CSDC 234

The judgment concerning the interval of time between births, and that regarding the number of children, belongs to the spouses alone. This is one of their inalienable rights, to be exercised before God with due consideration of their obligations towards themselves, their children already born, the family and society⁵²⁸ Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 50: AAS 58AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 58 (1966) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1966), 1070-1072; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2368; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 37: AAS 59AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 59 (1967) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1967), 275-276.. The intervention of public authorities within the limits of their competence to provide information and enact suitable measures in the area of demographics must be made in a way that fully respects the persons and the freedom of the couple. Such intervention may never become a substitute for their decisions⁵²⁹ Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2372.. All the more must various organizations active in this area refrain from doing the same. All programmes of economic assistance aimed at financing campaigns of sterilization and contraception, as well as the subordination of economic assistance to such campaigns, are to be morally condemned as affronts to the dignity of the person and the family. The answer to questions connected with population growth must instead by sought in simultaneous respect both of sexual morals and of social ethics, promoting greater justice and authentic solidarity so that dignity is given to life in all circumstances, starting with economic, social and cultural conditions.