Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God, who has made them stewards of his gifts: 43 "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution.... Live as free men, yet without using your Freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God." 44 Their loyal collaboration includes the right, and at times the Duty, to voice their just criticisms of that which seems harmful to the Dignity of persons and to the good of the commUnity.

Scripture specifies the prohibition contained in the fifth commandment: "Do not slay the innocent and the righteous." 61 The deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely Contrary to the Dignity of the human being, to the golden rule, and to the holiness of the Creator. the law forbidding it is universally valid: it obliges each and everyone, always and everywhere.

"One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which Respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival." 82 "It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material." 83 "Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are Contrary to the Personal Dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity" 84 which are unique and unrepeatable.

Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human Dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.

Research or experimentation on the human being cannot legitimate acts that are in themselves Contrary to the Dignity of persons and to the moral law. the subjects' potential consent does not justify such acts. Experimentation on human beings is not morally legitimate if it exposes the subject's life or physical and psychological integrity to disproportionate or avoidable risks. Experimentation on human beings does not conform to the dignity of the person if it takes place without the informed consent of the subject or those who legitimately speak for him.

Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures. They are morally wrong. Terrorism threatens, wounds, and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity. Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is Contrary to Respect for the person and for human Dignity. Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law. 90

The dying should be given attention and care to help them live their last moments in Dignity and peace. They will be helped by the prayer of their relatives, who must see to it that the sick receive at the proper time the Sacraments that prepare them to meet the living God.

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 balance of powers between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men, respect for the Dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is "the tranquillity of order." 97 Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity. 98

Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant." 41 The exercise of authority is measured morally in terms of its divine origin, its reasonable nature and its specific object. No one can command or establish what is Contrary to the Dignity of persons and the natural law.

Human communities are made up of persons. Governing them well is not limited to guaranteeing Rights and fulfilling duties such as honoring contracts. Right relations between employers and employees, between those who govern and citizens, presuppose a natural good will in keeping with the Dignity of human persons concerned for justice and fraternity.

In creating man and Woman, God instituted the human family and endowed it with its Fundamental constitution. Its members are persons equal in Dignity. For the common good of its members and of society, the family necessarily has manifold responsibilities, Rights, and duties.

The natural law, present in the heart of each man and established by reason, is universal in its precepts and its authority extends to all men. It expresses the Dignity of the person and determines the basis for his Fundamental Rights and duties:

"All men are bound to seek the Truth, Especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it." 26 This Duty derives from "the very Dignity of the human person." 27 It does not contradict a "sincere Respect" for different religions which frequently "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men," 28 nor the requirement of charity, which urges Christians "to treat with Love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the Faith." 29

"Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in Religious matters in private or in public, alone or in association with others, within due limits." 34 This right is based on the very nature of the human person, whose Dignity enables him freely to assent to the divine Truth which transcends the temporal order. For this reason it "continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it." 35

Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of refusing any dependence on God. 63 Yet, "to acknowledge God is in no way to oppose the Dignity of man, since such dignity is grounded and brought to perfection in God...." 64 "For the Church knows full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart." 65

The holiness of the divine name demands that we neither use it for trivial matters, nor take an oath which on the basis of the circumstances could be interpreted as approval of an authority unjustly requiring it. When an oath is required by illegitimate civil authorities, it may be refused. It must be refused when it is required for purposes Contrary to the Dignity of persons or to ecclesial Communion.

God calls each one by name. 87 Everyone's name is sacred. the name is the icon of the person. It demands Respect as a sign of the Dignity of the one who bears it.

"In creating men 'male and female,' God gives man and Woman an equal Personal Dignity." 118 "Man is a person, man and woman equally so, since both were created in the Image and likeness of the personal God." 119

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 Woman in Marriage is a way of imitating in the flesh the Creator's generosity and fecundity: "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." 120 All human generations proceed from this union. 121

"Christian revelation . . . promotes deeper understanding of the laws of social living." 198 The Church receives from the Gospel the full revelation of the Truth about man. When she fulfills her mission of proclaiming the Gospel, she bears Witness to man, in the name of Christ, to his Dignity and his vocation to the Communion of persons. She teaches him the demands of justice and peace in conformity with divine wisdom.

A theory that makes profit the exclusive norm and ultimate end of economic activity is morally unacceptable. the disordered desire for money cannot but produce perverse effects. It is one of the causes of the many conflicts which disturb the social order. 203 A system that "subordinates the basic Rights of individuals and of groups to the collective organization of production" is Contrary to human Dignity. 204 Every practice that reduces persons to nothing more than a means of profit enslaves man, leads to idolizing money, and contributes to the spread of atheism. "You cannot serve God and mammon." 205

Recourse to a strike is morally legitimate when it cannot be avoided, or at least when it is necessary to obtain a proportionate benefit. It becomes morally unacceptable when accompanied by violence, or when objectives are included that are not directly linked to working conditions or are Contrary to the common good. 2436 Unemployment almost always wounds its victim's Dignity and threatens the equilibrium of his life. Besides the harm done to him Personally, it entails many risks for his family. 222

Man tends by nature toward the Truth. He is obliged to honor and bear Witness to it: "It is in accordance with their Dignity that all men, because they are persons . . . are both impelled by their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, Especially Religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to know it and direct their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth." 261

Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social Witness given to human Dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to Respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.

Purity Requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears Witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the Dignity of persons and their solidarity.

The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual Dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them Respect for the human person.

So called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human Freedom; the necessary precondition for the development of true freedom is to let oneself be educated in the moral law. Those in charge of education can reasonably be expected to give young people instruction Respectful of the Truth, the qualities of the heart, and the moral and spiritual Dignity of man.

Finally, our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we have "great possessions," 15 we have not given all to the Lord; disappointment over not being heard according to our own will; wounded pride, stiffened by the inDignity that is ours as sinners; our resistance to the idea that prayer is a free and unmerited gift; and so forth. the conclusion is always the same: what good does it do to pray? To overcome these obstacles, we must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.

It is Contrary to human Dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can Love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.

The seventh commandment forbids acts or enterprises that for any reason - selfish or ideological, commercial, or totalitarian - lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, in disregard for their Personal Dignity. It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their Fundamental Rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit. St. Paul directed a Christian master to treat his Christian slave "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beLoved brother, . . . both in the flesh and in the Lord." 193

In economic matters, Respect for human Dignity Requires the practice of the virtue of temperance, so as to moderate attachment to this world's goods; the practice of the virtue of justice, to preserve our neighbor's Rights and render him what is his due; and the practice of solidarity, in accordance with the golden rule and in keeping with the generosity of the Lord, who "though he was rich, yet for your sake . . . became poor so that by his poverty, you might become rich." 189

Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human Freedom. the alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. 125 "Man's Dignity therefore Requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a Personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end." 126

Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried Woman. It is gravely Contrary to the Dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally ordered to the good of Spouses and the generation and education of children. Moreover, it is a grave scandal when there is corruption of the young.

Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of Spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the Dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.

Prostitution does injury to the Dignity of the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure. the one who pays sins gravely against himself: he violates the chastity to which his Baptism pledged him and defiles his body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. 139 Prostitution is a social scourge. It usually involves women, but also men, children, and adolescents (The latter two cases involve the added sin of scandal.). While it is always gravely sinful to engage in prostitution, the imputability of the offense can be attenuated by destitution, blackmail, or social pressure.

Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. the act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that "entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself Contrary to the Dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children." 167 "Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the Spouses' union .... Only Respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the Unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person." 168

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 conjugal life, is understandable. However polygamy is not in accord with the moral law." [Conjugal] Communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is Contrary to the equal Personal Dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a Love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive." 179 The Christian who has previously lived in polygamy has a grave Duty in justice to honor the obligations contracted in regard to his former wives and his children.

In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. 186 The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence. the appropriation of property is legitimate for guaranteeing the Freedom and Dignity of persons and for helping each of them to meet his basic needs and the needs of those in his charge. It should allow for a natural solidarity to develop between men.

Are we convinced that "we do not know how to pray as we ought"? 23 Are we asking God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need before we ask him, 24 but he awaits our petition because the Dignity of his children lies in their Freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able truly to know what he wants. 25

Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the Truths he has revealed is Contrary neither to human Freedom nor to human reason. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our Dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions, or to trust their promises (for example, when a man and a Woman marry) to share a Communion of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our dignity to "yield by Faith the full submission of... intellect and will to God who reveals", 26 and to share in an interior communion with him.

In expectation of that day, the believer's body and soul already participate in the Dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails the demand that he should treat with Respect his own body, but also the body of every other person, Especially the suffering:

The great religions of mankind Witness, often impressively, to this cosmic and symbolic meaning of Religious rites. the liturgy of the Church presupposes, integrates and sanctifies elements from creation and human culture, conferring on them the Dignity of signs of grace, of the new creation in Jesus Christ.

The tabernacle is to be situated "in Churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honor." 61 The Dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should foster adoration before the Lord really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. 62 The sacred chrism (myron), used in anointings as the sacramental sign of the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, is traditionally reserved and venerated in a secure place in the sanctuary. the oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick may also be placed there.

The chair (cathedra) of the bishop or the priest "should express his office of presiding over the assembly and of directing prayer." 63 The lectern (ambo): "The Dignity of the Word of God Requires the Church to have a suitable place for announcing his message so that the attention of the people may be easily directed to that place during the liturgy of the Word." 64

The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain Religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In "Faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to be of equal right and Dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way." 69

The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the Dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole commUnity in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

"The whole power of the Sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship." 73 Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and Religious disposition, reconciliation "is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation." 74 Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true "spiritual resurrection," restoration of the Dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God. 75

Through these Sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and Confirmation 1 for the common priesthood of all the Faithful can receive particular consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders are consecrated in Christ's name "to feed the Church by the word and grace of God." 2 On their part, "Christian Spouses are fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and Dignity of their state by a special sacrament." 3

"In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, [lay people] have the right and even at times a Duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian Faithful, with due regard to the integrity of Faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the Dignity of persons." 443

"In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian Faithful a true equality with regard to Dignity and the activity whereby all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord with each one's own condition and function." 386

Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurrection. 211 Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." 212 For the Christian, "to reign is to serve him," particularly when serving "the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the Image of her poor and suffering founder." 213 The People of God fulfills its royal Dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ.

It means knowing the Unity and true Dignity of all men: everyone is made in the Image and likeness of God. 50

God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creatures' co-operation. This use is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of almighty God's greatness and goodness. For God grants his creatures not only their existence, but also the Dignity of acting on their own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of co-operating in the accomplishment of his plan.

The Truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from Faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes: "For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." 171 Far from diminishing the creature's Dignity, this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God's power, wisdom and goodness, it can do nothing if it is cut off from its origin, for "without a Creator the creature vanishes." 172 Still less can a creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God's grace. 173

Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and Love his creator". 219 He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for himself", 220 and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the Fundamental reason for his Dignity: What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good. 221

Being in the Image of God the human individual possesses the Dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into Communion with other persons. and he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of Faith and Love that no other creature can give in his stead.

The human body shares in the Dignity of "the Image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit: 232

Man and Woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their Respective beings as man and woman. "Being man" or "being woman" is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable Dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. 240 Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the Image of God". In their "being-man" and "being-woman", they reflect the Creator's wisdom and goodness.

The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other Religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history: - It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one people. But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." 202 - One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being "born anew," a birth "of water and the Spirit," 203 that is, by Faith in Christ, and Baptism. - This People has for its Head Jesus the Christ (the anointed, the Messiah). Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into the body, this is "the messianic people." - "The status of this people is that of the Dignity and Freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple." - "Its law is the new commandment to Love as Christ loved us." 204 This is the "new" law of the Holy Spirit. 205 - Its mission is to be salt of the earth and light of the world. 206 This people is "a most sure seed of Unity, hope, and salvation for the whole human race." -Its destiny, finally, "is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on earth and which must be further extended until it has been brought to perfection by him at the end of time." 207

"Amongst those various offices which have been exercised in the Church from the earliest times the chief place, according to the Witness of tradition, is held by the function of those who, through their appointment to the Dignity and responsibility of bishop, and in virtue consequently of the unbroken succession going back to the beginning, are regarded as transmitters of the apostolic line." 34

"Whilst not having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and notwithstanding the fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of their own proper power, the priests are for all that associated with them by reason of their sacerdotal Dignity; and in virtue of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, after the Image of Christ, the supreme and eternal priest, they are consecrated in order to preach the Gospel and shepherd the Faithful as well as to celebrate divine worship as true priests of the New Testament." 46

The Dignity of the human person implies and Requires uprightness of moral conscience. Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality (synderesis); their application in the given circumstances by practical discernment of reasons and goods; and finally judgment about concrete acts yet to be performed or already performed. the Truth about the moral good, stated in the law of reason, is recognized practically and concretely by the prudent judgment of conscience. We call that man prudent who chooses in conformity with this judgment.

Human interdependence is increasing and gradually spreading throughout the world. the Unity of the human family, embracing people who enjoy equal natural Dignity, implies a universal common good. This good calls for an organization of the community of nations able to "provide for the different needs of men; this will involve the sphere of social life to which belong questions of food, hygiene, education, . . . and certain situations arising here and there, as for example . . . alleviating the miseries of refugees dispersed throughout the world, and assisting migrants and their families." 29

"Participation" is the voluntary and generous engagement of a person in social interchange. It is necessary that all participate, each according to his position and role, in promoting the common good. This obligation is inherent in the Dignity of the human person.

Social justice can be obtained only in Respecting the transcendent Dignity of man. the person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him:

Respect for the human person entails respect for the Rights that flow from his Dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. 36 If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church's role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.

Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that "everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as 'another self,' above all bearing in mind his life and the means necessary for living it with Dignity." 37 No legislation could by itself do away with the fears, prejudices, and attitudes of pride and selfishness which obstruct the establishment of truly fraternal societies. Such behavior will cease only through the charity that finds in every man a "neighbor," a brother.

Created in the Image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal Dignity.

Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the Image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this Duty of Respect. the right to the exercise of freedom, Especially in moral and Religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the Dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order. 32

God created man a rational being, conferring on him the Dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him." 26

By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil." 9 Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the Love of God and of neighbor. Living a moral life bears Witness to the Dignity of the person.

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a Woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the Spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the Dignity of a Sacrament." 84

"The intimate commUnity of life and Love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws.... God himself is the author of Marriage." 87 The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and Woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the Dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, 88 some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life." 89

"From a valid Marriage arises a bond between the Spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian marriage the spouses are strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and the Dignity of their state by a special Sacrament." 140

"The Unity of Marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal Personal Dignity which must be accorded to man and wife in mutual and unreserved affection." 153 Polygamy is Contrary to conjugal Love which is undivided and exclusive. 154

"Christian, recognize your Dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God." 1

The Symbol of the Faith confesses the greatness of God's gifts to man in his work of creation, and even more in redemption and sanctification. What faith confesses, the Sacraments communicate: by the sacraments of rebirth, Christians have become "children of God," 2 "partakers of the divine nature." 3 Coming to see in the faith their new Dignity, Christians are called to lead henceforth a life "worthy of the gospel of Christ." 4 They are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which they receive through the sacraments and through prayer.

The first and last point of reference of this catechesis will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is "the way, and the Truth, and the life." 24 It is by looking to him in Faith that Christ's Faithful can hope that he himself fulfills his promises in them, and that, by loving him with the same Love with which he has loved them, they may perform works in keeping with their Dignity:

The Dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the Image and likeness of God (article 1); it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude (article 2). It is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this fulfillment (article 3). By his deliberate actions (article 4), the human person does, or does not, conform to the good promised by God and attested by moral conscience (article 5). Human beings make their own contribution to their interior growth; they make their whole sentient and spiritual lives into means of this growth (article 6). With the help of grace they grow in virtue (article 7), avoid sin, and if they sin they entrust themselves as did the prodigal son 1 to the mercy of our Father in heaven (article 8). In this way they attain to the perfection of charity.

The equality of men rests essentially on their Dignity as persons and the Rights that flow from it: