Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

The family, the natural community in which human social nature is experienced, makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the good of society. The family unit, in fact, is born from the communion of persons. “‘Communion' has to do with the personal relationship between the ‘I' and the ‘thou'. ‘Community' on the other hand transcends this framework and moves towards a ‘society', a ‘we'. The family, as a community of persons, is thus the first human ‘society'“^{468John Paul II, Letter to Families Gratissimam Sane, 7: AAS 86 (1994), 875; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2206.}. A society built on a family scale is the best guarantee against drifting off course into individualism or collectivism, because within the family the person is always at the centre of attention as an end and never as a means. It is patently clear that the good of persons and the proper functioning of society are closely connected “with the healthy state of conjugal and family life”^{469Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 47: AAS 58 (1966), 1067; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2210.}. Without families that are strong in their communion and stable in their commitment peoples grow weak. In the family, moral values are taught starting from the very first years of life, the spiritual heritage of the religious community and the cultural legacy of the nation are transmitted. In the family one learns social responsibility and solidarity^{470Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2224.}.

The priority of the family over society and over the State must be affirmed. The family in fact, at least in its procreative function, is the condition itself for their existence. With regard to other functions that benefit each of its members, it proceeds in importance and value the functions that society and the State are called to perform^{471Cf. Holy See, Charter of the Rights of the Family, Preamble, D-E, Vatican Polyglot Press, Vatican City 1983, p. 6.}. The family possesses inviolable rights and finds its legitimization in human nature and not in being recognized by the State. The family, then, does not exist for society or the State, but society and the State exist for the family. Every social model that intends to serve the good of man must not overlook the centrality and social responsibility of the family. In their relationship to the family, society and the State are seriously obligated to observe the principle of subsidiarity. In virtue of this principle, public authorities may not take away from the family tasks which it can accomplish well by itself or in free association with other families; on the other hand, these same authorities have the duty to sustain the family, ensuring that it has all the assistance that it needs to fulfil properly its responsibilities^{472Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 45: AAS 74 (1982), 136-137; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2209.}. II. MARRIAGE, THE FOUNDATION OF THE FAMILY