Unit 11: Theme A - Religion, Relationships & Family (Key Concepts)

The Catholic Church believes that sex is a gift from God and the means by which God brings about new life. God has created sex for a purpose, and sex must always be marital, unitive and procreative in nature. It must be all three of these things, and never manipulated to deliver simple pleasure. The fact that sex is pleasurable shows its goodness, but gaining pleasure should never be the sole purpose of any valid sexual action. 

Marriage in the Catholic Church is sacramental; it is a gift by God and initiated by him. In the sacrament of marriage, God joins two people together as one. For this reason, marriage is permanent and is only validly ended by the death of one spouse. Marriage should be procreative, since the couple promise to willingly accept children from God as a result of their union. Because marriage should be procreative (open to new life), the Church does not permit same-sex marriage. Marriage was designed to bring man and woman together as one. 

Divorce is the legal ending of a marriage, according to civil / state law. It is not accepted or recognised by the Church as a valid ending of a sacramental marriage, which can only be validly ended by death: "till death do us part". Because the Church does not recognise divorce, it will not permit the remarriage of a divorced person, whilst their spouse is still alive, since they are still bound to their original marriage. Remarriage is only accepted by the Church in cases where a person's spouse has died, hence their marriage has been validly concluded. 

Methods of family planning which revolve around not using artificial contraception, but instead only having sexual intercourse during the times of the month where the woman is least fertile, meaning the point of the cycle where it is least likely that she will conceive a child. There are different key indicators that can be used to track the period at which this will be, such as; tracking the monthly cycle and ovulation, measuring daily body temperature, and measuring cervical mucus secretion. 

The Church believes that man and woman compliment one another and that their marital union forms the ideal basis for the life of a family. Each person in contributes something different, and the Church believes that the individual contributions of the mother and father are important. If one parent is not present, the Church supposes that the child may have a compromised upbringing. Others would argue that so long as a couple can provide love and support for a child. they can fulfil the role of parents effectively, no matter their gender.