![[home]](images/logo.gif){kind=logo}
June 2011: Release of “Made for Life,” video and print resources about the good of children and the need for fathers and mothers
May 2011: Statement by Archbishop Broglio on Implementation Process of the Repeal of DADT
May 2011: New and revised FAQs now available!
March 2011: Archbishop Dolan, President of the USCCB, issues statement calling the Administration’s refusal to defend DOMA an “alarming and grave injustice”
February 2011: USCCB General Counsel criticizes the President's decision to instruct the Department of Justice to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act
February 2011: Prayer for marriage now available in Spanish
January 2011: Bishop Cordileone of Oakland Appointed New Chairman of USCCB Defense of Marriage Committee
December 2010: Release of open letter, "The Protection of Marriage: A Shared Commitment," signed by various religious leaders in the U.S., showing broad consensus on the importance of preserving the authentic meaning of marriage.
November 2010: Made for Life, Viewer’s Guide, and Resource Booklet will be available in early 2011
August 2010: Backgrounder on recent Prop 8 ruling
July 2010: Video 2 on the good of children in production
June 2010: Video 1 releasedFebruary 2010: New FAQs added
January 2010: Bishops Praise NJ Senate Vote
November 2009: At their General Assembly, the Bishops previewed first video promoting and protecting marriage, entitled "Made for Each Other." Video and resources to be available Spring 2010. Also, Pastoral Letter on Marriage approved
Mosaic of Sts. Joachim and Anne,
by Rev. Marko Rupnik
The following is a selection of documents related to the Church’s teaching on marriage, the family, and the person.
Statements of the USCCB
Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed., 1997)
Second Vatican Council
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope John Paul II
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Pontifical Council for the Family
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 2004)
Statements of the USCCB
- Pastoral Letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan (2009)
- Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, “Statement on behalf of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage concerning the Maine November 3rd vote on marriage” (November 4, 2009)
- Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, Video “A Message in Defense of Marriage” (2008)
- Archbishop José Gomez, Video “Un Mensaje en Defensa del Matrimonio” (2008)
- Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care (2006)
- USCCB Administrative Committee, Statement Promote, Preserve, Protect Marriage (issued 2003; reaffirmed 2006)
- Support for Federal Marriage Amendment:
- “Bishops' Administrative Committee Reaffirms Support For Federal Marriage Amendment” (March 15, 2006)
- Bishop Wilton Gregory’s Statement in Support of the Federal Marriage Amendment (July 6, 2004)
- Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Unions (2003)
- Bishop Wilton Gregory, Statement welcoming CDF document (July 31, 2003)
- USCCB Committee on Marriage and Family and Committee on Domestic Policy, Statement on Same-Sex “Marriage” (July 1996)
Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed., 1997)
- “Male and Female He Created Them” (CCC, nos. 369-373 and CCC, nos. 2331-2336)
- The Sacrament of Matrimony (CCC, nos. 1601-1666)
- Nature of the Family; Family and Society (CCC, nos. 2201-2213)
- Chastity and Homosexuality (CCC, nos. 2357-2359)
- The Love of Husband and Wife (CCC, nos. 2360-2379)
Second Vatican Council
- Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes (December 7, 1965): see nos. 47-52
Pope Benedict XVI
- Encyclical Caritas in veritate (June 29, 2009): see nos. 15, 44, and 51 (on the need for a “human ecology”).
- Address to Roman Curia (December 22, 2008): see references to “human ecology” and marriage as a “sacrament of creation.”
- For a compilation of selections from Pope Benedict’s teaching on marriage and the family, see Family (USCCB, 2009)
Pope John Paul II
- Letter to Women (June 29, 1995): see nos. 7-8
- Letter to Families (February 2, 1994): see nos. 6-12 and 17
- Apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem (August 15, 1988): see nos. 6-7
- Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris consortio (November 22, 1981): see nos. 3, 45-46, and 81
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Letter on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World (May 31, 2004)
- Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons (July 31, 2003)
- Some Considerations Concerning the Response to Legislative Proposals on the Non-Discrimination of Homosexual Persons (July 23, 1992)
- Letter on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons (October 1, 1986)
Pontifical Council for the Family
- Family, Marriage and “De Facto” Unions (July 26, 2000)
- Declaration regarding the Resolution of the European Parliament dated March 16, 2000, making de facto unions, including same sex unions, equal to the family (March 17, 2000)
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 2004)
- The Equal Dignity of All People and the “Equality in Difference” between Man and Woman (CSDC, nos. 144-148)
- Marriage and Family (CSDC, nos. 209-254)
- Importance of the family for the person (CSDC, nos. 212)
- Importance of the family for society (CSDC, nos. 213-214)
- Marriage as the foundation of the family (CSDC, nos. 215-218)
- Sexual identity, difference, and complementarity (CSDC, no. 224)
- Homosexual unions (CSDC, nos. 228-229)