Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part Three › Section Two › Chapter Two · Article 4 (§§2197–2257)
Paragraphs · 61
The Catechism's text is under copyright, so each paragraph is quoted briefly here with a link to the full text at vatican.va.
The Fourth Commandment
- §2197 — The fourth commandment opens the second table of the Decalogue. It shows us the order of charity. God has willed that, after him, we should honor our parents to whom we owe life and who have handed on to us the knowledge of God.vatican.va
- §2198 — This commandment is expressed in positive terms of duties to be fulfilled. It introduces the subsequent commandments which are concerned with particular respect for life, marriage, earthly goods, and speech.vatican.va
- §2199 — The fourth commandment is addressed expressly to children in their relationship to their father and mother, because this relationship is the most universal. It likewise concerns the ties of kinship between members of the extended family.vatican.va
- §2200 — Observing the fourth commandment brings its reward: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you."vatican.va
The nature of the family
- §2201 — The conjugal community is established upon the consent of the spouses. Marriage and the family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children.vatican.va
- §2202 — A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recognition by public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it.vatican.va
- §2203 — In creating man and woman, God instituted the human family and endowed it with its fundamental constitution. Its members are persons equal in dignity. For the common good of its members and of society, the family necessarily has manifold responsibilities, rights, and duties.vatican.va
- §2204 — "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church."vatican.va
- §2205 — The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit.vatican.va
- §2206 — The relationships within the family bring an affinity of feelings, affections and interests, arising above all from the members' respect for one another. the family is a privileged community called to achieve a "sharing of thought and common deliberation by the spouses as well as their eager cooperation as parents in the children's upbringing."vatican.va
II. The Family and Society
- §2207 — The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life.vatican.va
- §2208 — The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor.vatican.va
- §2209 — The family must be helped and defended by appropriate social measures. Where families cannot fulfill their responsibilities, other social bodies have the duty of helping them and of supporting the institution of the family.vatican.va
- §2210 — The importance of the family for the life and well-being of society entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marriage and the family.vatican.va
- §2211 — ; - the freedom to form associations with other families and so to have representation before civil authority.vatican.va
- §2212 — The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in society. In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our cousins, the descendants of our ancestors; in our fellow citizens, the children of our country; in the baptized, the children of our mother…vatican.va
- §2213 — Human communities are made up of persons. Governing them well is not limited to guaranteeing rights and fulfilling duties such as honoring contracts. Right relations between employers and employees, between those who govern and citizens, presuppose a natural good will in keeping with the dignity of human persons concerned for justice and fraternity.vatican.va
The duties of children
- §2214 — The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood; this is the foundation of the honor owed to parents. the respect of children, whether minors or adults, for their father and mother is nourished by the natural affection born of the bond uniting them.vatican.va
- §2215 — Respect for parents (filial piety) derives from gratitude toward those who, by the gift of life, their love and their work, have brought their children into the world and enabled them to grow in stature, wisdom, and grace.vatican.va
- §2216 — Filial respect is shown by true docility and obedience. "My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.... When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you."vatican.va
- §2217 — As long as a child lives at home with his parents, the child should obey his parents in all that they ask of him when it is for his good or that of the family.vatican.va
- §2218 — The fourth commandment reminds grown children of their responsibilities toward their parents. As much as they can, they must give them material and moral support in old age and in times of illness, loneliness, or distress.vatican.va
- §2219 — Filial respect promotes harmony in all of family life; it also concerns relationships between brothers and sisters. Respect toward parents fills the home with light and warmth.vatican.va
- §2220 — For Christians a special gratitude is due to those from whom they have received the gift of faith, the grace of Baptism, and life in the Church.vatican.va
- §2221 — The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation.vatican.va
- §2222 — Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God's law.vatican.va
- §2223 — Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule.vatican.va
- §2224 — The home is the natural environment for initiating a human being into solidarity and communal responsibilities. Parents should teach children to avoid the compromising and degrading influences which threaten human societies.vatican.va
- §2225 — Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first heralds" for their children.vatican.va
- §2226 — Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel.vatican.va
- §2227 — Children in turn contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents. Each and everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect.vatican.va
- §2228 — Parents' respect and affection are expressed by the care and attention they devote to bringing up their young children and providing for their physical and spiritual needs.vatican.va
- §2229 — As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions.vatican.va
- §2230 — When they become adults, children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life. They should assume their new responsibilities within a trusting relationship with their parents, willingly asking and receiving their advice and counsel.vatican.va
- §2231 — Some forgo marriage in order to care for their parents or brothers and sisters, to give themselves more completely to a profession, or to serve other honorable ends.vatican.va
IV. The Family and the Kingdom
- §2232 — Family ties are important but not absolute. Just as the child grows to maturity and human and spiritual autonomy, so his unique vocation which comes from God asserts itself more clearly and forcefully.vatican.va
- §2233 — Becoming a disciple of Jesus means accepting the invitation to belong to God's family, to live in conformity with His way of life: "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."vatican.va
V. The Authorities In Civil Society
- §2234 — God's fourth commandment also enjoins us to honor all who for our good have received authority in society from God. It clarifies the duties of those who exercise authority as well as those who benefit from it.vatican.va
- §2235 — Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant." The exercise of authority is measured morally in terms of its divine origin, its reasonable nature and its specific object.vatican.va
- §2236 — The exercise of authority is meant to give outward expression to a just hierarchy of values in order to facilitate the exercise of freedom and responsibility by all.vatican.va
- §2237 — Political authorities are obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person. They will dispense justice humanely by respecting the rights of everyone, especially of families and the disadvantaged.vatican.va
- §2238 — Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God, who has made them stewards of his gifts: "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution....vatican.va
- §2239 — It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.vatican.va
- §2240 — Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country:vatican.va
- §2241 — The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.vatican.va
- §2242 — The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel.vatican.va
- §2243 — Armed resistance to oppression by political authority is not legitimate, unless all the following conditions are met: 1) there is certain, grave, and prolonged violation of fundamental rights; 2) all other means of redress have been exhausted; 3) such resistance will not provoke worse disorders;…vatican.va
- §2244 — Every institution is inspired, at least implicitly, by a vision of man and his destiny, from which it derives the point of reference for its judgment, its hierarchy of values, its line of conduct.vatican.va
- §2245 — The Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of the transcendent character of the human person.vatican.va
- §2246 — It is a part of the Church's mission "to pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it.vatican.va
In Brief
- §2247 — "Honor your father and your mother" (Deut 5:16; Mk 7:10).vatican.va
- §2248 — According to the fourth commandment, God has willed that, after him, we should honor our parents and those whom he has vested with authority for our good.vatican.va
- §2249 — The conjugal community is established upon the covenant and consent of the spouses. Marriage and family are ordered to the good of the spouses, to the procreation and the education of children.vatican.va
- §2250 — "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life" (GS 47 # 1).vatican.va
- §2251 — Children owe their parents respect, gratitude, just obedience, and assistance. Filial respect fosters harmony in all of family life.vatican.va
- §2252 — Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children in the faith, prayer, and all the virtues. They have the duty to provide as far as possible for the physical and spiritual needs of their children.vatican.va
- §2253 — Parents should respect and encourage their children's vocations. They should remember and teach that the first calling of the Christian is to follow Jesus.vatican.va
- §2254 — Public authority is obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person and the conditions for the exercise of his freedom.vatican.va
- §2255 — It is the duty of citizens to work with civil authority for building up society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.vatican.va
- §2256 — Citizens are obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order. "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).vatican.va
- §2257 — Every society's judgments and conduct reflect a vision of man and his destiny. Without the light the Gospel sheds on God and man, societies easily become totalitarian.vatican.va
Scripture cited · 57 verses
Exodus 20:12 · Deuteronomy 5:16 · Tobit 4:3 · Tobit 4:4 · Proverbs 1:8 · Proverbs 6:20 · Proverbs 6:21 · Proverbs 6:22 · Proverbs 13:1 · Proverbs 17:6 · Sirach 3:2 · Sirach 3:3 · Sirach 3:4 · Sirach 3:5 · Sirach 3:6 · Sirach 3:12 · Sirach 3:13 · Sirach 3:16 · Sirach 7:27 · Sirach 7:28 · Sirach 30:1 · Sirach 30:2 · Matthew 10:37 · Matthew 12:49 · Matthew 16:25 · Matthew 18:21 · Matthew 18:22 · Matthew 20:26 · Matthew 22:21 · Mark 7:10 · Mark 7:11 · Mark 7:12 · Luke 17:4 · Acts 5:29 · Romans 13:1 · Romans 13:2 · Romans 13:7 · Ephesians 4:2 · Ephesians 5:21 · Ephesians 6:1 · Ephesians 6:4 · Colossians 3:18 · Colossians 3:19 · Colossians 3:20 · Colossians 3:21 · 1 Timothy 2:2 · 2 Timothy 1:5 · James 1:27 · 1 Peter 2:13 · 1 Peter 2:16 · 1 Peter 3:1 · 1 Peter 3:2 · 1 Peter 3:3 · 1 Peter 3:4 · 1 Peter 3:5 · 1 Peter 3:6 · 1 Peter 3:7