CHARTER OF THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY

(Presented by the Holy See to all persons, institutions and authorities

concerned with the mission of the family in today's world October 22, 1983)

Preamble

Considering that:

A. The rights of the person, even though they are expressed as

rights of the individual, have a fundamental social dimension which

finds an innate and vital expression in the family;

B. the family is based on marriage, that intimate union of life

in complementarity between a man and a woman which is constituted in

the freely contracted and publicly expressed indissoluble bond of

matrimony and is open to the transmission of life;

C. marriage is the natural institution to which the mission of

transmitting life is exclusively entrusted;

D. the family, a natural society, exists prior to the State or

any other community, and possesses inherent rights which are

inalienable;

E. the family constitutes, much more than a mere juridical,

social and economic unit, a community of love and solidarity, which

is uniquely suited to teach and transmit cultural, ethical, social,

spiritual and religious values, essential for the development and

well-being of its own members and of society.

F. the family is the place where different generations come

together and help one another to grow in human wisdom and to

harmonize the rights of individuals with other demands of social

life;

G. the family and society, which are mutually linked by vital and

organic bonds, have a complementary function in the defense and

advancement of the good of every person and of humanity;

H. the experience of different cultures throughout history has

shown the need for society to recognize and defend the institution of

the family;

I. society, and in a particular manner the State and

International Organizations, must protect the family through measures

of a political, economic, social and juridical character, which aim

at consolidating the unity and stability of the family so that it can

exercise its specific function;

J. the rights, the fundamental needs, the well-being and the

values of the family, even though they are progressively safeguarded

in some cases, are often ignored and not rarely undermined by laws,

institutions and socio-economic programs;

K. many families are forced to live in situations of poverty

which prevent them from carrying out their role with dignity;

L. the Catholic Church, aware that the good of the person, of

society and of the Church herself passes by way of the family, has

always held it part of her mission to proclaim to all the plan of God

instilled in human nature concerning marriage and the family, to

promote these two institutions and to defend them against all those

who attack them;

M. the Synod of Bishops celebrated in 1980 explicitly recommended

that a Charter of the Rights of the Family be drawn up and circulated

to all concerned;

the Holy See, having consulted the Bishops' Conferences, now

presents this "Charter of the Rights of the Family" and urges all

States, International Organizations, and all interested Institutions

and persons to promote respect for these rights, and to secure their

effective recognition and observance.

Article 1

All persons have the right to the free choice of their state of

life and thus to marry and establish a family or to remain single.

a) Every man and every woman, having reached marriageable age and

having the necessary capacity, has the right to marry and establish a

family without any discrimination whatsoever; legal restrictions to

the exercise of this right, whether they be of a permanent or

temporary nature, can be introduced only when they are required by

grave and objective demands of the institution of marriage itself and

its social and public significance; they must respect in all cases

the dignity and the fundamental rights of the person.

b) Those who wish to marry and establish a family have the right

to expect from society the moral, educational, social and economic

conditions which will enable them to exercise their right to marry in

all maturity and responsibility.

c) The institutional value of marriage should be upheld by the

public authorities; the situation of non-married couples must not be

placed on the same level as marriage duly contracted.

Article 2

Marriage cannot be contracted except by free and full consent

duly expressed by the spouses.

a) With due respect for the traditional role of the families in

certain cultures in guiding the decision of their children, all

pressure which would impede the choice of a specific person as spouse

is to be avoided.

b) The future spouses have the right to their religious liberty.

Therefore to impose as a prior condition for marriage a denial of

faith or a profession of faith which is contrary to conscience,

constitutes a violation of this right.

c) The spouses, in the natural complementarity which exists

between man and woman, enjoy the same dignity and equal rights

regarding the marriage.

Article 3

The spouses have the inalienable right to found a family and to

decide on the spacing of births and the number of children to be

born, taking into full consideration their duties towards themselves,

their children already born, the family and society, in a just

hierarchy of values and in accordance with the objective moral order

which excludes recourse to contraception, sterilization and abortion.

a) The activities of public authorities and private organizations

which attempt in any way to limit the freedom of couples in deciding

about their children constitute a grave offense against human dignity

and justice.

b) In international relations, economic aid for the advancement

of peoples must not be conditioned on acceptance of programs of

contraception, sterilization or abortion.

c) The family has a right to assistance by society in the bearing

and rearing of children. Those married couples who have a large

family have a right to adequate aid and should not be subjected to

discrimination.

Article 4

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the

moment of conception.

a) Abortion is a direct violation of the fundamental right to

life of the human being.

b) Respect of the dignity of the human being excludes all

experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo.

c) All interventions on the genetic heritage of the human person

that are not aimed at correcting anomalies constitute a violation of

the right to bodily integrity and contradict the good of the family.

d) Children, both before and after birth, have the right to

special protection and assistance, as do their mothers during

pregnancy and for a reasonable period of time after childbirth.

e) All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, enjoy the

same right to social protection, with a view to their integral

personal development.

f) Orphans or children who are deprived of the assistance of

their parents or guardians must receive particular protection on the

part of society. The State, with regard to foster-care or adoption,

must provide legislation which assists suitable families to welcome

into their homes children who are in need of permanent or temporary

care. This legislation must, at the same time, respect the natural

rights of the parents.

g) Children who are handicapped have the right to find in the

home and the school an environment suitable to their human

development.

Article 5

Since they have conferred life on their children, parents have

the original, primary and inalienable right to educate them; hence

they must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of

their children.

a) Parents have the right to educate their children in conformity

with their moral and religious convictions, taking into account the

cultural traditions of the family which favor the good and the

dignity of the child; they should also receive from society the

necessary aid and assistance to perform their educational role

properly.

b) Parents have the right to freely choose schools or other means

necessary to educate their children in keeping with their

convictions. Public authorities must ensure that public subsidies are

so allocated that parents are truly free to exercise this right

without incurring unjust burdens. Parents should not have to sustain,

directly or indirectly, extra charges which would deny or unjustly

limit the exercise of this freedom.

c) Parents have the right to ensure that their children are not

compelled to attend classes which are not in agreement with their own

moral and religious convictions. In particular, sex education is a

basic right of the parents and must always be carried out under their

close supervision, whether at home or in educational centers chosen

and controlled by them.

d) The rights of parents are violated when a compulsory system of

education is imposed by the State from which all religious formation

is excluded.

e) The primary right of parents to educate their children must be

upheld in all forms of collaboration between parents, teachers and

school authorities, and particularly in forms of participation

designed to give citizens a voice in the functioning of schools and

in the formulation and implementation of educational policies.

f) The family has the right to expect that the means of social

communication will be positive instruments for the building up of

society, and will reinforce the fundamental values of the family. At

the same time the family has the right to be adequately protected,

especially with regard to its youngest members, from the negative

effects and misuse of the mass media.

Article 6

The family has the right to exist and to progress as a family.

a) Public authorities must respect and foster the dignity, lawful

independence, privacy, integrity and stability of every family.

b) Divorce attacks the very institution of marriage and of the

family.

c) The extended family system, where it exists, should be held in

esteem and helped to carry out better its traditional role of

solidarity and mutual assistance, while at the same time respecting

the rights of the nuclear family and the personal dignity of each

member.

Article 7

Every family has the right to live freely its own domestic

religious life under the guidance of the parents, as well as the

right to profess publicly and to propagate the faith, to take part in

public worship and in freely chosen programs of religious

instruction, without suffering discrimination.

Article 8

The family has the right to exercise its social and political

function in the construction of society.

a) Families have the right to form associations with other

families and institutions, in order to fulfill the family's role

suitably and effectively, as well as to protect the rights, foster

the good and represent the interests of the family.

b) On the economic, social, juridical and cultural levels, the

rightful role of families and family associations must be recognized

in the planning and development of programs which touch on family

life.

Article 9

Families have the right to be able to rely on an adequate family

policy on the part of public authorities in the juridical, economic,

social and fiscal domains, without any discrimination whatsoever.

a) Families have the right to economic conditions which assure

them a standard of living appropriate to their dignity and full

development. They should not be impeded from acquiring and maintaining

private possessions which would favor stable family life; the laws

concerning inheritance or transmission of property must respect the

needs and rights of family members.

b) Families have the right to measures in the social domain which

take into account their needs, especially in the event of the

premature death of one or both parents, of the abandonment of one of

the spouses, of accident, or sickness or invalidity, in the case of

unemployment, or whenever the family has to bear extra burdens on

behalf of its members for reasons of old age, physical or mental

handicaps or the education of children.

c) The elderly have the right to find within their own family or,

when this is not possible, in suitable institutions, an environment

which will enable them to live their later years of life in serenity

while pursuing those activities which are compatible with their age

and which enable them to participate in social life.

d) The rights and necessities of the family, and especially the

value of family unity, must be taken into consideration in penal

legislation and policy, in such a way that a detainee remains in

contact with his or her family and that the family is adequately

sustained during the period of detention.

Article 10

Families have a right to a social and economic order in which the

organization of work permits the members to live together, and does

not hinder the unity, well-being, health and the stability of the

family, while offering also the possibility of wholesome recreation.

a) Remuneration for work must be sufficient for establishing and

maintaining a family with dignity, either through a suitable salary,

called a "family wage," or through other social measures such as

family allowances or the remuneration of the work in the home of one

of the parents; it should be such that mothers will not be obliged to

work outside the home to the detriment of family life and especially

of the education of the children.

b) The work of the mother in the home must be recognized and

respected because of its value for the family and for society.

Article 11

The family has the right to decent housing, fitting for family

life and commensurate to the number of the members, in a physical

environment that provides the basic services for the life of the

family and the community.

Article 12

The families of migrants have the right to the same protection as

that accorded other families.

a) The families of immigrants have the right to respect for their

own culture and to receive support and assistance towards their

integration into the community to which they contribute.

b) Emigrant workers have the right to see their family united as

soon as possible.

c) Refugees have the right to the assistance of public

authorities and International Organizations in facilitating the

reunion of their families.

Sources and References

A. "Rerum novarum", no. 9; "Gaudium et spes", no. 24.

B. "Pacem in terris", Part 1; "Gaudium et spes", nos. 48 and 50;

"Familiaris consortio", no. 19; "Codex Iuris Canonici", no. 1056.

C. "Gaudium et spes", no. 50; "Humanae vitae", no. 12;

"Familiaris consortio", no. 28.

D. "Rerum novarum", nos. 9 and 10; "Familiaris consortio", no.

45.

E. "Familiaris consortio", no. 43.

F. "Gaudium et spes", no. 52; "Familiaris consortio", no. 21.

G. "Gaudium et spes", no. 52; "Familiaris consortio", nos. 42 and

45.

I. "Familiaris consortio", no. 45.

J. "Familiaris consortio", nos. 46.

K. "Familiaris consortio", nos. 6 and 77.

L. "Familiaris consortio", nos. 3 and 46.

M. "Familiaris consortio", no. 46.

art. 1

"Rerum novarum", no. 9; "Pacem in terris", Part 1; "Gaudium et

spes", no. 26; "Universal Declaration of Human Rights", no. 16, 1.

a) "Codes Iuris Canonici", nos. 1058 and 1077; "Universal

Declaration", no. 16, 1.

b) "Gaudium et spes", no. 52, "Familiaris consortio", no. 81.

c) "Gaudium et spes", no. 52; "Familiaris consortio", nos. 81 and

82.

art. 2

"Gaudium et spes", no. 52; "Codex Iuris Canonici", no. 1057;

"Universal Declaration", nos. 16, 2.

a) "Gaudium et spes", no. 52.

b) "Dignitatis humanae", no. 6.

c) "Gaudium et spes", no. 49; "Familiaris consortio", nos. 19 and

22; "Codex Iuris Canonici", no. 1135; "Universal Declaration", no.

16, 1.

art. 3

"Populorum progressio", no. 37; Gaudium et spes, nos. 50 and 87;

Humanae vitae, no. 10; Familiaris consortio, nos. 30 and 46.

a) Familiaris consortio, no. 30.

b) Familiaris consortio, no. 30.

c) Gaudium et spes, no. 50.

art. 4

Gaudium et spes, no. 51; Familiaris consortio, no. 26.

a) Humanae vitae, no. 14; Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of

the Faith, Declaration on Procured Abortion, November 18, 1974;

Familiaris consortio, no. 30.

b) Pope John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of

Sciences, October 23, 1982.

d) Universal Declaration, no. 25, 2; Convention on the Rights of

the Child, Preamble and no. 4.

e) Universal Declaration, no. 25, 2.

f) Familiaris consortio, no. 41.

g) Familiaris consortio, no. 77.

art. 5

Divini Illius Magistri, nos. 27-34; Gravissimum educationis, no.

3; Familiaris consortio, no. 36; Codex Iuris Canonici, nos. 793 and

1136.

a) Familiaris consortio, no. 46.

b) Gravissimum educationis, no. 7; Dignitatis humanae, no. 5;

Pope John Paul II, Religious Freedom and the Helsinki Final Act

(Letter to the Heads of State of the nations which signed the

Helsinki Final Act), 4b; Familiaris consortio, no. 40; Codex Iuris

Canonici, no. 797.

c) Dignitatis humanae, no. 5; Familiaris consortio, nos. 37 and

40.

d) Dignitatis humanae, no. 5; Familiaris consortio, no. 40.

e) Familiaris consortio, no. 40; Codex Iuris Canonici, no. 796.

f) Pope Paul VI, Message for the Third World Communications Day,

1969; Familiaris consortio, no. 76.

art. 6

Familiaris consortio, no. 46.

a) Rerum novarum, no. 10; Familiaris consortio, no. 46;

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, no. 17.

b) Gaudium et spes, nos. 48 and 50.

art. 7

Dignitatis humanae, no. 5; Religious Freedom and the Helsinki

Final Act, 4b; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

no. 18.

art. 8

Familiaris consortio, nos. 44 and 48.

a) Apostolicam actuositatem, no. 11; Familiaris consortio, nos.

46 and 72.

b) Familiaris consortio, nos. 44 and 45.

art. 9

Laborem exercens, nos. 10 and 19; Familiaris consortio, no. 45;

Universal Declaration, nos. 16, 3 and 22; International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, nos. 10, 1.

a) Mater et magistra, Part II; Laborem exercens, no. 10;

Familiaris consortio, no. 45; Universal Declaration, nos. 22 and 25;

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 7, a,

ii.

b) Familiaris consortio, nos. 45 and 46; Universal Declaration,

no. 25, 1; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights, nos. 9, 10, 1 and 10, 2.

c) Gaudium et spes, no. 52; Familiaris consortio, no. 27.

art. 10

Laborem exercens, no. 19; Familiaris consortio, no. 77; Universal

Declaration, no. 23, 3.

a) Laborem exercens, no. 19; Familiaris consortio, nos. 23 and

81.

b) Familiaris consortio, no. 23.

art. 11

Apostolicam actuositatem, no. 8; Familiaris consortio, no. 81;

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, nos.

11, 1.

art. 12

Familiaris consortio, no. 77; European Social Charter, 19.

Made available to the network by

Bob Van Cleef <revc@GARG.CAMPBELL.CA.US>

Send email to

fileserver@garg.campbell.ca.us

with the following text in the body of the message

help

dir

to get information on the Roman Catholic Archive file server