CSDC 237

Parents, as ministers of life, must never forget that the spiritual dimension of procreation is to be given greater consideration than any other aspect: “Fatherhood and motherhood represent a responsibility which is not simply physical but spiritual in nature; indeed, through these realities there passes the genealogy of the person, which has its eternal beginning in God and which must lead back to him”⁵³⁷ John Paul II, Letter to Families Gratissimam Sane, 10: AAS 86AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 86 (1994) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1994), 881.. Welcoming human life in the unified aspects of its physical and spiritual dimensions, families contribute to the “communion of generations” and in this way provide essential and irreplaceable support for the development of society. For this reason, “the family has a right to assistance by society in the bearing and rearing of children. Those married couples who have a large family have a right to adequate aid and should not be subjected to discrimination”⁵³⁸ Holy See, Charter of the Rights of the Family, art. 3 c, Vatican Polyglot Press, Vatican City 1983, p. 9. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948) affirms that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State” (article 16,3)..