law of Christ, according to that which St. Paul called the law of sin.(36)
At times, economic structures, state laws, mass media and systems of life in the great metropoloi
are factors which negatively impinge on people. Christian education takes note of this and
indicates guidelines for responsibly opposing such influences. 

45. This constant endeavour is sustained and rendered possible by divine grace through the Word
of God received in faith, through prayer and through participation in the sacraments. In first
place is the Eucharist, communion with Christ in the same act as his sacrifice, where effectively
the young believer finds the bread of life as viaticum in order to face and overcome the obstacles
on his or her earthly pilgrimage. The Sacrament of Reconciliation, through the grace that is
proper to it and with the help of spiritual direction, not only reinforces the capacity for resistance
to evil but also gives the courage to pick oneself up after a fall. 
These sacraments are offered and celebrated in the ecclesial community. Those who are vitally
involved in such community draw from the sacraments the strength to realise a chaste life,
according to their state. 

46 Personal and community prayer is the indispensable means for obtaining from God the
necessary strength to keep faith with one's baptismal obligations, for resisting the impulses of
human nature wounded by sin, and for balancing the emotions provoked by negative influences
in the environment. 

The spirit of prayer helps us to live coherently the practice of the evangelical virtues of
faithfulness and sincerity of heart, of poverty and humility in the daily effort of work and of
commitment to one's neighbour. The interior life gives rise to christian joy which wins the battle
against evil, beyond every moralism and pyschological aid. 

From frequent and intimate contact with the Lord, everyone, especially the young, will derive the
strength and enthusiasm for a pure life and they will realise their human and christian vocation in
peaceful self control and in generous giving to others. 

The importance of these considerations can escape noone. Today, in fact, many people,
implicitly or explicitly, hold a pessimistic interpretation of the capacity of human nature to
accomplish a life-long commitment, especially in marriage. Christian education should raise the
confidence of the young so that their understanding of and preparation for life-long commitment
be secured with the certainty that God will help them with His grace to accomplish His
purposes. 

47. Imitation of and union with Christ, lived and handed on by the saints, are the most profound
motivation for our hope of realising the highest ideal of a chaste life, unattainable by human
effort alone. 

The Virgin Mary is the eminent example of christian life. The Church, through centuries of
experience is convinced that the faithful, especially the young, by devotion to her, have known
how to realise this ideal.

II. 
RESPONSIBILITY IN PUTTING SEX EDUCATION 
INTO EFFECT 

FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 

48. Education, in the first place, is the duty of the family, which " is the school of richest
humanity".(37) It is, in fact, the best environment to accomplish the obligation of securing a
gradual education in sexual life. The family has an affective dignity which is suited to making
acceptable without trauma the most delicate realities and to integrating them harmoniously, in a
balanced and rich personality. 
49. The affection and reciprocal trust which exist in the family are necessary for the harmonious
and balanced development of the child right from birth. So that the affective natural bonds which
unite parents to children be positive in the highest degree, parents are in pride of place in
realising a peaceful sexual balance, and in establishing a relationship of trust and of dialogue
with their, children in a manner appropriate to their age and development. 

50. In order to be able to give efficacious guidance, which is necessary for resolving the
problems which arise, prior to any theoretical knowledge, adults are to be exemplary in their
conduct. Christian parents must know that their example represents the most valid contribution in
the education of their children. These, in their turn, can come to certainty that the christian ideal
is a reality experienced within the family itself. 

51. Openness and collaboration of parents with other educators who are co-responsible for
formation, will positively influence the maturation of young people. The theoretical preparation
and the experience of parents will help their children to understand the value and specific role of
the reality of man and woman. 

52 The full realisation of conjugal life and, in consequence, the sanctity and stability of the
family, depend on the formation of conscience and on values assimilated during the whole
formative cycle of the parents themselves. Moral values seen in the family are transmitted to the
children more easily.(38) Among these moral values, respect for life in the womb and, in
general, respect for people of every age and condition have great importance. The young must be
helped to understand, appreciate and respect these fundamental values of existence. 

In view of the importance of these elements for christian life, and also in the perspective of a
divine call to the children to the priesthood or consecrated life, sex education acquires an
ecclesial dimension. 

THE ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY 

53. The Church, mother of the faithful born of her to the faith in Baptism, has an educative
mission entrusted by Christ, which is realised especially through proclamation, full communion
with God and one's fellows, conscientious and active participation in the eucharistic liturgy and
through apostolic activity.(39) By being open to life the ecclesial community constitutes an
environment adequate to the assimilation of the christian ethic in which the faithful learn to
witness to the Good News. 

54. The difficulties which sex education often encounters within the bosom of the family solicit a
major commitment on the part of the christian community and, in particular, of priests to
collaborate in the education of the baptised. In this field, the catholic school, the parish and other
ecclesial institutions are called to collaborate with the family. 

55. From the ecclesial character of the faith derives the co-responsibility of the christian
community in helping the baptised to live coherently and knowledgeably the obligations taken
on with baptism. It is the responsibility of the Bishops to establish norms and guidelines adapted
to the necessities of the individual churches. 
CATECHESIS AND SEX EDUCATION 

56. Catechesis is called to be the fertile field for the renewal of all the ecclesial community.
Therefore, in order to lead the faithful to maturity of faith, it must illustrate the positive values of
sexuality, integrating them with those of virginity and marriage, in the light of the mystery of
Christ and of the Church. 

This catechesis should bring into relief that the first vocation of the christian is to love, and that
the vocation to love is realised in two diverse ways: in marriage, or in a life of celibacy for love
of the kingdom.(40) "Marriage and virginity are the two modes of expressing and living the one
mystery of the Covenant of God with His people".(41) 

57. So that families may be certain that catechesis is by no means apart from the Magisterium,
pastors are to be involved both in the selection and preparation of responsible Magisterium
personnel and in the determination of content and method. 

58. From what has been said above in n. 48, the fact remains ever valid that with regard to the
more intimate aspects, whether biological or affective, an individual education should be
bestowed, preferably within the sphere of the family. 

59. It being understood that catechesis realised in the family constitutes a privileged form, if
parents do not feel able to perform this duty, they may have recourse to others who enjoy their
confidence. A wise initiative, prudent and adapted to age and environment, can avoid traumas for
children and render to them more easy the solution of sexual problems. 

PRE-MARRIAGE CATECHESIS 

60. A fundamental aspect of the preparation of the young for marriage consists in giving them an
exact vision of the christian ethic regarding sexuality. Catechesis offers the advantage of facing
sexuality in the immediate prospect of marriage. But for its full success, this catechesis must be
conveniently continued by developing a true and proper catechumenate. It aspires therefore to
sustain and strengthen the chastity proper to the engaged in preparation for conjugal life viewed
in a christian manner, and to the specific mission which the married have amongst the People of
God. , 

61. Future spouses must know the profound significance of marriage, understood as a union of
love for the realisation of the couple and for procreation. The stability of marriage and of
conjugal love requires as indispensable conditions: chastity and self control, the formation of
character and the spirit of sacrifice. With regard to certain difficulties of married life, rendered
more acute by the conditions of our time, chastity during one's youth as an adequate preparation
for marital chastity will be a decisive help to the married. They will need therefore to be
informed about the divine law, declared by the ecclesiastical Magisterium, necessary for the
formation of their consciences.(42)

62 Instructed in the value and greatness of the Sacrament of Matrimony, which specifies for
them the grace and vocation of baptism, christian spouses will know how to live conscienciously
the values and specific obligations of their moral lives as requirement and fruit of the grace and
action of the Spirit, " fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and dignity of their state
by a special sacrament ".(43)

Therefore, in order to live their sexuality and to carry out their responsibilities in accord with
God's plan,(44) it is important that spouses have knowledge of the natural methods of regulating
their fertility. As John Paul II has said, "every effort must be made to render such knowledge
accessible to all married people and also to young adults before marriage, through clear, timely
and serious instruction and education given by married couples, doctors and experts ".(45)
Evidently, contraception, insistently propagated today, constrasts with these christian ideals and
these moral norms of which the Church is teacher. This fact renders still more urgent the
necessity of transmitting to the young at an appropriate age the teaching of the Church on
artificial means of contraception, and the reasons for such teaching, so that the young may be
prepared for responsible marriage, full of love and open to life. 

GUIDELINES FOR ADULTS 

63. A solid catechetical preparation of adults on human love establishes the foundations for the
sex education of children. Thus the possession of human maturity illumined by faith in secured,
which will be decisive in the dialogue which adults are called to establish with the new
generations. Further to indications concerning methods to be used, such catechesis will favour an
appropriate exchange of ideas on particular problems, will make the teaching aids for use better
known, and will permit eventual encounters with experts, whose collaboration could be
particularly useful in difficult cases. 

TASK OF CIVIL SOCIETY 

64. The person should find in society existing expressions and experiences of values which
exercise an influence not secondary on the formative process. Therefore, it will be the task of
civil society, in as much as it treats the common good,(46) to be watchful so that a wise physical
and moral environment be secured in schools, and conditions which respond to the positive
requests of parents, or receive their free support, be promoted. 

65. It is the task of the State to safeguard its citizens against injustices and moral disorders, such
as the abuse of minors and every form of sexual violence, degrading dress, permissiveness and
pornography, and the improper use of demographic information. 

RESPONSIBILITY IN EDUCATION IN THE USE OF THE INSTRUMENTS 

OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION 

66. In the actual world, the instruments of social communication, by their intrusiveness and
suggestion, display to youth and the very young - also and above all in the field of sex education
- a continuous and conditioning stream of information and training, which is very much more
trenchant than that of one's own family. 
John Paul II has indicated the situation in which children find themselves confronted by the
instruments of social communication: " Fascinated and devoid of defence before the world and
adults, children are naturally ready to accept whatever is offered to them, whether good or bad...
They are attracted by the " small screen ", they follow each gesture which is portrayed and they
perceive, before and better than every other person, the emotions and feelings which result ".(47)

67. It is therefore to be noted that by the same technological evolution, the necessary control is
rendered less easy and opportune. There is an urgency - for proper sex education, too - that "
those who are at the receiving end of the media, and especially the young, should learn
moderation and discipline in their use of them. They should aim to understand fully what they
see, hear and read. They should discuss them with their teachers and with experts in such matters
and should learn to reach correct judgements ".(48)

68 In defence of the rights of the child in this area, John Paul II stimulates the consciences of all
responsible christians, especially parents and operators of the instruments of social
communication, so that they do not hide behind the pretext of neutrality and respect for the
spontaneous development of the child, since in reality this is behaviour of preoccupying
indifference.(49)

Particular duties " in this matter are incumbent on civil authority in view of the common good ",
(50) which requires the juridical regulation of the instruments of social communication to protect
public morality, in particular the world of youth, especially with regard to magazines, films,
radio and television programmes, exhibitions, shows and publicity. 

TASK OF THE SCHOOL WITH REGARD TO SEX EDUCATION 

69. It being understood from what has been said on the primary duty of the family, the rôle of the
school should be that of assisting and completing the work of parents, furnishing children and
adolescents with an evaluation of " sexuality as value and task of the whole person, created male
and female in the image of God ".(51)

70. Interpersonal dialogue required by sex education, tends to kindle in the pupil an interior
disposition suited to motivating and guiding personal behaviour. Such a point of view is strictly
connected to the values inspired by the concept of life. Sex education is not reducible to simple
teaching material, nor to theoretical knowledge alone, nor does it consist of a programme to be
carried out progressively, but it has a specific objective in view: that affective maturation of the
pupil, of self control, and of correct behaviour in social relationships. 

71. The school can contribute to the realisation of this objective in various ways. All matters can
offer an opportunity to treat themes in their relation to sexuality; the teacher will do so always in
a positive key and with great delicacy, concretely evaluating the opportunity and the methods.
Individual sex education always retains prior value and can not be entrusted indiscrimately to
just any member of the school community. In fact, as will be specified in what follows, as well
as right judgement, sense of responsibility, professional competence, affective and decent
maturity, this education requires from the teacher outstanding sensitivity in initiating the child
and adolescent in the problems of love and life without disturbing their psychological
development. 

72 Also, though the teacher possess the necessary qualities for sex education in groups, it is
necessary always to consider the concrete situation of such groups. This applies above all in
mixed groups, since these require special precautions. In each case, the responsible authorities
must examine with parents the propriety of proceeding in such a manner. Given the complexity
of the problem, it is good to reserve for the pupil a time for personal dialogue in order to
accomodate the seeking of advice or clarification - which a natural sense of decency would not
allow to arise in front of others. Only a strict collaboration between the school and the family
will be able to guarantee an advantageous exchange of experience between parents and teachers
for the good of the pupils.(52) It is the responsibility of Bishops, taking account of school
legislation and local circumstances, to establish guidelines for sex education in groups, above all
if they are mixed. 

73 It can sometimes happen that particular events in the life of the school render a timely
intervention necessary. In such cases, the school authorities, in accordance with the principle of
collaboration, will contact parents interested in agreeing on an appropriate solution. 

74 Persons particularly suited by competence and balance, and who enjoy the trust of parents,
can be invited to hold private conversations with pupils to help them to develop their affective
maturity and to give the right balance in their social relationships. Such interventions in personal
guidance belong in particular to the more difficult cases, at least when the gravity of the situation
makes necessary recourse to a specialist in the matter. 

75 The formation and development of an harmonious personality require a peaceful atmostphere,

fruitful understanding, reciprocal trust and collaboration between persons in charge. It is
obtained with mutual respect for the specific competence of the various members of the
educational staff, their responsibilities and the choice of the differentiated means at their
disposal. 

APPROPRIATE TEACHING MATERIALS 

76. In order to offer correct sex education, appropriate teaching materials can be of assistance.
The elaboration of such materials requires the contribution of specialists in moral and pastoral
theology, of catechists, of educationists and catholic psychologists. Particular attention is to be
paid to the materials to be used by the pupils themselves. 

Some school text-books on sexuality, by reason of their naturalist character, are harmful to the
child and the adolescent. Graphic and audio-visual materials are more harmful when they crudely
present sexual realities for which the pupil is not prepared, and thus create traumatic impressions
or raise an unhealthy curiosity which leads to evil. Let teachers think seriously of the grave harm
that an irresponsible attitude in such delicate matters can cause in pupils. 

YOUTH GROUPS 
77. There exists in education a not negligible factor which goes side by side with the action of
the family and the school and which frequently has an even greater influence in the formation of
the person: these are youth groups, constituted in leisure time, which impinge intensely on the
life of the adolescent and young adult. The human sciences hold that " groups " are a positive
condition for formation, because the maturation of the personality is not possible without
efficacious personal relationships. 

III.
CONDITIONS AND MODE OF SEX EDUCATION 

78. The complexity and delicacy of the task requires accurate preparation of teachers, specific
qualities in the way the matter is treated and particular attention to precise objectives.

PREPARATION OF TEACHERS 

79. The mature personality of the teachers, their training and psychological balance strongly
influence their pupils. An exact and complete vision of the meaning and value of sexuality and a
peaceful integration within the personality itself are indispensable for teachers in constructive
education. Their training takes shape according to environment. Their ability is not so much the
fruit of theoretical knowledge but rather the result of their affective maturity. This does not
dispense with the acquisition of scientific knowledge suited to their educational work, which is
particularly arduous these days. Meetings with parents can be of great help. 

80. The dispositions which must characterise the teacher are the result of a general formation,
founded on a positive and professional constructive concept of life, and of constant effort in
realising it. Such a formation goes beyond the purely necessary professional training and
addresses the more intimate aspects of the personality, including the religious and the spiritual.
This last will be the guarantee of a recourse to christian principles, which, by supernatural
means, must sustain the educational enterprise. 

81. The teacher who carries out his or her task outside the family context needs a suitable and
serious psychopedagogic training which allows the seizing of particular situations which require
a special solicitude. A high degree of this is needed when, in consultation with the parents, a boy
or girl needs a psychologist. 

82. Beyond the normal topics and pathological cases, there is a whole range of individuals with
problems more or less acute and persistent, which risk being little cured, yet are truly in need of
help. In these cases, in addition to therapy at the medical level, constant support and guidance on
the part of teachers is needed. 

QUALITY OF TEACHING METHODS 

83. A clear vision of the situation is required because the method adopted not only gradually
conditions the success of this delicate education, but also conditions cooperation between the
various people in responsibility. In reality, the criticisms normally raised refer more to the
methods used by some teachers than to the enterprise itself. These methods must have definite
qualities, both in the same teachers and in the end to which such education is proposed. 

NEEDS OF THE PUPIL AND EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 

84. Affective-sex education, being more conditioned than others by the degree of physical and
psychological development of the pupil, must always be adapted to the individual. In certain
cases it is necessary to advise the pupil in preparation for particularly difficult situations, when it
is foreseen that the pupil will have to encounter them, or forewarn him or her of imminent or
permanent dangers.

85. It is necessary therefore to respect the progressive character of this education. A proper
gradual progress of initiatives must be attentive to the stages of physical and psychological
growth, which require a more careful preparation and a prolonged period of maturation. One
needs to be assured that the pupil has assimilated the values, the knowledge and the motivation
which has been proposed, or the changes and the evolution which he or she could observe in him
or herself and of which the teacher opportunely indicates the causes, the connections and the
purpose. 

QUALITY OF THE TEACHER 

86. In order to make a valid contribution to the harmonious and balanced development of the
young, teachers must regulate their teaching according to the particular rôle which falls to them.
The pupil neither perceives nor receives in the same manner from different teachers the
information and motivation which they give, because different teachers affect his or her intimacy
in a different way. Objectivity and prudence must characterise such teaching. 

87. Progressive information requires a partial explanation, but always according to truth.
Explanations must not be distorted by reticence or by lack of frankness. Prudence therefore
requires of the teacher not only an appropriate adaption of the matter to the expectations of the
pupil, but also a choice of language, mode and time in which the teaching is carried out. This
requires that the child's sense of decency be taken into account. The teacher, moreover,
remembers the influence of parents: their preoccupation with this dimension of education, the
particular character of family education, their concept of life, and their degree of openness to
other educational spheres. 

88. One must insist first of all on the human and christian values of sexuality, so that pupils can
appreciate them, and so that the desire to realise them in one's personal life and relationships may
be roused. Without disregarding the difficulties which sexual development involves, but without
creating an obsessive state, the teacher may have confidence in the educational enterprise: it can
rely on the resonance which true values strike in the young, when they are presented with
conviction and are confirmed by testimony of life. 

89. Given the importance of sex education in the integral formation of the person, teachers,
taking account of the various aspects of sexuality and of their incidence in the global personality,
are urged in particular not to separate knowledge from corresponding values, which give a sense
and orientation to biological, psychological and social information. Consequently, when they
present moral norms, it is necessary , that they show how find their raison d'etre and value. 

EDUCATION FOR MODESTY AND FRIENDSHIP 

90. Modesty, a fundamental component of the personality, may be considered - on the ethical
level - as the vigilant knowledge which defends the dignity of man, woman and authentic love. It
tends to react to certain attitudes and to curb behaviour which stains the dignity of the person. It
is a necessary and effective means of controlling the instincts, making authentic love flower,
integrating the affective-sexual life in the harmonions picture of the person. Modesty has great
pedagogic weight and must therefore be respected. Children and young people will thus learn to
respect the body itself as a gift from God, member of Christ and temple of the Holy Spirit; they
will learn to resist the evil which surrounds them and to have a vision and clear imagination to
seek to express a truly human love with all its spiritual components when they meet people in
friendship. 

91. To such an end, concrete and attractive models of virtue are to be presented, the aesthetic
sense be developed, inspiring a taste for the beauty present in nature, in art and in moral life; the
young are to be educated to assimilate a system of sensible and spiritual values in an unselfish
impetus of faith and love. 

92. Friendship is the height of affective maturation and differs from mere cameraderie by its
interior dimension, by communication which allows and fosters true communion, by its
reciprocal generosity and its stability. Education for friendship can become a factor of
extraordinary importance in the making of the personality in its individual and social
dimensions. 

93. The bonds of friendship which unite the young of both sexes contribute both to
understanding and to reciprocal respect when they are maintained within the limits of normal
affective expression. If however they become or tend to become manifestations of a genital
character, they lose the authentic meaning of mature friendship, prejudice the relationships
involved and the future prospects with regard to an eventual marriage, and render the individuals
concerned less attentive to a possible call to the consecrated life. 

IV. 
SOME PARTICULAR PROBLEMS 

The teacher may find that in carrying out his or her mission, he or she may be confronted by
several particular problems, which we treat here. 

94. Sex education must lead the young to take cognisance of the different expressions and
dynamisms of sexuality and of the human values which must be respected. True love is the
capacity to open oneself to one's neighbour in generosity, and in devotion to the other for the
other's good; it knows how to respect the personality and the freedom of the other,(53) it is self
giving, not possessive. The sex instinct, on the other hand, if abandoned to itself, is reduced to
the merely genital, and tends to take possession of the other, immediately seeking personal
gratification.

95. Relationships of sexual intimacy are reserved to marriage, because only then is the
inseparable connection secured - which God wants - between the unitive and the procreative
meaning of such matters, which are ordained to maintain, confirm and express a definitive
communion of life - " one flesh "(54) - mediating the realisation of a love that is " human " "
total " " faithful " " creative "(55) which is marital love. Therefore, sexual relations outside the
context of marriage constitute a grave disorder, because they are reserved to a reality which does
not yet exist;(56) they are a language which is not found in the objective reality of the life of the
two persons, not yet constituted in definitive community with the necessary recognition and
guarantee of civil and, for catholic spouses, religious society. 

96. It seems that there is a spread amongst adolescents and young adults of certain manifestations
of a sexual kind which of themselves tend to complete encounter, though without reaching its
realisation: manifestations of the merely genital which are a moral disorder because they are
outside the matrimonial context of authentic love.

97. Sex education will help adolescents to discover the profound values of love, and to
understand the harm which such manifestations do to their affective maturation, in as much as
they lead to an encounter which is not personal, but instinctive, often weakened by reservations
and egoistic calculations, without therefore the character of true personal relationship and so
much less definitive. An authentic education will lead the young towards maturity and self-
control, the fruit of conscientious choice and personal effort. 

98. It is the task of sex education to promote a continuous progress in the control of the impulses
to effect an opening, in due course, to true and self giving love. A particularly complex and
delicate problem which can be present is that of masturbation and of its repercussions on the
integral growth of the person. Masturbation, according to catholic doctrine constitutes a grave
moral disorder,(57) principally because it is the use of the sexual faculty in a way which
essentially contradicts its finality, not being at the service of love and life according to the design
of God.(58)

99. A teacher and perspicacious counsellor must endeavour to identify the causes of the
deviation in order to help the adolescent to overcome the immaturity underlying this habit. From
an educative point of view, it is necessary to consider masturbation and other forms of
autoeroticism as symptoms of problems much more profound, which provoke sexual tension
which the individual seeks to resolve by recourse to such behaviour. Pedagogic action, therefore,
should be directed more to the causes than to the direct repression of the phenomenon.(59)

Whilst taking account of the objective gravity of masturbation, it is necessary to be cautious in

evaluating the subjective responsibility of the person.(60)

100. In order that the adolescent be helped to feel accepted in a communion of charity and freed
from self enclosure, the teacher "should undramatise masturbation and not reduce his or her
esteem and benevolence for the pupil".(61) The teacher will help the pupil towards social
integration, to be open and interested in others; to be able to be free from this form of
autoeroticism, advancing towards self giving love, proper to mature affectivity; at the same time,
the teacher will encourage the pupil to have recourse to the recommended means of christian
asceticism, such as prayer and the sacraments, and to be involved in works of justice and
charity. 

101. Homosexuality, which impedes the person's acquisition of sexual maturity, whether from
the individual point of view, or the inter-personal, is a problem which must be faced in all
objectivity by the pupil and the educator when the case presents itself. 

" Pastorally, these homosexuals must be received with understanding and supported in the hope
of overcoming their personal difficulties and their social mal-adaption, their culpability will be
judged with prudence; but no pastoral method can be used which, holding that these acts
conform to the condition of these persons, accord them a moral justification. 

" According to the objective moral order, homosexual relations are acts deprived of their
essential and indispensable rule ".(62)

102. It will be the duty of the family and the teacher to seek first of all to identify the factors
which drive towards homosexuality: to see if it is a question of physiological or psycho logical
factors; if it be the result of a false education or of the lack of normal sexual evolution; if it
comes from a contracted habit or from bad example;(63) or from other factors. More particularly,
in seeking the causes of this disorder, the family and the teacher will have to take account of the
elements of judgement proposed by the ecclesiastical 

Magisterium, and be served by the contribution which various disciplines can offer. One must, in
fact, investigate elements of diverse order: lack of affection, immaturity, obsessive impulses,
seduction, social isolation and other types of frustration, depravation in dress, license in shows
and publications. In greater profundity lies the innate frailty of man and woman, the consequence
of original sin; it can run to the loss of the sense of God and of man and woman, and have its
repercussions in the sphere of sexuality.(64)

103. The causes having been sought and understood, the family and the teacher will offer an
efficacious help in the process of integral growth: welcoming with understanding, creating a
climate of hope, encouraging the emancipation of the individual and his or her growth in self
control, promoting an authentic moral force towards conversion to the love of God and
neighbour, suggesting - if necessary - medical-psychological assistance from persons attentive to
and respectful of the teaching of the Church. 

104. A permissive society which does not offer valid values on which to found one's life
promotes alienating escapism, to which the young are subject in a particular way. Their idealism
encounters the harshness of life, causing a tension which can provoke, because of the frailty of
the will, a destructive escape in drugs. 

This is one of the problems which is getting worse and which assumes dramatic tones for the
teacher. Some psychotropic substances raise the sensibility for sexual pleasure and in general
diminish the capacity for self control and thereby for defense. The prolonged abuse of drugs
leads to physical and psychological destruction. Drugs, mistaken autonomy and sexual disorders
are often found together. The psychological situation and the human context of isolation being
such, many people give up, addicts living in rebellion, creating conditions which easily lead into
sexual abuses. 

105. Remedial intervention, which calls for a profound transformation of the individual from
within and without, is laborious and long, because it must help to reconstruct the personality and
relationships with the world of people and values. Preventative action is more efficacious. It
secures the avoidance of deep, affective decline. It is love and care which educate towards value,
dignity, respect for life, for the body, for sex, for health. The civil and christian community must
know how to timely welcome the young who are abandoned, alone, insecure, helping them to be
included in study and in work, to occupy their free time, offering them healthy places for
meeting, happiness, activity, furnishing them with occasions for affective relationships and for
solidarity. 

In particular, sport, which is at the service of man and woman, possesses a great educative value,
not only as bodily discipline, but also as a healthy relaxation in which young people are
encouraged to renounce their egotism and to meet other people. Only a freedom which is
authentic, educated, aided and promoted offers protection from the quest for illusory liberty of
drugs and sex. 

CONCLUSION 

106. From these reflections one can conclude that in the actual socio-cultural situation there is
urgent need to give positive and gradual affective-sex education to children, adolescents and
young adults, paying attention to the dispositions of Vatican Council II. Silence is not a valid
norm of conduct in this matter, above all when one thinks of the " hidden persuaders " which use
insinuating language. Their influence today is undeniable: it is up to parents, therefore, to be alert
not only to repair the harm caused by inappropriate and injurious interventions, but above all to
opportunely inform their own children, offering them a positive and convincing education. 

107. The defense of the fundamental rights of the child and the adolescent for the harmonious
and complete development of the personality conforms to the dignity of the children of God, and
belongs in first place to parents. Personal maturation requires, in fact, a continuity in the
educative process, protected by love and trust, proper to the family environment. 

108. In accomplishing her mission the Church has the duty and the right to take care of the moral
education of the baptised. 

The contribution of the school in all education, and particularly in these matters which are so
delicate, must be carried out in agreement with the family. 

This presupposes in teachers and in others involved, whether implicitly or explicitly, a correct
criterion for the purpose of their contribution, and training in order to be able to treat these
matters with delicacy and in a climate of serene trust. 
109. So that information and affective-sex education may be efficacious, it must be carried out
with timely prudence, with adequate expression, and preferably in an individual form. The
outcome of this education will depend largely on the human and christian vision in which the
educator presents the values of life and love. 

110. The christian educator, whether father or mother of the family, teacher, priest or whoever
bears responsibility in this regard, can be tempted, today above all, to demand , from others this
task which needs such delicacy, principle, patience and courage, and which requires committed
generosity in the pupil. It is necessary, therefore, before concluding, to reaffirm that this aspect
of education is firstly a work of faith for the christian, and of faithful recourse to grace: each
aspect of sex education, in fact, is inspired by faith, and draws indispensable strength from it and
from grace. The Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians puts self-control and temperance within the
ambit which the Holy Spirit, and He alone, can establish in the believer. It is God who bestows
light, it is God who grants sufficient strength.(65)

111. The Congregation for Catholic Education turns to Episcopal Conferences so that they
promote the union of parents, of christian communities, and of educators for convergent action in
such an important sector for the future of young people and the good of society. The
Congregation makes this invitation to assume this educational commitment in reciprocal trust
and with the highest regard for rights and specific competences, with a complete christian
formation in view. 

Rome, November 1st, Feast of All Saints 

WILLIAM Card. BAUM 

Prefect 

Antonio M. Javierre, Secretary 
Titular Archbishop of Meta 

(1) Vatican Council II: Decl. Gravissimum educationis, n. 1 .

(2) Ibid.

(3) S. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning
Sexual Ethics, The Human Person, 29th. December, 1975, AAS 68 (1976) p. 77, n.1 .

(4) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris consortio, 22nd. November, 1981, AAS
74 (1982) p. 128, n. 37: cf. infra n. 16.
(5) Pius XI, in his Encyclical Divini illius Magistri, of 31st. December, 1929, declared erroneous
the sex education which was presented at that time, which was information of a naturalist
character, precociously and indiscriminately imparted. (AAS 22 (1930) pp. 49-86). The Decree
of the Holy Office of 21st. March, 1931 (AAS 23 (1931 ) pp. 118-119) must be read in this
perspective. However, Pius XI considered the possibility of an individual, positive sex education
" on the part of those who have received from God the educational mission and the grace of state
". (AAS 22 (1930) p. 71) . This positive value of sex education indicated by Pius XI has been
gradually developed by successive Pontiffs. Pius XII, in his discourse to the Vth. International
Congress of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, 13th. April, 1953 (AAS 45 (1953) pp. 278-286)
and in his allocution to Italian Women of " Azione Cattolica ", 26th. October, 1941 (AAS 33
(1941) pp. 450-458) defines how sex education should be conducted within the ambit of the
family. (Cf. also, Pius XII; to the Carmelites: AAS 43 (1951) pp. 734-738; to French Parents:
AAS 43 (1951) pp. 730-734) The Teaching of Pius XII prepared the way to the Conciliar
Declaration Gravissimum educationis.

(6) Cf. Gravissimum educationis, n. 1.

(7) Ibid.

(8) Cf. Vat. II: Const. Gaudium et spes, n. 49.

(9) Cf. Gravissimum educationis, n. 5.

(10) Ibid., n. 3; cf. Gaudium et spes, n. 52.

(11) Familiaris consortio, n. 37.

(12) Ibid.

(13) Ibid.

(14) Familiaris consortio, n. 37.

(15) Ibid.

(16) Gaudium et spes, n. 11.

(17) John Paul II: General Audience, 14th. November, 1979, Teaching of John Paul II, II-2,
1979, p. 1156, n. 4.

(18) John Paul II : General Audience, 9th. January, 1980, Teaching of John Paul II, III- I , 1980,
p. 90, n. 4.

(19) John Paul II: General Audience, 20th. February, 1980, Teaching of John Paul II, III-I, 1980,
p. 430, n. 4.
(20) John Paul II : General Audience, 9th. January, 1980, Teaching of John Paul II, III-I, 1980, p.
90, n. 4. 

(21) " Precisely by traversing the depth of that original solitude, man now emerges in the
dimension of the mutual gift, the expression of which - and for that very reason the expression of
his existence as a person - is the human body in all the original truth of its masculinity and
femininity. The body, which expresses masculinity 'for' femininity and, viceversa, femininity
'for' masculinity, manifests the reciprocity and communion of persons. It expresses it by means
of the gift as the fundamental characteristic of personal existence ". Ibid. 

(22) Cf. John Paul II : General Audience, 26th. March, 1980, Teaching of John Paul II, III-I,
1980, pp. 737-74I 

(23) Gaudium et spes, n. 49. 

(24) Ibid. n. 12. 

(25) Ibid., in which comment is made on the social sense of Gen. 1, 27. 

(26) Ibid., nn. 47-52.

(27) John Paul I I : General Audience, 20th. February, 1980, Teaching of John Paul II, III-I,
1980, p. 429, n. 2. 

(28) Gaudium et spes, n. 22. 

(29) Cf Eph. 4, 13. 

(30) Cf. Mt. 19, 3-12. 

(31) Cf. I Cor. 7, 32-34.

(32) Cf. I Cor. 13, 4-8; cf. Familiaris consortio, n. 16. 

(33) Cf. Vat. II : Const. Lumen gentium, n. 39. 

(34) S. Congregation for Catholic Education: A Guide to Formation in Priestly Celibacy, 11th.
April, 1974, n. 22. 

(35) Cf. I Cor. 6, 15, 19-20.

(36) Cf. Rom. 7, 18-23.

(37) Gaudium et spes, n. 52; cf. Familiaris consortio, n. 37.

(38) Cf. Familiaris consortio, n. 37.

(39) Cf. Gravissimum educationis, n. 3-4; cf. Pius XI,  Divini illius Magistri, l.c., pp. 53f., 56f.

(40) Cf. Familiaris consortio, n. II.

(41) Ibid., n. 16.

(42) Cf. Paul VI, Encyc. Letter, Humanae vitae, 25th. July, 1968, AAS 60 (1968) p. 493 ff., n.17
ff.

(43) Gaudium et spes, n. 48.

(44) Cf. Humanae vitae, n. 10.

(45) Familiaris consortio, n. 33. On actual contraceptive propaganda widely diffused

cf. Humanae vitae, nn. 14-17.

(46) Cf. Gaudium et Spes, n. 26; cf. Humanae vitae, n. 23.

(47) John Paul II, Message for the XIII World Communications Day, 23rd. May, 1979, AAS 71,
(1979-II) p. 930. 

(48)Vat. II: Dec. Inter mirifica, n. 10; cf. Pontifical Commission for Social Communications :
Past. Inst. Communio et Progressio, AAS 63 (1971) p. 619, n. 68. 

(49) Cf. John Paul II: Message for the XIII World Communications Day, 23rd. May, (1979) AAS
71 (1979-II) pp. 930-933.

(50)  Inter mirifica, n. 12. 

(51) Familiaris consortio, n. 32. 

(52) Cf above n. 58.

(53) Cf. 1 Cor. 13, 5. 

(54) Mt. 19, 5.

(55)  Humanae vitae, n. 9. 

(56) Cf. The Human Person, n. 7.

(57) Cf.  The Human Person, n. 9.

(58) Ibid.

(59) Ibid.
(60) Ibid.

(61) A Guide to Formation in Priestly Celibacy, n. 63. 

(62) The Human Person, n. 8. 

(63) Ibid.

(64) Cf. Rom. 1, 26-28; cf., per analogia, The Human Person, n. 9. 

(65) Cf. Gal. 5, 22-24.