FILIAZIONE. - It is the juridical relationship between parents and children, or the relation of childship. At the basis of the relationship of f. in natural law lies a bond of blood (consanguinity). But civil law also recognizes a form of relationship which is regulated as one of f., although the natural fact of generation is lacking (natural f. and civil f.). adoption (v.), to which is added affiliation (v.).
On the other hand, the fact of generation may take place within marriage or outside II. While disapproving the irregular relationship, the law regulates not only f. secundum legem, but also all the various cases of children begotten outside marriage, while recognizing fullness of rights only to legitimate f., which constitutes the basis of the family in the proper sense. Moreover, illegitimate children, that is, those begotten outside marriage, are considered differently according to the different condition in which they may find themselves. The term f. is used chiefly in civil law, whereas in the CIC and in ethical doctrine the subject is included under other headings (family, children, legitimation, marriage, offspring, etc.).
For a unified treatment of the complex of juridical and ethical relations of childship, V. PROLE. Pietro Falarini