Joseph Cardinal Höffner CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ... - Ordo Socialis

Abstracting from so-called 'asocial persons', the Yes or No to a child will not be determined
by monetary allowances, but ultimately by the image that the spouses have of marriage and
family. The equalization of family burdens can and should mean only the realizing of social
justice in the industrial society. Economic aid to families has been introduced today in almost
all nations. Whereas the family allowance in some countries such as France, Belgium, and
Luxemburg is quite high, in the Federal Republic of Germany it has been kept within moderate
limits. In addition it is partially neutralized again by the sales tax. In view of the threatening
drop in the birth rate, additional aid to the family is urgently necessary through, for instance,
legal protection against summary dismissal for employees with more than two children
or a lowering of contributions to social security according to the number of children.
§ 5 Marriage and Virginity
1. Just as it is disturbing to the Christian to speak of the advantages of private property without
mentioning Christian poverty, so it would be even more suspect to praise marriage and
family without mentioning virginity for the sake of Christ. Here two contradictory errors are
to be rejected which affect the woman's life above all. First, one says that the married woman
cannot find her fulfillment in 'monotonous and mindless housework' and needs professional
activity outside the home for the development of her personality. Then it is said again that the
unmarried person is useless and 'half a person' .
2. Anyone who knows about the Christian ideal of marriage and family will not take the first
objection seriously. The community of home, table, and household as well as the cultivation
of spiritual, moral, and religious values in the family present the spouse and mother with such
great and noble tasks that she can find in them the fulfillment of her life in the most beautiful
way.
3. The second thesis is equally erroneous. For marriage and physical mother- hood are not the
only way to the fulfillment of the woman's personality. On September 15, 1952, Pius XII
complained of „all the priests and laymen, preachers, orators,“ who „no longer have any word
of praise for virginity dedicated to Christ, who for years have in principle placed marriage
above virginity in spite of the warnings of the Church and contrary to her conception of
things, who even go so far as to present marriage as the only means to the full development of
the human personality and to its natural perfection.“
Virginity for the sake of Christ is not an individualistic mastery of instinct, but a participation
in the virginity of the Church for which Christ gave himself up (Eph 5:25-27). The virgin is
closer to the definitive form of human being than the married person; for the institution of
marriage belongs to this age, and after the coming of the Lord thy will neither „marry“ nor be
„given in marriage,“ but „become like angels“ and no longer be „liable to death. Sons of the
resurrection, they are sons of God“ (Lk 20:35-36). It is a mark of the human personality that
he or she is able to decide definitively and irrevocably for Christ, whether in marriage or in
the single state.
However, not all who remain single are called to virginity for the sake of Christ; for „of that
voluntary renunciation out of love for the kingdom of God the Lord has said:' This saying is
not for everyone, but only those to whom it is given“' (Pius XII, October 29, 1951). Many
women live for years in the hope of marriage until they are forced to realize, that the love of a
man and the happiness of a family of their own will be denied to them. A „ruthless, anxious,
relentless scrutiny“ often begins then to see „whether one can discover in one's own face the
feature that alienates other people, holds them at a distance, perhaps disappoints them, and
71