At What Stage of Fetal Development Does an Unborn Child Receive its Soul?
The Church *teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God — it is not ‘produced’ by the parents — and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 366
The primary passage regarding this is CCC 2270, which states:
"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person — among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life."
The Church teaches that the soul is the "form" of the body (CCC 365). Because a zygote is a living, distinct human individual, the Church reasons it must possess a human soul to be alive and human
Endowed with ‘a spiritual and immortal’ soul, the human person is ... From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude. (CCC) 1703
The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore, from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life. Donum Vitae, written by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) under Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict VI), and approved by St. Pope John Paul II.
"The soul is present the moment the active and passive principles of germination coalesce to form a definite entity. We therefore say that from the moment of conception, the soul is present. Our very doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary implies that doctrine. For we say that, from the moment of her conception, her soul was preserved immaculate, or free from any taint of original or inherited sin. Her soul, therefore, was created by God at the moment of her conception and long before human activity in the sense of discernible physical movement."(Fr. Leslie Rumble (1892-1975), in Radio Replies: Classic Answers to Timeless Questions about the Catholic Faith)
"In St. Luke we read that, when our Blessed Lady visited Elizabeth, the latter cried, 'for behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy' (Luke 1:44). Even before his birth, St. John the baptist was able to know by revelation of the presence of the also yet-inborn Christ. And the souls of others are also created at the moment of their conception. The unborn child possesses an 'earthly existence' every bit as much as the child lying in a cradle or romping in the streets. It is a living human being from the moment of conception."
— Fr. Leslie Rumble (1892-1975), pioneer Catholic radio apologist (From Radio Replies)
