III – De facto unions in the whole of society

Social and political dimension of the problem of equivalency

(14) Some radical cultural influences (such as the ideology of “gender”, which we mentioned earlier) result in damage to the family institution. “Still more distressing is the direct attack on the family institution that is developing both on the cultural as well as on the political, legislative and administrative levels...The tendency is clear to make the family equivalent to other very different forms of cohabitation, apart from fundamental considerations of an ethical and anthropological order”.[17][17]  For this reason, the definition of the family’s identity is a priority.  The value of and the need for stability in the marriage relationship between a man and a woman are pertinent to this identity, and this stability is expressed and confirmed in a perspective of procreation and up-bringing of children which benefits the entire social fabric. Such marital and family stability does not only depend on the good will of concrete persons; it takes on an institutional character of public recognition by the State of the choice of conjugal life.  The recognition, protection and promotion of this stability contributes to the general interest, especially of the weakest, i.e., the children.