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5.
TEACHINGS OF THE MAGISTERIUM
On its part, the Magisterium of the Church
offers to human reason in this field too the light of Revelation: the doctrine
concerning man taught by the Magisterium contains many elements which throw
light on the problems being faced here. From the moment of conception, the life
of every human being is to be respected in an absolute way because man is the
only creature on earth that God has "wished for himself " (16) and the spiritual soul of each man is "immediately
created" by God; (17) his whole being bears the image of the Creator.
Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves "the creative
action of God" (18) and it remains forever in a special relationship
with she Creator, who is its sole end.(
19) God alone is the Lord of
life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim
for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being. (20) Human procreation requires on the part of the spouses responsible
collaboration with the fruitful love of God; (21) the gift
of human life must be actualized in marriage through the specific and exclusive
acts of husband and wife, in accordance with the laws inscribed in their
persons and in their union.(
22)
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