Theme A — Relationships and Families
What's covered
Key facts
The Catholic Church teaches that artificial contraception is morally wrong because it separates the unitive (love) and procreative (life-giving) purposes of sex.
Annulment is a Catholic Church process that declares a marriage was never validly contracted in the first place — it is the Catholic alternative to divorce.
In Catholic theology, annulment is a Church declaration that the marriage was never validly formed (e.g. lacking consent, fraud, prior bond) — not a divorce.
The Catholic Church teaches that only men may be ordained as Catholic priests, citing Jesus' choice of male apostles and unbroken tradition.
Christian teaching responds to sexism by affirming that all people are equal as God's children (Genesis 1:27; Galatians 3:28).
Some Christians argue a person's sexuality is part of how God created them and therefore intrinsically good; this view supports affirming pastoral practice.
Standard Anglican wedding vows commit each partner "to love and to cherish, till death us do part" (1662 Book of Common Prayer, modernised in Common Worship).
A blended (or stepfamily) family is formed when two adults with children from previous relationships join into one household.
Faith education is the religious upbringing of children within the family — teaching prayers, scripture, festivals, and moral values of the family's faith.
The traditional (complementarian) Christian view of marriage is that the husband is the head and the wife is the helper (Ephesians 5:22-23), with different but equally-valuable roles.
Sample questions
A taste of the 143 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What is the Catholic Church's teaching on artificial contraception?
- •Encouraged for all Catholics universally
- ✓Forbidden — it separates sex from procreation
- •Required of all married couples regularly
- •Unmentioned in any Catholic teaching
What is the Catholic teaching on divorce?
- •Divorce is encouraged for happiness
- •Divorce is required after seven years
- •Divorce is the very purpose of marriage
- ✓Marriage is indissoluble — divorce is not permitted
What argument supports allowing divorce?
- ✓It frees people from harmful or abusive marriages
- •It is needed to follow the Ten Commandments
- •It is required by Christian doctrine always
- •It is the only way to have any children
What is the liberal Christian view of women's leadership?
- •Women cannot read the Bible aloud at all
- •Women may not enter church buildings
- •Women must be silent in all churches
- ✓Women should serve in all church roles
What might gender discrimination at work look like?
- •Equal training for all employees alike
- •Hiring on skill regardless of sex alone
- •Identical paychecks for all workers
- ✓Unequal pay or promotion based on sex
What is the traditional Christian teaching on sex?
- ✓Sex belongs within heterosexual marriage
- •Sex is forbidden once past the age of 30
- •Sex is purely a recreational activity
- •Sex should be avoided entirely by all
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