Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 178


An Expanding Fruitfulness

178.  Some couples are unable to have children.  We know that this can be a cause of real suffering for them.  At the same time, we know that "marriage was not instituted solely for the procreation of children...  Even in cases where, despite the intense desire of the spouses, there are no children, marriage still retains character of being a whole manner and communion of life, and preserves its value and indissolubility".199  So too, "motherhood is not a solely biological reality, but is expressed in diverse ways".200

199 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 50.
200 Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida Document (29 June 2007), No. 457.

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