Recognition of the Challenges Facing Married Couples and Families Today
Marriage entails “mixture of enjoyment and struggles, tensions and repose, pain and relief, satisfactions and longings, annoyances and pleasures.”

“No family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love …All of us are called to keep striving towards something greater than ourselves and our families.”

“Longer life spans now mean that close and exclusive relationships must last for four, five or even six decades; consequently, the initial decision has to be frequently renewed.”

The stress on families is “aggravated by fears about steady employment, finances and the future of children.”

 
Call for Understanding and Leniency for Catholics Who Divorce and Enter New Relationships
“For divorced people who are living a new union it is important to let them know they are part of the Church, they are not excommunicated.”

Jesus proposed a demanding ideal but “never failed to show compassion and closeness to the frailty of individuals like the Samaritan woman or the woman caught in adultery.”

“While clearly stating the Church’s teaching, pastors are to avoid judgments that do not take into account the complexity of various situations.”

“A pastor cannot feel that it is enough to simply apply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives.”

Priests should take account of “mitigating factors and situations” and make allowances in “particular cases.”

Reaffirmation of the Church’s Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage and Cohabitation
“De facto or same-sex unions…may not simply be equated with marriage.”

“There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”

Reassertion of the Church’s Opposition to Abortion and the Death Penalty
“No alleged right to one’s own body can justify a decision to terminate that life.”

“Similarly, the Church not only feels the urgency to assert the right to a natural death, without aggressive treatment and euthanasia, but likewise firmly rejects the death penalty.”