38. Participation in the Development of Society
Part IV: Relation between the Family and Society
Participation in the Development of Society
68. The Family, Origin and Principle of Society
The family is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life.
The Church recognizes that the family is the first and vital cell of society, a school of the social virtues that are the animating principle of society. The family remains the true foundation of society, constituting its natural and fundamental nucleus.
The family has a social task within society. “The family is by nature and vocation open to other families and to society; it takes upon itself an important social role.”1 This social task is not something added to its being, but is carried out by the family being what it is. Family life is an initiation into life in society.
68a) Family Life, an Experience of Communion and Participation
The first and fundamental contribution of the family to society is the very experience of communion and sharing that should characterize the family’s daily life.
The family contains in itself the very future of society. Its most special task is to contribute effectively to a future of peace.
The relationship between the members of the family community are inspired and guided by the law of “free giving.” By respecting and fostering personal dignity in each and every one as the only basis for value, this free giving takes the form of heartfelt acceptance, encounter and dialogue, disinterested availability, generous service, and deep solidarity.…
Thus, by becoming what it must be, the family fosters authentic and mature communion between persons, and becomes a school of social life, an example and stimulus for the broader community relationships marked by respect, justice, dialogue, and love. The family is thus, the place of origin and the most effective means for humanizing and personalizing society.2
68b) Social and Political Function of the Family
The family contributes to the good of society by means of works of social service, especially by means of hospitality, whether material or spiritual: by opening the door of one’s home, and still more of one’s heart, to the pleas of one’s brothers and sisters. The family renders this service in a more human—and surely less costly—way than the state. A just family wage will spare the wife from working outside the home out of financial necessity, as often is the case, and this will solve many educational problems.3
69. Society at the Service of the Family
Society and the state must serve the family; they must make it possible for it to obtain the help of which it has need, without absorbing the tasks that are proper to the family.
69a) Complementarity of Functions: the Principle of Subsidiarity
Society and the state have a grave obligation to practice the principle of subsidiarity by soliciting the greatest possible and responsible initiative from the family. The intervention of public authorities is regulated by the principle of subsidiarity:
By virtue of this principle, the State cannot and must not take away from families the functions that they can just as well perform on their own or in free associations; instead it must positively favor and encourage as far as possible responsible initiative by families. In the conviction that the good of the family is an indispensable and essential value of the civil community, the public authorities must do everything possible to ensure that families have all those aids—economic, social, educational, political, and cultural assistance—that they need in order to face all their responsibilities in a human way.4
70. Fundamental Rights of the Family
The Church has encouraged the establishment of the inalienable and natural rights of the family in the Charter of Rights of the Family. Pope John Paul II, in the apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, provided a list of the most important rights. These are the following:
· The right to found a family, support it, and exercise proper responsibility in the transmission of life and education of the children
· The right to the stability of the bond and institution of marriage
· The right to believe in and profess one’s faith and propagate it
· The right to bring up children in accordance with the family’s own traditions and religious and cultural values, with the necessary instruments, means, and institutions
· The right—especially of the poor and the sick—to obtain physical, social, political, and economic security
· The right to housing that is suitable for living family life in a proper way
· The right to expression and representation, either directly or through associations, before the economic, social, and cultural public authorities and lower authorities
· The right to form associations with other families and institutions in order to fulfill the family’s role suitably and expeditiously
· The right to protect minors by adequate institutions and legislation from the harmful effects of drugs, pornography, alcoholism, etc.
· The right to wholesome recreation of a kind that also fosters family values
· The right of the elderly to a worthy life and a worthy death
· The right to emigrate as a family in search of a better life5
71. Some Errors on the Concept of Family
(1) Liberal individualism
Liberalism places the individual above the family and society with the consequent decrease of the common good. Thus, there is a high risk of falling into egoism that condones a pleasure-seeking “permissivism,” and ends in partial or total blindness to social justice and the common good.
When there is defective individualism, the concern for the individual and for the primacy of the person loses its balance, and becomes self-interest wrongly understood. By losing the sense of solidarity, common good and real human happiness disappear. This concern becomes “permissivism,” which is laissez faire in the wrong sense. It fails to see that society is precisely the means for man to attain his eternal fulfillment beyond this temporal life, and so society must also be good, and the individual is responsible for making it good.
Moreover, defective individualism ends up substituting the love of oneself (pure self-love) for the love of God and neighbor. Egoism becomes the rule of life, and even God is seen only as an accessory, i.e., “If God makes me happy, then I accept him.” From this practical atheism, it is easy to slide into a practical type of materialism.6 The impact of liberal ideology is felt on the family and human life:
The family is the singular victim of all this type of liberalism, materialism, rationalism, and pragmatism. When the hedonistic principle of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain at all costs is applied to the family, “reasons” can easily be found to justify divorce. When one equates happiness to sensible pleasure, suffering is rejected as evil; and when human marriage is equated to animal mating, it is easy to find “reasons” for marital infidelity and for the legalization of divorce. And since those “reasons” are based on self-centeredness and the hedonistic principles, the children of those “broken homes” dutifully “learn” such motivation, and so the spiral of evil keeps poisoning society.
With this hedonistic mentality, plenty of reasons can be found to justify all those practices against human life and its incalculable value. With those reasons abortion is legalized next to divorce, and contraceptives and sterilizations are made liberally available and encouraged. And the next thing to be legalize is euthanasia.…
Meanwhile, sex and violence (contempt for human life and its origin) become the staple fare for the mass media and the largest source of revenue and business: the ultimate degradation of human dignity.7
(2) Marxism
Marxists advocate the eventual abolition of the family. To Marx and Engels, the original state of mankind was a community of goods and free love. It was only when private property was accepted that the need for security led to stable institutions such as marriage and the family, and the consequent enslavement of the woman. Thus, communists would “emancipate” the woman from the drudgery of family life, of having to raise children. They would beget children only when they want and with whom they want. They will bring them up in any way they want, with or without a male companion.
Christianity can correct the possible errors of liberalism and socialism, but this is not possible with Marxist socialism and communism, due to the constitutional atheism of this ideology and its radical denial of the spiritual transcendence of man and of the dignity of the individual person.8
Footnotes:
1. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Familiaris Consortio, 42; cf. CCC, 2207–2213.
2. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Familiaris Consortio, 43.
3. Cf. Ibid., 44; CCC, 2208; R. García de Haro, Marriage and the Family in the Documents of the Magisterium, 366.
4. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Familiaris Consortio, 45.
5. Cf. Ibid., 46; CCC, 2211.
6. Cf. J.M. de Torre, Informal Talks on the Family and Society, 107–121.
7. Ibid., 121–122.
8. Cf. Ibid., 132–135.
Participation in the Development of Society
68. The Family, Origin and Principle of Society
The family is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life.
The Church recognizes that the family is the first and vital cell of society, a school of the social virtues that are the animating principle of society. The family remains the true foundation of society, constituting its natural and fundamental nucleus.
The family has a social task within society. “The family is by nature and vocation open to other families and to society; it takes upon itself an important social role.”1 This social task is not something added to its being, but is carried out by the family being what it is. Family life is an initiation into life in society.
68a) Family Life, an Experience of Communion and Participation
The first and fundamental contribution of the family to society is the very experience of communion and sharing that should characterize the family’s daily life.
The family contains in itself the very future of society. Its most special task is to contribute effectively to a future of peace.
The relationship between the members of the family community are inspired and guided by the law of “free giving.” By respecting and fostering personal dignity in each and every one as the only basis for value, this free giving takes the form of heartfelt acceptance, encounter and dialogue, disinterested availability, generous service, and deep solidarity.…
Thus, by becoming what it must be, the family fosters authentic and mature communion between persons, and becomes a school of social life, an example and stimulus for the broader community relationships marked by respect, justice, dialogue, and love. The family is thus, the place of origin and the most effective means for humanizing and personalizing society.2
68b) Social and Political Function of the Family
The family contributes to the good of society by means of works of social service, especially by means of hospitality, whether material or spiritual: by opening the door of one’s home, and still more of one’s heart, to the pleas of one’s brothers and sisters. The family renders this service in a more human—and surely less costly—way than the state. A just family wage will spare the wife from working outside the home out of financial necessity, as often is the case, and this will solve many educational problems.3
69. Society at the Service of the Family
Society and the state must serve the family; they must make it possible for it to obtain the help of which it has need, without absorbing the tasks that are proper to the family.
69a) Complementarity of Functions: the Principle of Subsidiarity
Society and the state have a grave obligation to practice the principle of subsidiarity by soliciting the greatest possible and responsible initiative from the family. The intervention of public authorities is regulated by the principle of subsidiarity:
By virtue of this principle, the State cannot and must not take away from families the functions that they can just as well perform on their own or in free associations; instead it must positively favor and encourage as far as possible responsible initiative by families. In the conviction that the good of the family is an indispensable and essential value of the civil community, the public authorities must do everything possible to ensure that families have all those aids—economic, social, educational, political, and cultural assistance—that they need in order to face all their responsibilities in a human way.4
70. Fundamental Rights of the Family
The Church has encouraged the establishment of the inalienable and natural rights of the family in the Charter of Rights of the Family. Pope John Paul II, in the apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, provided a list of the most important rights. These are the following:
· The right to found a family, support it, and exercise proper responsibility in the transmission of life and education of the children
· The right to the stability of the bond and institution of marriage
· The right to believe in and profess one’s faith and propagate it
· The right to bring up children in accordance with the family’s own traditions and religious and cultural values, with the necessary instruments, means, and institutions
· The right—especially of the poor and the sick—to obtain physical, social, political, and economic security
· The right to housing that is suitable for living family life in a proper way
· The right to expression and representation, either directly or through associations, before the economic, social, and cultural public authorities and lower authorities
· The right to form associations with other families and institutions in order to fulfill the family’s role suitably and expeditiously
· The right to protect minors by adequate institutions and legislation from the harmful effects of drugs, pornography, alcoholism, etc.
· The right to wholesome recreation of a kind that also fosters family values
· The right of the elderly to a worthy life and a worthy death
· The right to emigrate as a family in search of a better life5
71. Some Errors on the Concept of Family
(1) Liberal individualism
Liberalism places the individual above the family and society with the consequent decrease of the common good. Thus, there is a high risk of falling into egoism that condones a pleasure-seeking “permissivism,” and ends in partial or total blindness to social justice and the common good.
When there is defective individualism, the concern for the individual and for the primacy of the person loses its balance, and becomes self-interest wrongly understood. By losing the sense of solidarity, common good and real human happiness disappear. This concern becomes “permissivism,” which is laissez faire in the wrong sense. It fails to see that society is precisely the means for man to attain his eternal fulfillment beyond this temporal life, and so society must also be good, and the individual is responsible for making it good.
Moreover, defective individualism ends up substituting the love of oneself (pure self-love) for the love of God and neighbor. Egoism becomes the rule of life, and even God is seen only as an accessory, i.e., “If God makes me happy, then I accept him.” From this practical atheism, it is easy to slide into a practical type of materialism.6 The impact of liberal ideology is felt on the family and human life:
The family is the singular victim of all this type of liberalism, materialism, rationalism, and pragmatism. When the hedonistic principle of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain at all costs is applied to the family, “reasons” can easily be found to justify divorce. When one equates happiness to sensible pleasure, suffering is rejected as evil; and when human marriage is equated to animal mating, it is easy to find “reasons” for marital infidelity and for the legalization of divorce. And since those “reasons” are based on self-centeredness and the hedonistic principles, the children of those “broken homes” dutifully “learn” such motivation, and so the spiral of evil keeps poisoning society.
With this hedonistic mentality, plenty of reasons can be found to justify all those practices against human life and its incalculable value. With those reasons abortion is legalized next to divorce, and contraceptives and sterilizations are made liberally available and encouraged. And the next thing to be legalize is euthanasia.…
Meanwhile, sex and violence (contempt for human life and its origin) become the staple fare for the mass media and the largest source of revenue and business: the ultimate degradation of human dignity.7
(2) Marxism
Marxists advocate the eventual abolition of the family. To Marx and Engels, the original state of mankind was a community of goods and free love. It was only when private property was accepted that the need for security led to stable institutions such as marriage and the family, and the consequent enslavement of the woman. Thus, communists would “emancipate” the woman from the drudgery of family life, of having to raise children. They would beget children only when they want and with whom they want. They will bring them up in any way they want, with or without a male companion.
Christianity can correct the possible errors of liberalism and socialism, but this is not possible with Marxist socialism and communism, due to the constitutional atheism of this ideology and its radical denial of the spiritual transcendence of man and of the dignity of the individual person.8
Footnotes:
1. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Familiaris Consortio, 42; cf. CCC, 2207–2213.
2. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Familiaris Consortio, 43.
3. Cf. Ibid., 44; CCC, 2208; R. García de Haro, Marriage and the Family in the Documents of the Magisterium, 366.
4. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Familiaris Consortio, 45.
5. Cf. Ibid., 46; CCC, 2211.
6. Cf. J.M. de Torre, Informal Talks on the Family and Society, 107–121.
7. Ibid., 121–122.
8. Cf. Ibid., 132–135.