Address at Nazareth by Paul VI
"The lesson of domestic life: may Nazareth teach us the meaning of family life, its harmony of love, its simplicity and austere beauty, its sacred and inviolable character; may it teach is how sweet and irreplaceable is its training, how fundamental and incomparable its role on the social plane." - Pope Paul VI
"The document is a practical expression of the Church's mission, to which the laity are specially called in virtue of their baptism and incorporation into Christ. One of its important provisions is the recognition that, while preserving the necessary link with ecclesiastical authority, the laity have the right to establish and direct associations and to join existing ones." - CatholicCulture.org
Catechism of the Catholic Church
"For more than a decade bishops, theologians, and other experts worked on a 'compendium of all Catholic doctrine regarding both faith and morals.' The fruit of their work was the catechism, an organized presentation of the essential teachings of the Catholic Church in regards to both faith and morals, 'in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the church’s tradition.'” - USCatholic.org
"In this new encyclical, the Holy Father provides us with reasons to hope in a modern society which would obey the Church' s social teachings. The Pope also gives us, at the same time and by the same teaching, new reasons and motivation to further evangelize the world." - EWTN
Charter of the Rights of the Family
"A Vatican document drafted by the Pontifical Council for the Family that presents a set of fundamental rights that are inherent to all individuals, families, and societies, whether they be Christian or not. Instead of presenting new materials, the charter organizes a tradition of common human values present in the teachings of the Church. The rights that the charter proclaims, including the right to life, to marry freely, to raise a family, to decent housing, and to protection under the law, serve as the most basic foundation for society. The document calls upon all Christians in particular to stand up for the protection of these rights in order to protect the good of all humankind." - Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs
"The gospel parable sets before our eyes the Lord's vast vineyard and the multitude of persons, both women and men, who are called and sent forth by him to labour in it. The vineyard is the whole world (cf. Mt 13:38), which is to be transformed according to the plan of God in view of the final coming of the Kingdom of God." - Pope John Paul II
"The family in the modern world, as much as and perhaps more than any other institution, has been beset by the many profound and rapid changes that have affected society and culture. Many families are living this situation in fidelity to those values that constitute the foundation of the institution of the family. Others have become uncertain and bewildered over their role or even doubtful and almost unaware of the ultimate meaning and truth of conjugal and family life. Finally, there are others who are hindered by various situations of injustice in the realization of their fundamental rights." - Pope John Paul II
"The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds."
"Among these many paths, the family is the first and the most important. It is a path common to all, yet one which is particular, unique and unrepeatable, just as every individual is unrepeatable; it is a path from which man cannot withdraw. Indeed, a person normally comes into the world within a family, and can be said to owe to the family the very fact of his existing as an individual."
