"The Family and Human Procreation"

On June 6, 2006, the Pontifical Council for the Family announced the publication of "The Family and Human Procreation." (The document is dated May 13, 2006.) I have had a lot of trouble locating the document and recently ran across an English translation here, on the Women for Faith & Family website. The document reflects on the current threats to the family and attempts to "shed light on the anthropological foundations of family life as a place or environment for procreation and will thereby help the many people today who desire to lead a rich and fruitful family life and contribute to the social regeneration of the family in contexts where such regeneration is necessary."

The document is quite wide-ranging. I was particularly struck by its efforts to explore how the family helps to promote solidarity and to avoid the excessive individualism of much of Western culture.

Richard M.