Family Life

"The first months of the child's presence in the mother's womb bring about a particular bond which already possesses an educational significance of its own. The mother, even before giving birth, does not only give shape to the child's body, but also, in an indirect way, to the child's whole personality. Even though we are speaking about a process in which the mother primarily affects the child, we should not overlook the unique influence that the unborn child has on its mother. In this mutual influence which will be revealed to the outside world following the birth of the child, the father does not have a direct part to play. But he should be responsibly committed to providing attention and support throughout the pregnancy and, if possible, at the moment of birth.

"For the civilization of love it is essential that the husband should recognize that the motherhood of his wife is a gift: This is enormously important for the entire process of raising children. Much will depend on his willingness to take his own part in this first stage of the gift of humanity and to become willingly involved as a husband and father in the motherhood of his wife."
Letter to Families, 16

"Authentic conjugal love presupposes and requires that a man have a profound respect for the equal dignity of his wife: ‘You are not her master,’ writes St. Ambrose, ‘but her husband; she was not given to you to be your slave, but your wife.... Reciprocate her attentiveness to you and be grateful to her for her love.’ With his wife a man should live ‘a very special form of personal friendship.’ As for the Christian, he is called upon to develop a new attitude of love, manifesting towards his wife a charity that is both gentle and strong like that which Christ has for the Church.’
Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World, 25

"Love for his wife as mother of their children and love for the children themselves are for the man the natural way of understanding and fulfilling his own fatherhood.…Efforts must be made to restore socially the conviction that the place and task of the father in and for the family is of unique and irreplaceable importance. As experience teaches, the absence of a father causes psychological and moral imbalance and notable difficulties in family relationships, as does, in contrary circumstances, the oppressive presence of a father, especially where there still prevails the phenomenon of ‘machismo.…’"

"In revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God, a man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family:…by exercising generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother, by a more solicitous commitment to education, a task he shares with his wife, by work which is never a cause of division in the family but promotes its unity and stability, and by means of the witness he gives of an adult Christian life which effectively introduces the children into the living experience of Christ and the Church."
Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World, 25

"Is the system of interpersonal relations indicated by the Fourth Commandment one-sided? Does it bind us only to honor our parents? Taken literally, it does. But indirectly we can speak of the honor owed to children by their parents. ‘To honor’ means to acknowledge! We could put it this way: ‘Let yourself be guided by the firm acknowledgment of the person, first of all that of your father and mother, and then that of the other members of the family.’ Honor is essentially an attitude of unselfishness. It could be said that it is ‘a sincere gift of person to person,’ and in that sense honor converges with love."
Letter to Families, 15

"In a special way, I invite Catholic families to be ‘domestic Churches,’ in which the Christian faith is lived and passed on to the young as a treasure, and where all pray together. If they live up to the ideal which God places before them, Catholic homes will be true centers of evangelization.

"In concluding this Apostolic Exhortation, in which I have taken up the proposals of the Synod Fathers, I gladly welcome their suggestion to compose a prayer for the families of America…. Let everyone join in the prayer of the Successor of Peter, invoking Christ who is ‘the way of conversion, communion and solidarity in America’:

"…You who, in becoming man,
chose to belong to a human family,
teach families the virtues which filled with light
the family home of Nazareth.
May families always be united,
as you and the Father are one,
and may they be living witnesses
to love, justice and solidarity;
make them schools of respect,
forgiveness and mutual help,
so that the world may believe;
help them to be the source of vocations
to the priesthood and the consecrated life,
and all the other forms
of firm Christian commitment."
The Church in America, 76