CSDC 215

The family has its foundation in the free choice of the spouses to unite themselves in marriage, in respect for the meaning and values of this institution that does not depend on man but on God himself: “For the good of the spouses and their offspring as well as of society, this sacred bond no longer depends on human decision alone. For God himself is the author of marriage and has endowed it with various benefits and purposes”⁴⁷³ Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 48: AAS 58AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 58 (1966) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1966), 1067-1068.. Therefore, the institution of marriage — “intimate partnership of life and love ... established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws” ⁴⁷⁴ Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 48: AAS 58AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 58 (1966) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1966), 1067. — is not the result of human conventions or of legislative prescriptions but acquires its stability from divine disposition⁴⁷⁵ Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1603.. It is an institution born, even in the eyes of society, “from the human act by which the partners mutually surrender themselves to each other”⁴⁷⁶ Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 48: AAS 58AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 58 (1966) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1966), 1067., and is founded on the very nature of that conjugal love which, as a total and exclusive gift of person to person, entails a definitive commitment expressed by mutual, irrevocable and public consent⁴⁷⁷ Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1639.. This commitment means that the relationships among family members are marked also by a sense of justice and, therefore, by respect for mutual rights and duties.