500. How should children be considered?
(Comp 500) A child is a gift of God, the supreme gift of marriage. There is no such
thing as a right to have children (e.g. “a child at any cost”). But a child
does have the right to be the fruit of the conjugal act of its parents as well
as the right to be respected as a person from the moment of conception.
“In brief”
(CCC 2373) Sacred Scripture and the Church's traditional
practice see in large families a sign
of God's blessing and the parents' generosity (Cf. GS 50 § 2).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2378) A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The "supreme gift of
marriage" is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of
property, an idea to which an alleged "right to a child" would lead.
In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right "to be
the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents," and
"the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his
conception" (CDF, Donum vitae II, 8).
Reflection
(CCC 1664) Unity, indissolubility,
and openness to fertility are essential to marriage. Polygamy is incompatible
with the unity of marriage; divorce separates what God has joined together; the
refusal of fertility turns married life away from its "supreme gift,"
the child (GS 50 § 1).
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