CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
Paragraphs 2301–2400
- 2301 Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be…
- 2302 By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill," our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral.…
- 2303 Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is…
- 2304 Respect for and development of human life require peace. Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a…
- 2305 Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ , the messianic "Prince of Peace." By the blood of his Cross, "in his own…
- 2306 Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard human rights, make use of those means of defense available to the…
- 2307 The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the…
- 2308 All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is…
- 2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it…
- 2310 Public authorities, in this case, have the right and duty to impose on citizens the obligations necessary for national defense . Those who…
- 2311 Public authorities should make equitable provision for those who for reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms; these are nonetheless…
- 2312 The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict . "The mere fact that war has…
- 2313 Non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely. Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations…
- 2314 "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God…
- 2315 The accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most…
- 2316 The production and the sale of arms affect the common good of nations and of the international community. Hence public authorities have the…
- 2317 Injustice, excessive economic or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and nations constantly threaten peace and…
- 2318 "In [God's] hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" ( Job 12:10).
- 2319 Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the…
- 2320 The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator.
- 2321 The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave…
- 2322 From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal"…
- 2323 Because it should be treated as a person from conception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed like every…
- 2324 Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the…
- 2325 Suicide is seriously contrary to justice, hope, and charity. It is forbidden by the fifth commandment.
- 2326 Scandal is a grave offense when by deed or omission it deliberately leads others to sin gravely.
- 2327 Because of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it. The Church prays:…
- 2328 The Church and human reason assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflicts. Practices deliberately contrary to the…
- 2329 "The arms race is one of the greatest curses on the human race and the harm it inflicts on the poor is more than can be endured" ( GS 81 §…
- 2330 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" ( Mt 5:9).
- 2331 You shall not commit adultery. You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that every one who looks…
- 2332 Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to…
- 2333 Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity . Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity…
- 2334 "In creating men 'male and female,' God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity." "Man is a person, man and woman equally so, since…
- 2335 Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different way. The union of man and…
- 2336 Jesus came to restore creation to the purity of its origins. In the Sermon on the Mount, he interprets God's plan strictly: "You have heard…
- 2337 Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being.…
- 2338 The chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it…
- 2339 Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his…
- 2340 Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so:…
- 2341 The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance , which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses…
- 2342 Self-mastery is a long and exacting work . One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages…
- 2343 Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin. "Man . . . day by day builds himself…
- 2344 Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort , for there is "an interdependence between personal…
- 2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace , a fruit of spiritual effort. The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water…
- 2346 Charity is the form of all the virtues. Under its influence, chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person. Self-mastery is…
- 2347 The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship . It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate him who has chosen us as his friends, who…
- 2348 All the baptized are called to chastity. The Christian has "put on Christ," the model for all chastity. All Christ's faithful are called to…
- 2349 "People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which…
- 2350 Those who are engaged to marry are called to live chastity in continence. They should see in this time of testing a discovery of mutual…
- 2351 Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself,…
- 2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the…
- 2353 Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human…
- 2354 Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to…
- 2355 Prostitution does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure. The one…
- 2356 Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. Rape deeply wounds the…
- 2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons…
- 2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively…
- 2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of…
- 2360 Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of…
- 2361 "Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is…
- 2362 "The acts in marriage by which the intimate and chaste union of the spouses takes place are noble and honorable; the truly human…
- 2363 The spouses' union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life. These two…
- 2364 The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in…
- 2365 Fidelity expresses constancy in keeping one's given word. God is faithful. The Sacrament of Matrimony enables man and woman to enter into…
- 2366 Fecundity is a gift, an end of marriage , for conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something…
- 2367 Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God. "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission…
- 2368 A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation . For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births…
- 2369 "By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of…
- 2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity…
- 2371 "Let all be convinced that human life and the duty of transmitting it are not limited by the horizons of this life only: their true…
- 2372 The state has a responsibility for its citizens' well-being. In this capacity it is legitimate for it to intervene to orient the demography…
- 2373 Sacred Scripture and the Church's traditional practice see in large families a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity.
- 2374 Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. "What will you give me," asks Abraham of God, "for I continue childless?" And…
- 2375 Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed "at the service of the human person, of his…
- 2376 Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum,…
- 2377 Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet…
- 2378 A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift . The "supreme gift of marriage" is a human person. A child may not be considered a…
- 2379 The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate…
- 2380 Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations - even…
- 2381 Adultery is an injustice. He who commits adultery fails in his commitment. He does injury to the sign of the covenant which the marriage…
- 2382 The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble. He abrogates the accommodations…
- 2383 The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. If civil…
- 2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with…
- 2385 Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted…
- 2386 It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened…
- 2387 The predicament of a man who, desiring to convert to the Gospel, is obliged to repudiate one or more wives with whom he has shared years of…
- 2388 Incest designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them. St. Paul…
- 2389 Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded…
- 2390 In a so-called free union , a man and a woman refuse to give juridical and public form to a liaison involving sexual intimacy. The…
- 2391 Some today claim a "right to a trial marriage" where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who…
- 2392 "Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being" ( FC 11).
- 2393 By creating the human being man and woman, God gives personal dignity equally to the one and the other. Each of them, man and woman, should…
- 2394 Christ is the model of chastity. Every baptized person is called to lead a chaste life, each according to his particular state of life.
- 2395 Chastity means the integration of sexuality within the person. It includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery.
- 2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.
- 2397 The covenant which spouses have freely entered into entails faithful love. It imposes on them the obligation to keep their marriage…
- 2398 Fecundity is a good, a gift and an end of marriage. By giving life, spouses participate in God's fatherhood.
- 2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the…
- 2400 Adultery, divorce, polygamy, and free union are grave offenses against the dignity of marriage.