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)