CSDC 553

Promoting human dignity implies above all affirming the inviolability of the right to life, from conception to natural death, the first among all rights and the condition for all other rights of the person¹¹⁵⁸ Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Donum Vitae, (22 February 1987): AAS 80AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 80 (1988) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1988), 70-102.. Respect for personal dignity requires, moreover, that the religious dimension of the person be recognized. “This is not simply a requirement ‘concerning matters of faith', but a requirement that finds itself inextricably bound up with the very reality of the individual”.¹¹⁵⁹ John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 39: AAS 81AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 81 (1989) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1989), 466. The effective recognition of the right to freedom of conscience and religious freedom is one of the highest goods and one of the most serious duties of every people that truly wishes to ensure the good of the individual and of society¹¹⁶⁰ Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 39: AAS 81AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 81 (1989) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1989), 466.. In the present cultural context, there is a particularly urgent need to defend marriage and the family, which can be adequately met only if one is convinced of the unique and singular value of these two realities for an authentic development of human society¹¹⁶¹ Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 42-48: AAS 74AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 74 (1982) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1982), 134-140..