1. Relationships And Families Flashcards
Catholics teach sex should be:
Marital
Unitive
Procreative
Quote for sex should be marital
The sexual outside marriage is a grave sin (CCC)
Sex should be unitive
‘the two shall become one flesh’
Mark 10:6-9
Quite for sex should be procreative
Be fruitful and increase in number
Genesis 1 : 27-28
What is the catholic teaching on sex before marriage
- The gift of virginity in marriage makes both feel more special and loved
- Sex before marriage (especially casual sex) trivialises the act
Teachings about humans (2)
And quote
- Men and women are equal in the eyes of God
- Complementary to each other
- Human life is the most important thing to God
“God created humans in his image, male and female.’ (Genesis 1:27)
Teachings about marital sex from Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (4)
- Unites the couple in self-giving and love
- Bonds the couple
- Shows commitment, love and respect
- Gives the possibility of new life
Teachings about extramarital sex from Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (4)
- Exploits the other person for personal pleasure
- Can lead to seeing others as sex objects – rather than individuals with dignity and value
- Can make people selfish …
- Adultery breaks the marriage vows
Important teachings about catholic marriage (SPEL)
S acrament (God is part of the marriage) P ermanent (it is life-long) E xclusive (faithfulness is very important) L ife-giving (it should be pro-creative)
Catholic marriage vows (promises):
• To have and to hold from this day forwards • For better for worse
To love and to cherish • Until death do us part
In sickness and in health
Catholic views about adultery (5)
• It breaks the marriage vows (have and to hold….love
and cherish)
• Betrays trust - causes hurt
• Brings distress to whole family
• Can cause the break-up of the marriage (insecure for children)
• Jesus says adultery is wrong
Adultery contrasting
personal happiness is more important…? Perhaps the couple made a serious mistake by getting married?
Catholic teachings on homosexuality:
- It is not a sin to have homosexual feelings
* Homosexual sex is considered wrong because it is not pro-creative
Catholic teaching on same-sex marriage:
- Same-sex marriage is legal in the UK
- But the Catholic Church teach that it is not (sacramentally) marital (Adam and Eve) nor properly unitive nor procreative.
- Therefore Catholic Church will not marry same sex couples nor will the Church of England.
Quotes against divorce
-“Till death us do part’
-“What God has joined together let no man separate” (Mark 10:9)
-‘Anyone who divorces his wife…and marries another
woman commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9-9
Why can couples married in a Catholic Church not end their marriage (in the eyes of the church):
God is part of the marriage
Catholic marriage is ‘till death do us part’
Catholic position on remarriage
- Catholics cannot re-marry in a Catholic Church unless the original partner has died
- A re-married Catholic cannot therefore receive Holy Communion
A valid Catholic marriage:
-Must be consummated (have sex)
-Must give consent and be free to marry
-Must marry of own free will (not forced)
-Must not be closely related
-Must be willing to accept children
-The five vows must be said (in front of a Catholic
priest)
What is annulment
Catholics can receive a statement that their (Catholic) marriage was invalid
Acceptable reasons for annulment
- One/both was forced to marry
- One/both never intended to have a child
- The marriage was not consummated
- One/both never intended to remain faithful
- Lies/concealment
- Incest
- Couldn’t give consent (not understanding the vows)
Church of England views on divorce
- Divorce IS accepted and recognised because sometimes it is human nature that vows cannot be kept
- Re-marriage is seen as a sign of God’s forgiveness and willingness to give a new start
To avoid splitting up:
- Attend marriage preparation classes
2. Seek marriage counselling
Why is the Catholic Church against cohabitation?
• There is no commitment within the sexual union
• This can create insecurity … and reduce the need
for faithfulness
-Promotes a casual and lazy attitude to the relationship
Cohabitation contrasting
-Can get to know them better - fewer divorces
Catholic attitudes to contraception
- All artificial contraception is wrong
- It contradicts God’s command to ‘be fruitful and multiply’
- It contradicts the two purposes of sex - to be unitive and to procreate
Other Christian attitudes to contraception
- Artificial contraception is acceptable because..
- It is responsible to only have the number of children you can care for
- God created sex for uniting couples as well as for pro-creating
All Christians are against the (type of contraception):
All Christians are against the
Catholics attitudes on NFP and why
- The Catholic Church does allow Natural Family Planning
- This is where couples do NOT have sex when the woman is at the most fertile time of the month
- Catholics agree that couples should only have the number of children they can care for
- The possibility of pregnancy remains - if this is what God plans
Catholics belive the family should be and act as the…?
‘The Church in miniature’
Teachings on form of family
Nuclear family is ideal, e.g. married mother, father and child who live together
- Other types of family are not encouraged
- Having a mother and father is more balanced
- Children with same-sex parents may be harmed by prejudice and intolerance
Contrasting forms on forms of family
- A quarter of children in Britain have single parents
- There is growing acceptance of same-sex parenting (20,000 children)
- Love and stability matters most
Four main responsibilities of parents:
- To pro-create
- To give children security
- To educate children
- To be the authority
Roles/responsibilities of children within the family
• Children should obey their parents
Roles/responsibilities of parents within the family
- Parents should show love and kindness to children
* Parents should bring up children in the Christian faith
Roles/responsibilities of husbands within the family:
• Husbands should love their wives so much they are
prepared to die for them
(Informal) husbands are expected to….?
-Expected to work for and protect family
Traditional roles in family
- Traditionally, Catholics saw the mother’s role as looking after home and children – today considered very dignified
- Traditionally, father’s role was to protect and provide financially for the family
Modern situation about gender roles in the family
- Today, most Catholics see men and women as equally important – bringing different qualities
- Today, many mothers work full or part time to provide for the family
- Gender equality means that sometimes roles are switched
Info about The Bible and gender equality
- In the Old Testament men were seen as superior to women…
* The 12 apostles were male and early Church leaders were men
Jesus on gender equality
Jesus was radical – he treated women as equal to men.
Examples of important women in the Bible
- Mary Magdalene had the task of announcing the resurrection to Jesus’ male followers
- Mary,Jesusmother,is shown as the perfect disciple
Quotes on gender equality in the Bible
“God created humans in his own image, male and female he created them both (Genesis 1:27)
“There is neither male nor female…for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (St Paul)
Official Catholic teaching on value of men and women
Men and women are equal but have different roles.
Quote for value of men and women
‘Each of the two sexes has equal dignity, though in a different way’ (CCC)
Women cannot be priests in the Catholic Church but they can play other important roles:
- Motherhood (EXCLUSIVELY-WOMEN-very valuable)
- Holy Communion/Confirmation classes
- Retreat days
- Can become a nun
- Can be a Eucharistic minister
- Can be a missionary
- Be in a caring profession, e.g. doctor
- Support charities (e.g. CAFOD, SVP)
Contrasting views on female priests
- Christian group the Salvation Army have had women priests since 1865
- The Church of England has allowed women priests since 1994 and women bishops since 2014
Gender equality in Britain today situation:
• The is a gender pay gap approx. 15% in favour of men
• Far fewer women are in top jobs than men - less than 10% of CEOs are women
-There is still gender discrimination
Catholic teaching on gender discrimination
Gender discrimination is wrong because it devalues a person and society.
Pope Francis on pay gap
“Why should women earn less than men for doing the same job? It is a scandal!”
