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To: Hermann the Cherusker
A. The chief ends of the Sacrament of matrimony are:
(1) To enable the husband and wife to aid each other in securing the salvation of their souls;
(2) To propagate or keep up the existence of the human race by bringing children into the world to serve God;
(3) To prevent sins against the holy virtue of purity by faithfully obeying the laws of the marriage state.

I hope that you weren't deliberately causing confusion regarding the purpose of marriage when you posted this excerpt from the Baltimore catechism in this way. It has been dogmatically stated by the magisterium many times that the primary purpose of marriage is the procreation and education of children. All other purposes must be subordinated to the primary purpose. Here is what Pope Pius XII said about it:

Now, the truth is that matrimony, as an institution of nature, in virtue of the Creator's will, has not as a primary and intimate end the personal perfection of the married couple but the procreation and upbringing of a new life. The other ends, inasmuch as they are intended by nature, are not equally primary, much less superior to the primary end, but are essentially subordinated to it. This is true of every marriage, even if no offspring result, just as of every eye it can be said that it is destined and formed to see, even if, in abnormal cases arising from special internal or external conditions, it will never be possible to achieve visual perception.

It was precisely to end the uncertainties and deviations which threatened to diffuse errors regarding the scale of values of the purposes of matrimony and of their reciprocal relations, that a few years ago (March 10, 1944), We Ourselves drew up a declaration on the order of those ends, pointing out what the very internal structure of the natural disposition reveals. We showed what has been handed down by Christian tradition, what the Supreme Pontiffs have repeatedly taught, and what was then in due measure promulgated by the Code of Canon Law. Not long afterwards, to correct opposing opinions, the Holy See, by a public decree, proclaimed that it could not admit the opinion of some recent authors who denied that the primary end of marriage is the procreation and education of the offspring, or teach that the secondary ends are not essentially subordinated to the primary end, but are on an equal footing and independent of it.

Like the language used by Pope Pius XI in Casti Connubii, this language of Pope Pius XII could be seen as invoking infallibility, since he calls upon the witness of every source of Catholic theology and states that he wishes to make a definitive declaration that puts a stop to all deviant opinions. All other purposes of marriage must remain subordinated to the primary purpose which is the procreation and education of children.
90 posted on 07/06/2004 10:11:07 AM PDT by Maximilian
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To: Maximilian
I hope that you weren't deliberately causing confusion regarding the purpose of marriage when you posted this excerpt from the Baltimore catechism in this way.

I just quoted the old Catechism Max. Any confusion is on the part of others who wish to confuse things.

It has been dogmatically stated by the magisterium many times that the primary purpose of marriage is the procreation and education of children. All other purposes must be subordinated to the primary purpose. Here is what Pope Pius XII said about it:

Now, the truth is that matrimony, as an institution of nature, in virtue of the Creator's will, has not as a primary and intimate end the personal perfection of the married couple but the procreation and upbringing of a new life.

Quite so as far as Marriage as "an institution of nature" as the Pope carefully qualifies his words. As far as Christian Sacramental Marriage as an insitution of the supernatural goes - which is what the Baltimore Catechism discusses -, the primary end of the Sacrament of Matrimony is the sanctification of the spouses/recipients through mutual aid, since the primary purpose of all sacraments is the sanctification of the recipients by joining them closer to God.

Marriage as an institution of nature and marriage as a sacrament are two different but closely related things. With respect to contraception, the question involves the natural purposes of matrimony. With respect to the unity and sanctity of marriage, the question also involves the Sacrament and sacramental grace itself.

92 posted on 07/06/2004 10:25:45 AM PDT by Hermann the Cherusker
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