"Catechesis is an Education in the Faith of children, young people and adults which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life." 8

The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral Education and their spiritual formation. "The role of Parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute." 29 The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable. 30

Parents have the first Responsibility for the Education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. the home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the "material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones." 31 Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them:

Education in the Faith by the Parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when Family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. 35 The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.

As those first responsible for the Education of their children, Parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators. 38 Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.

Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good. Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic Education, employment, and social assistance.

Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is "an interdependence between personal betterment and the improvement of society." 130 Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an Education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life.

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.

Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. Rape deeply wounds the respect, freedom, and physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right. It causes grave damage that can mark the victim for life. It is always an intrinsically evil act. Graver still is the rape of children committed by Parents (incest) or those responsible for the Education of the children entrusted to them.

Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. 157 These methods respect the bodies of the Spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the Education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil: 158

The state has a Responsibility for its citizens' well-being. In this capacity it is legitimate for it to intervene to orient the demography of the population. This can be done by means of objective and respectful information, but certainly not by authoritarian, coercive measures. the state may not legitimately usurp the initiative of Spouses, who have the primary responsibility for the procreation and Education of their children. 161 It is not authorized to intervene in this area with means contrary to the moral law.

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.

For the People of God, the Temple was to be the place of their Education in Prayer: pilgrimages, feasts and sacrifices, the evening offering, the incense, and the bread of the Presence (“shewbread") - all these signs of the holiness and glory of God Most High and Most Near were appeals to and ways of prayer. But ritualism often encouraged an excessively external worship. the people needed education in Faith and conversion of heart; this was the mission of the prophets, both before and after the Exile.

The Christian Family is the first place of Education in Prayer. Based on the sacrament of Marriage, the family is the "domestic church" where God's children learn to pray "as the Church" and to persevere in prayer. For young children in particular, daily family prayer is the first witness of the Church's living memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit.

The catechesis of children, young people, and adults aims at teaching them to meditate on the Word of God in personal Prayer, practicing it in liturgical prayer, and internalizing it at all times in order to bear fruit in a new life. Catechesis is also a time for the discernment and Education of popular piety. 46 The memorization of basic prayers offers an essential support to the life of prayer, but it is important to help learners savor their meaning.

The Christian Family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and Education of children it reflects the Father's work of creation. It is called to partake of the Prayer and sacrifice of Christ. Daily prayer and the reading of the Word of God strengthen it in charity. the Christian family has an evangelizing and missionary task.

The conjugal community is established upon the consent of the Spouses. Marriage and the Family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and Education of children. the love of the spouses and the begetting of children create among members of the same family personal relationships and primordial responsibilities.

The doctrine of original sin, closely connected with that of redemption by Christ, provides lucid discernment of man's situation and activity in the world. By our first Parents' sin, the devil has acquired a certain domination over man, even though man remains free. Original sin entails "captivity under the power of him who thenceforth had the power of death, that is, the devil". 298 Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of Education, politics, social action 299 and morals.

In a very special way, Parents share in the office of sanctifying "by leading a conjugal life in the Christian spirit and by seeing to the Christian Education of their children." 435

"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

Difference of confession between the Spouses does not constitute an insurmountable obstacle for Marriage, when they succeed in placing in common what they have received from their respective communities, and learn from each other the way in which each lives in fidelity to Christ. But the difficulties of mixed marriages must not be underestimated. They arise from the fact that the separation of Christians has not yet been overcome. the spouses risk experiencing the tragedy of Christian disunity even in the heart of their own home. Disparity of cult can further aggravate these difficulties. Differences about Faith and the very notion of marriage, but also different religious mentalities, can become sources of tension in marriage, especially as regards the Education of children. the temptation to religious indifference can then arise.

According to the law in force in the Latin Church, a mixed Marriage needs for liceity the express permission of ecclesiastical authority. 135 In case of disparity of cult an express dispensation from this impediment is required for the validity of the marriage. 136 This permission or dispensation presupposes that both parties know and do not exclude the essential ends and properties of marriage and the obligations assumed by the Catholic party concerning the baptism and Education of the children in the Catholic Church. 137

"By its very nature the institution of Marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and Education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory." 160

The fruitfulness of conjugal love extends to the fruits of the moral, spiritual, and supernatural life that Parents hand on to their children by Education. Parents are the principal and first educators of their children. 162 In this sense the fundamental task of Marriage and Family is to be at the service of life. 163

Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. the Education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

The Education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. the education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.

Human virtues acquired by Education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace. With God's help, they forge character and give facility in the practice of the good. the virtuous man is happy to practice them.

Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common good, between various particular interests; but it should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, Education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a Family, and so on. 28

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 achieved first of all by taking charge of the areas for which one assumes personal Responsibility: by the care taken for the Education of his Family, by conscientious work, and so forth, man participates in the good of others and of society. 31

It is incumbent on those who exercise authority to strengthen the values that inspire the confidence of the members of the group and encourage them to put themselves at the service of others. Participation begins with Education and culture. "One is entitled to think that the future of humanity is in the hands of those who are capable of providing the generations to come with reasons for life and optimism." 34