The marital union
of a
man and a woman who have given themselves unreservedly in marriage and who can consummate their union in a beautiful bodily act
of conjugal intercourse is the best place to serve as a «home» for new human life, as the «place» where this life can take root and grow in
love and service to others.
«The Church can not therefore be understood as the mystical body
of Christ, as the sign
of man's covenant with God in Christ, or as the universal sacrament
of salvation unless we keep in mind the «great mystery» involved in the creation
of man as male and female and the vocation to
conjugal love, to fatherhood and to motherhood.»