Local Catholic's letter to local paper on contraception

Congratulations to Fae Presley, a parishioner at St Peter Cathedral Marquette, for her letter published in the August 21 edition of the Mining Journal.

To the Journal editor:

Thanks to Sandy Bonsall for her letter to the editor in the Aug. 5 Mining Journal in which she shares her thoughts regarding Catholicism and contraception. I, too, am a Catholic convert of the 1970s. I did not understand why the Church teaches artificial contraception is wrong, but I was attracted to natural family planning because of the health risks from hormonal contraceptives, risks known even in the 1970s. (The insert which accompanies the pill is a lengthy list of side effects.)

This danger compelled me as a young woman to investigate and practice NFP. When I did so, I discovered an age-old principle: faith precedes understanding. Though I didn't understand the church's teaching, I followed it for practical reasons. Then, and only then, did I begin to understand the wisdom and beauty of this ancient, yet current teaching.

Of human life, the church's primary document explaining the rationale behind its condemnation of artificial contraception, lists the certain fallout from widespread use of contraceptives. These include marital infidelity, general lowering of morals, men's loss of respect for women and coercion on the parts of governments regarding their use. Anyone can see that this has occurred in our society and around the world.

I taught NFP for over 20 years. Couples spoke candidly to me about their experiences with contraception, about how the woman felt used and taken for granted; about how their sex lives were boring and even divisive, leading to pornography use, infidelity, and divorce; and extreme regret from those who had been sterilized.

Today we know that the birth control pill is a class 1 carcinogen like asbestos which increases the risk of breast and cervical cancer, and possibly liver cancer as well. Recent research also indicates a nearly doubled risk of HIV transmission with pill use.

The Catholic Church offers a vision of human sexuality that is truly liberating in the freedom from negative health effects and that revels in the beauty of our sexuality, yet encourages responsible parenthood. The ways of goodness and truth are not always easy, as the martyrs and saints of our church show us.

Fae Presley

Negaunee

Noah - a patron for Life?

Our local public radio station played some of Michael Angelo Falvetti's Il Diluvio Universale. You can hear it in sections on YouTube. More information on the broadcast can be found at http://wfiu.indiana.edu/harmonia/120820-whats-new.ram. and the excerpt played from Il Diluvio begins half an hour into the program. (It will download as a RealPlayer podcast. I can heartily recommend the Harmonia early music website.) Something the radio presenter said made it dawn on me that all future generations depended on Noah's obedience. We would not be here if he had not obeyed the Lord.

When human beings abort babies, it is not only that baby that is killed - all the possible offspring of that human being are aborted too.

When human beings contracept, the generations that would result from the child that would be otherwise conceived are denied conception and birth too.

When men waste their seed through masturbation, they throw away the potential for life that would result from the proper use of that seed. I do not know much about biology but the uniqueness of each individual derives not only from its mother's egg but also from its father's sperm - the particular sperm that fuses with the egg. Obviously, eggs are lost and sperm too in natural ways. But we should not take it upon ourselves to waste these elements of potential life. We should remember the harsh judgement meted out upon Onan (Gen. 38:9).

Abortion is anti-life.

Contraception is anti-life.

Masturbation is anti-life.

Pornography that is such a plague for many is anti-life.

Dunno about you but this makes me think. Let us each be obedient to the Lord as Noah was lest we be lost in the floods of passion.

The London Family Planning Summit and my pastoral experience

I was in Honduras some weeks ago.

I had an unexpected pastoral opportunity which gave me an insight into the difficulties women there face.

Several women had received the contraceptive injection (or vaccine - as if pregnancy were an illness). One did not know she was pregnant at the time and the contraceptive injection provoked the abortion of her pregnancy. She was naturally very upset and racked with guilt. Did the compassionate family planning "professionals" not take the trouble to do a pregnancy test? What care do they take over the women whose interests they claim to have at heart?

Several other women who had received this "treatment" desired to have children but were currently unable to because of the contraceptive. Presumably they bowed to professional advice from doctors and "experts" and went along with it, and now regret it. Might this have been a subtle form of coercion?

Others who had received the injection found that their husbands were now being unfaithful. I wonder whether the men were consulted about their wives being neutered in this manner? Were they helped in any way to understand the need for self-control and respect? Or does a woman's right to control over her body trump any right of the husband to be consulted before his wife is rendered infertile? Does this policy contribute to the stripping of men of their responsibilities and actually enable behaviour that is irresponsible from a sexual health point of view as well as resulting in damaging family breakdown?

I also have to report that I learnt of methods of abortion carried out by women on themselves that I never knew about. The women were, again, racked with guilt but faced at the time with a pregnancy they for some reason felt unable to carry forward, most likely because of fear from the husband who did not want a child as a result of his irresponsible behaviour. Such actions are bound to be prejudicial to the health - physical, spiritual, psychological - of any woman involved. THERE IS A PROBLEM! We cannot deny it, and cases such are these are precisely the ones that the likes of the Gates Foundation (Melinda Gates: I'm a Catholic but women need access to contraceptives) will appeal to in justification of their crusade, and of course will help them promote the cause of "safe abortion."

And now a question that should prod all of us who are pro-life and faithful to the Church's teaching on this matter: how is it that the "family planners" make it to these remote mountain villages to effectively sterilise the populace but we, the Church, and others have not been able to get the good news of Natural Family Planning and true Responsible Parenthood and healthy marriage to these villagers?

The Gates Foundation is clearly successful in getting mega-bucks to promote contraception (Melinda Gates pledges $560M for contraception). If we are to be truly a compassionate Church, we need to find some way of getting this message to these remote areas.

Bear in mind that the villages such as the one I visited get a priest once a year, and during that annual visit the priest will regularise marriages, administer baptisms, hear confessions, anoint the sick... What chance have these people of receiving sound instruction on NFP and the true dignity of marriage and human sexuality?

Priest in South Africa attacked, left for dead

Father Andrew Cox, the fifty year old pastor of the parish of Constantia in the Archdiocese of Cape Town, was brutally attacked by three intruders on Sunday night as he was locking the parish premises. The attackers stabbed him, tied him up, attempted to gouge his eyes out and left him in the parish strongroom where he was discovered by his secretary on Monday morning.

He says he spent the night praying and he forgave his attackers. At one point he got hold of the knife the attackers were using against him but could not bring himself to attack his assailants.

It would appear that Father Cox is a faithful son of the Church. A google search reveals that he has recorded a talk defending Humanae Vitae as a prophetic documen inspired by the Holy Spirit and explains that opposition to contraception is integral to the Church's teaching on the dignity of human life.

Reports on the attack here and here.

Please keep this good priest in your prayers. (And his assailants too.)

Cardinal Burke: Employers who pay for health insurance providing contraceptive etc services co-operating in evil

LifeSiteNews carries this news about an interview with Cardinal Burke to be broadcase on EWTN tomorrow at 2:30pm EST and Wednesday at 9:00pm EST. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Thomas McKenna: “So a Catholic employer, really getting down to it, he does not, or she does not provide this because that way they would be, in a sense, cooperating with the sin…the sin of contraception or the sin of providing a contraceptive that would abort a child, is this correct?”
Cardinal Burke: “This is correct.  It is not only a matter of what we call “material cooperation” in the sense that the employer by giving this insurance benefit is materially providing for the contraception but it is also “formal cooperation” because he is knowingly and deliberately doing this, making this available to people. There is no way to justify it. It is simply wrong.”

Jenn Giroux of LifeSiteNews comments:

There are many liberal Catholics and Obama supporters who are trying to divide and confuse the faithful on the issues surrounding this attack on religious liberty and the impending mandatory requirement for employers to provide insurance plans which provide free contraception, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization.  Still others that oppose the mandate are advocating that the issue of contraception should be separated from the discussion of religious liberty all together.  The reality is that these issues are quite inseparable as it relates to the practice of Catholicism and the moral burden that is placed upon the conscience of employers who provide contraceptive services.  Only those who understand the grave moral evil of contraception and abortion understand that the Catholic Church will never compromise on these issues because to do so would lead to eternal ramifications for those involved.

"Occupy" protesters don't get arrested, but pro-life HHS pray-ers do.

President Obama's bid to attack religious liberty with the HHS Mandate is galvanizing Christians to prayer and peaceful protest. No, it's not about contraception, it's about religious liberty. But it is, actually, about contraception, and at last the sleeping giant of the Church(es) has awoken to the issue.

LifeNews.com carries the report. Is there a law against praying outside the White House? It seems that the reason for the arrest is their vocal declarations of disobedience to the law in the Name of the higher law of God.

Bad advice from a priest in confession could be a canonical crime subject to penalties

Dr Edward Peters, Edmund Cardinal Szoka Professor of Canon Law at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura and author of In the Light of the Law suggests that the crime of solicitation could be more widespread in the Church than might be supposed. His study of Canon 1387 can be read in the current issue of the Homiletic and Pastoral Review. (If you are reading this some time after the current issue is no longer current, you may need to click the Older Articles link.)

Canon 1387 states:

A priest who in the act, on the occasion, or under the pretext of confession solicits a penitent to sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue is to be punished, according to the gravity of the delict, by suspension, prohibitions, and privations; in graver cases he is to be dismissed from the clerical state.

This canon includes not only the solicitation of a female to commit a sexual act with the confessor himself, but involves any sin against the sixth commandment, whether it be a sin committed together by confessor and penitent (regardless of sex or age), or by the penitent with another, or by the penitent alone.

Dr Peters quotes some Canonical authors:

Solicitation exists if the confessor sinfully suggests that the person commit impure acts alone or with others, for example, counsels the use of contraceptives. (Patrick Lydon, Ready Answers in Canon Law (1937), 483)

Indeed, the delict is committed even by wrong advice as to the sinfulness of evil thoughts. (Abbo-Hannan, Sacred Canons (1960) II: 30)

Peters contends:

There seems to be no doubt that a confessor’s advice toward immoral activity in sexual matters, whether it concerns acts to be performed by the penitent alone [e.g. self-abuse or the use of pornography - my addition], with a third party, or with the confessor himself, constitutes solicitation in confession and hence is a very serious crime under modern canon law.

Peters then studies the canonical procedures to be followed in the prosecution of a case of an alleged crime of solicitation. Most canonical crimes are adjudicated at diocesan level. Only a small number of crimes are reserved to the Holy See in the light of their particular gravity. Only if the confessor has solicited a penitent to sin against the sixth commandment with himself is it reserved to the Apostolic See in accordance with norms issued in 2001. This is not to belittle other crimes but to acknowledge the dignity of local Churches as having within themselves in the person of the Bishop full judicial power over that Church. The reservation to the Holy See occurs, among other reasons, because of the wider consequences of a particular crime for the Universal Church or because of the particular expertise/resources that may be needed which a local Church may not possess.

As a confessor, I find this article very helpful in affirming in me the importance of being very clear with penitents. The penitent must never be allowed to think that the confessor has said "contraception is alright" or that "it's up to your conscience", or that illicit relationship (e.g. an irregular "marital" union) can be tolerated and expressed sexually. This would be to solicit the penitent in a sin against the sixth commandment. I don't want to be anywhere near that position.

I have, regrettably, come across Catholics who have responded to my teaching against contraception or homosexual relations or illicit unions by saying that another priest, whether during or outside Confession, has left them with the impression that it was alright. I am sure I am not alone.

The existence of penalties in the Church serves a number of purposes. One is to punish after a crime has been committed. Another is to warn anyone who might be tempted that there are consequences in committing a crime. The weak need these warnings. A further purpose is to affirm the true doctrine of the Church and to encourage fidelity. The Church is truly a mother in this manner and seeks to be a true Mirror of Justice.

If you have read this far, do read Dr Peters' article.

Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood

What some fine young girl scouts discovered about Planned Parenthood's involvement in the Girl Scout movement. The website the two girls have founded is Speak Now : girl scouts.

Thanks to xt3.

More sex please. We're pharmacists!

Thanks to my brother, Father Stephen Boyle, for sending me a link to this article from the Pharmaceutical Journal 2011. It sums up the strange state of affairs when pharmacists are expected to promote healthy life styles ... except when it comes to sex.

The author asks:

Are we being as fair to the public about sex as we are about smoking or eating sweets or drinking alcohol?

Go read.

What has contraception done to men?

Yesterday we had a lovely experience as a two ladies stopped their car where we were praying and lowered the window. I went over and the driver asked "Is this about abortion?" I explained that we were praying for an end to abortion. She said: "I'm pregnant and I don't agree with abortion. The child should not pay for my mistakes. Thank you for what you are doing." Naturally I expressed delight and asked if she needed any help and, particularly, if she had approached the Marquette Care Clinic which is right next door to Planned Parenthood where we are praying. She said that, yes, she had already visited the Care Clinic for help and support.

So, that was a nice positive event.

On the other hand, a car load of young men wound their car windows down and shouted abuse at us. It should be noted that the sidewalk (pavement for my English readers) prayer group consisted of five women plus me. There were two other young women standing near the back entrance to Planned Parenthood. What has become of men when they can shout abuse at nice ladies standing and praying by the roadside? Do the women they use realise what monsters they are getting into bed with and how little respect they have for them?

Contraception has made men into beasts and women into means of gratification. See comment from Genty.

CDF on the Pope and Condoms: Prostitution a "gravely disordered type of human behaviour". A condom may reduce the risk of contagion but is not a moral solution.

VATICAN CITY, 22 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Given below is the English-language text of a Note published yesterday afternoon by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, entitled: "On the trivialisation of sexuality. Regarding certain interpretations of 'Light of the World'".

Following the publication of the interview-book 'Light of the World' by Benedict XVI, a number of erroneous interpretations have emerged which have caused confusion concerning the position of the Catholic Church regarding certain questions of sexual morality. The thought of the Pope has been repeatedly manipulated for ends and interests which are entirely foreign to the meaning of his words - a meaning which is evident to anyone who reads the entire chapters in which human sexuality is treated. The intention of the Holy Father is clear: to rediscover the beauty of the divine gift of human sexuality and, in this way, to avoid the cheapening of sexuality which is common today.

Some interpretations have presented the words of the Pope as a contradiction of the traditional moral teaching of the Church. This hypothesis has been welcomed by some as a positive change and lamented by others as a cause of concern - as if his statements represented a break with the doctrine concerning contraception and with the Church's stance in the fight against AIDS. In reality, the words of the Pope - which specifically concern a gravely disordered type of human behaviour, namely prostitution (cf. Light of the World, pp. 117-119) - do not signify a change in Catholic moral teaching or in the pastoral practice of the Church.

As is clear from an attentive reading of the pages in question, the Holy Father was talking neither about conjugal morality nor about the moral norm concerning contraception. This norm belongs to the tradition of the Church and was summarised succinctly by Pope Paul VI in paragraph 14 of his Encyclical Letter 'Humanae vitae', when he wrote that 'also to be excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation - whether as an end or as a means'. The idea that anyone could deduce from the words of Benedict XVI that it is somehow legitimate, in certain situations, to use condoms to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is completely arbitrary and is in no way justified either by his words or in his thought. On this issue the Pope proposes instead - and also calls the pastors of the Church to propose more often and more effectively (cf. Light of the World, p. 147) - humanly and ethically acceptable ways of behaving which respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meaning of every conjugal act, through the possible use of natural family planning in view of responsible procreation.

On the pages in question, the Holy Father refers to the completely different case of prostitution, a type of behaviour which Christian morality has always considered gravely immoral (cf. Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution 'Gaudium et spes', n. 27; Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2355). The response of the entire Christian tradition - and indeed not only of the Christian tradition - to the practice of prostitution can be summed up in the words of St. Paul: 'Flee from fornication' (1 Cor 6:18). The practice of prostitution should be shunned, and it is the duty of the agencies of the Church, of civil society and of the State to do all they can to liberate those involved from this practice.

In this regard, it must be noted that the situation created by the spread of AIDS in many areas of the world has made the problem of prostitution even more serious. Those who know themselves to be infected with HIV and who therefore run the risk of infecting others, apart from committing a sin against the sixth commandment are also committing a sin against the fifth commandment - because they are consciously putting the lives of others at risk through behaviour which has repercussions on public health. In this situation, the Holy Father clearly affirms that the provision of condoms does not constitute 'the real or moral solution' to the problem of AIDS and also that 'the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalisation of sexuality' in that it refuses to address the mistaken human behaviour which is the root cause of the spread of the virus. In this context, however, it cannot be denied that anyone who uses a condom in order to diminish the risk posed to another person is intending to reduce the evil connected with his or her immoral activity. In this sense the Holy Father points out that the use of a condom 'with the intention of reducing the risk of infection, can be a first step in a movement towards a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality'. This affirmation is clearly compatible with the Holy Father's previous statement that this is 'not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection'.

Some commentators have interpreted the words of Benedict XVI according to the so-called theory of the 'lesser evil'. This theory is, however, susceptible to proportionalistic misinterpretation (cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter 'Veritatis splendor', n. 75-77). An action which is objectively evil, even if a lesser evil, can never be licitly willed. The Holy Father did not say - as some people have claimed - that prostitution with the use of a condom can be chosen as a lesser evil. The Church teaches that prostitution is immoral and should be shunned. However, those involved in prostitution who are HIV positive and who seek to diminish the risk of contagion by the use of a condom may be taking the first step in respecting the life of another - even if the evil of prostitution remains in all its gravity. This understanding is in full conformity with the moral theological tradition of the Church.

In conclusion, in the battle against AIDS, the Catholic faithful and the agencies of the Catholic Church should be close to those affected, should care for the sick and should encourage all people to live abstinence before and fidelity within marriage. In this regard it is also important to condemn any behaviour which cheapens sexuality because, as the Pope says, such behaviour is the reason why so many people no longer see in sexuality an expression of their love: 'This is why the fight against the banalisation of sexuality is also part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man's being' (Light of the World, p. 119). CDF/ VIS 20101222 (1130)

Share |

LifeSiteNews needs your help

This excellent news service needs donations urgently.

They write:

The battle for our nations, our culture, and for our souls and the souls of our family and friends, is being fought in the media.

News agencies like ours are the strongest and most effective response to the crisis in our media – to the callous disregard for life, to the assaults on the natural family, to the depravity, sensationalism, dishonesty, nihilism, and disdain for even the most basic standards of decency that increasingly fills our airwaves and our newspapers, and consequently, our minds.

We are the resistance  - on your behalf and together with you.

I know that our entire staff shares this conviction with me. I wish that each and every one of you could meet and talk with them. They are a very special group of people.

No one who works for LifeSiteNews does so for financial gain or for personal glory, for no such thing is to be found in this work. They are involved in this work for one reason only – they believe in our mission. They are, without exception, God-fearing, humble, hard-working servants. They are doing this work for you, for your children and grandchildren, and for our culture.

And so we ask you to consider supporting LifeSiteNews.com during this Christmas campaign with whatever you are able to spare, even if it is only $5.
(Click here to donate)

Share |

Did the Pope say it's okay to use condoms?

The BBC World Service - which is really the only news medium I get to listen to that I take seriously - has been leading on this story for twenty four hours. Which shows that whenever the word 'condom' is pronounced by the Pope, it gets headlines, and demonstrates yet another PR own-goal by the Vatican and its official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

I am grateful to a friend for emailing a link to the National Catholic Register that provides a useful analysis of what the Pope says in its full context, rather than the partial quotes by the BBC and L'Osservatore Romano.

The Pope's comments are made in a book entitled 'Light of the World' which will be published on Wednesday November 24th.

A few thoughts based on the NCR article. It is said that Pope Benedict writes:

It goes without saying that the Pope can have private opinions that are wrong.

I love our Holy Father dearly. I don't mind hearing his private opinions on economics, war, music..., but when he speaks on matters of faith and morals, particularly on such sensitive issues as the use of condoms, I'd rather not hear his private opinions that have the possibility of being wrong. He is always "Peter". I fear that these comments will leave the faithful confused - they have certainly led to confusion in the public media. Next week's Tablet will for sure hail the Pope as progressive and reasonable, and say that he is softening the Church's line on contraception, which is manifestly NOT the case.

Here is the full text of Pope Benedict's remarks, provided at Catholic World Report: I have inserted my respectful questionings of our beloved Holy Father's private opinion.

On the occasion of your trip to Africa in March 2009, the Vatican’s policy on AIDs once again became the target of media criticism.Twenty-five percent of all AIDs victims around the world today are treated in Catholic facilities. In some countries, such as Lesotho, for example, [I happen to know a couple of priests from Lesotho who told me that for a male to live beyond 35 is a miracle. The men go to South Africa to work in the mines, are unfaithful while away, and return home infected. These priests who minister to the bereaved families blame the widespread distribution of condoms for the spread of the AIDS virus as they encourage the men to take risks rather than being faithful to their wives.] the statistic is 40 percent. In Africa you stated that the Church’s traditional teaching has proven to be the only sure way to stop the spread of HIV. Critics, including critics from the Church’s own ranks, object that it is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.

The media coverage completely ignored the rest of the trip to Africa on account of a single statement. Someone had asked me why the Catholic Church adopts an unrealistic and ineffective position on AIDs. At that point, I really felt that I was being provoked, because the Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. And because she is second to none in treating so many AIDs victims, especially children with AIDs.

I had the chance to visit one of these wards and to speak with the patients. That was the real answer: The Church does more than anyone else, because she does not speak from the tribunal of the newspapers, but helps her brothers and sisters where they are actually suffering. In my remarks I was not making a general statement about the condom issue, but merely said, and this is what caused such great offense, that we cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms. Much more needs to be done. [More? In addition to distributing condoms? Or is the solution something quite different?] We must stand close to the people, we must guide and help them; and we must do this both before and after they contract the disease.

As a matter of fact, you know, people can get condoms when they want them anyway. But this just goes to show that condoms alone [alone? So they can be admitted as part of the solution?] do not resolve the question itself. More needs to happen. [Again, more? In addition to condom use or instead of?] Meanwhile, the secular realm itself has developed the so-called ABC Theory: Abstinence-Be Faithful-Condom, where the condom is understood only as a last resort, when the other two points fail to work. This means that the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality, which, after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves. This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also a part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man’s being.

There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. [Ok, rather big interjection here. The Holy Father refers to an example of male prostitutes, presumably homosexual. The homosexual act is itself disordered. There is no discharge of semen into the vagina of a woman. There is no potential for conception. There is no prevention of conception. THIS IS NOT CONTRACEPTION. THERE IS NO 'SOFTENING' OF THE CHURCH'S TEACHING ON CONTRACEPTION. The use of a condom here is simply irrelevant from the sexual-moral point of view. If it prevents the transmission of the AIDS virus, so be it. But there is NO MODIFICATION OF THE (DISORDERED) END OF THIS "SEXUAL" ACT. I simply cannot make the link that Pope Benedict appears to make between condom use in this instance and a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot doe whatever one wants. Those involved continue to do that which is not allowed and whatever they want. The use of the condom can hardly be considered a virtuous act, thinking of the partner rather than of oneself. The male prostitute will be thinking primarily of his own health. It will therefore be selfishly motivated. The homosexual act remains intrinsically evil, although the evil effects are possibly mitigated. And possibly is a very important word here. Condoms have to be used properly and they have to be faultless. And the increasing frequency of sexual encounters that will result with the false sense of security that condom use provides increases the risk of infection and reinforces the bad habit or vice of disordered sexual acts. Condom use will provide little if any incentive to modify behaviour.] That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality. [And what does this mean? This must be spelt out. Namely: sex is intrinsically ordered towards the procreation of human life in the stable loving (ideally) relationship we call marriage between a man and a woman. Any other way or context of performing the sexual act is intrinsically unhuman.]

Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?

She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, [agreed, it is not a moral solution] but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality. [Holy Father, since you allow me the freedom to do so, I respectfully disagree. I cannot see how the introduction of a condom into sodomic relations is in any way a first step in a movement toward a more human way of living sexuality. Such relations are absolutely not a human way of living sexuality. All condom use does is aim to prevent one of the evil consequences of such relations.]

The Catholic blogs and orthodox media will try to defend Pope Benedict's comments. But I think we now have a major problem on our hands. Already, on the BBC World Service news, a spokesman for a US-based dissident group has said how reasonable Pope Benedict is and how his group welcomes the Pope's more moderate views on contraception. It needs to be stated loud and clear that Pope Benedict IS NOT TALKING ABOUT CONTRACEPTION.

However, his comments will naturally lead to questions concerning the case of a married couple in which one of the spouses is infected with the AIDS virus. What then? What is the human expression of sexuality? Is it to use a condom? This is a very different case. The truly human expression of sexuality in this case is to abstain. This will need to be addressed.

And what about female prostitutes? Is there any trace of humanization in their sexual encounters? Is the use of condoms in their case a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants?

You can read an alternative analysis by the esteemed Janet E. Smith (who holds the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and is serving a third term as a consultor to the Pontifical Council on the Family): What does the Holy Father really say about condoms in the new book? I acknowledge that Professor Smith is far more competent than I am to comment on this matter, but I find her argument unconvincing.

I take this opportunity of renewing my profound love for Pope Benedict. Long may he reign and be protected from his enemies.

Share |

Marquette Deacon preaches on human sexuality and chastity

Deacon Ryan Ford, preparing for ordination to the Priesthood for the diocese of Marquette, preached the following eloquent sermon on the holy purpose of our bodies. It's rather longer than the standard seven minutes we are commonly advised to aim at but, as you will see, he was responding to how he felt the Holy Spirit was moving him, particularl as it was his last sermon at the end of his placement at St Michael's parish, Marquette, before his return to Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

Please pray for all those preparing for service as priests.

Here is the text of his sermon:

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C – Is 66:18-21; Heb 12:5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30

First of all, I want to express my gratitude to you for showing me kindness during my stay here this summer, especially to Fr. Larry and Fr. Ben for teaching me many things and letting me tag along on many ministry opportunities…  On Wednesday, I’ll be heading back to Detroit for my final year in the seminary…Please keep praying for us!  Since this is my last weekend with you, I was hoping the Lord would give me some easy readings to preach on…but, he hasn’t…but I hope I can help us see the joy that is in God’s Word today!

During his long life, the prophet Isaiah saw his own people committing horrible infidelities…at the time of our first reading from Isaiah, Manasseh was king in Jerusalem, and the situation was dreadful…Manasseh not only had an image of a pagan goddess erected in the temple…he also set up altars to offer child sacrifice to her, even burning his own son upon one of these altars as an offering.  Even worse, he set up pavilions within the Temple for “sacred” prostitution, in which both men and women were exploited for the sake of pleasure, which they thought to be divine.

And so, the Lord sent Isaiah to declare that the Lord was coming to destroy Jerusalem for their evil deeds…and send them into exile…and that’s what soon happened.

For denouncing what he saw, Isaiah was killed… But before this happened, he spoke what we just heard in the first reading…that the Lord would soon set a sign among his people, a sign by which they could see his glory, and that by this sign men and women would be brought to the Lord as pure offerings in Jerusalem…no longer exploited…This sign, we know, is the body of Jesus Christ, offered in sacrifice on the Cross…through his body we can see the glory of God and also the meaning of our own bodies…that our bodies are to be those clean vessels which we offer to God and through which his glory is seen…

Scripture shows that Jesus’ body is the sacrifice that fulfills all the sacrifices of animals and food the Jews used to make…In the gospel today, Jesus calls his body the “narrow gate” through which we must pass if we want to enter the kingdom of God…What Jesus offered to the Father and what we’re now to offer to the Father is our own body…Jesus says in the gospels and at every Mass, “This is my body which is given for you” (Lk 22).  St. Paul tells us in Romans, “I urge you, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God…Do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness” (Rom 12; Rom 6).

So we don’t come empty-handed to the Lord when we come to Mass…We’ve been baptized into Jesus’ body so that we too can come here to the altar and offer our own bodies to the Father with His, and we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus so that our bodies too can be the glory of God…

So how do we do this?  The first thing is to recognize that our bodies are holy because they are joined to the body of Jesus Christ, who is God…St. Paul says, “You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you…And the temple of God, which you are, is holy” (1 Cor 3).

The second thing is to recognize what your body is made for…It’s simple, really…Our body is made for giving…It’s created in the image of God, Who is an eternal exchange of love…Love seeks to give itself…the Father giving himself fully to the Son, who receives all and returns all to the Father…the Holy Spirit is the very love between them…And so our bodies are created to make love visible…to make God visible in this world through the giving of our bodies to each other…

St. Paul helps us understand this awesome truth…When he speaks of marriage, he says, “The wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does” (1 Cor 7)…This may hit us as offensive, but it’s the reality of what marriage is…making God visible through the man offering his body to his wife, and the woman offering her body to her husband…to be lifelong servants to each other…and most fully in marital intercourse, the “consummation” of your offering…

Also, St. Paul says in Ephesians, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her…Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no man ever hates his own body, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his body” (Eph. 5). 

Scripture says you are one body in marriage…and you glorify God by cherishing each others’ bodies as a gift to you…husbands, your wife’s body is offered by her to you to honor and protect and defend as you would your own body, and the Cross is the standard Christ has set as to how far you must go to defend her…

It’s in this context that we speak of the virtue of chastity…Chastity means living a life of respect for the body…It means expressing our sexual desires with respect for the dignity and purpose of our body…

When we know this, then, we can understand why Christians should take issue with things like “birth-control” pills and condoms…and sterilization…These are offenses against the dignity of our bodies…which are to be cared for and nourished and cherished, not sterilized…

I want to share some passages from this booklet by Crystalina Evert…She and her husband Jason travel the country speaking about chastity…She was 24 when she wrote this booklet, Pure Womanhood.   She writes, “Out of fear of getting pregnant, I went on the birth control pill and later took the shot.  But something happened in me.  Each time I popped a pill or took the shot, I felt like part of me was dying.  I suppose that when we disrespect our bodies in a relationship, we become careless with our bodies in other ways.  We even begin to act against our bodies.  It’s like we start to separate ourselves from our bodies.”  Notice her perception that acting against her body violates her dignity…

She goes on, “Here I am, sixteen years old and perfectly healthy but taking drugs to make me sexually available.  The drugs made me nauseous, moody, depressed, and bloated.  I remember asking myself again and again, “Why am I putting myself through this?”  I knew it wasn’t for me, but I still had no answer.  There was just confusion and darkness.  My boyfriend wasn’t much help, saying, ‘Oh, just try it a little longer.  It’ll be OK.’  In other words, ‘I don’t care if you hurt your body.  If I can have sex without responsibility, life is great.’  The birth control companies tell you it’s liberating, but ‘enslaving’ would be a better description…” 

Here we have the real issue…that a woman knows she’s to be treated with respect, body and soul…Every woman I’ve ever talked to is longing for what St. Paul speaks about, someone to cherish and defend her body as God’s made her…I’ve seen girls wearing those t-shirts that say ‘Princess.’  It’s as if every woman has this longing to be adored and cherished like one, and that desire is real, because our Heavenly Father is the King, and the daughter of the King truly is a princess.  If you don’t know that, start to believe it today!

Crystalina continues, “Contraception not only turns you against your own body, but it often causes resentment toward men in general.  I used to say, ‘Guys have no clue what it’s like to be sixteen and have to flip over a pregnancy test!’  It’s true: Guys would probably act differently about sex if they were the ones who could get pregnant.  On the other hand, no man will ever know what it’s like to hold a new life within him.  A woman’s fertility is a gift, not a curse.  MTV, Panned Parenthood, and Cosmo would have us believe that pregnancy is some kind of disease.  They endlessly promote shots, patches, and pills to spay us.  They never tell us the whole truth about birth control: the increased risk of breast cancer, that the pill and the show often cause abortions when the baby is only about a week old without the mom ever knowing it. They often tell us we need the pill for medical reason without telling us that there are usually other alternatives…By refusing contraception, you’re loving your body, you’re loving your present or future husband, and most importantly, you’re loving your God.” 

These words spoken from a woman who’s known the alternative to chastity and found only self-loathing…

Now, the Church doesn’t teach that you have to have as many babies as physically possible…There are legitimate reasons for wanting to space the births of children…God wants you to have as many children as your circumstances allow, no more and no less…This takes prayer and mutual conversation to know…But resorting to contraceptive pills and condoms cuts off the opportunities for this conversation to happen.  There are completely accurate ways for a woman to monitor and know when she’s fertile, usually only about 7-9 days a month…If you need to postpone having a child, there’s no need to take a pill to manipulate your body...Out of respect for your body, spouses can abstain from intercourse during that one week a month rather than do something that would compromise the offering of your bodies fully to each other...

So what about those who aren’t married?  As married couples offer their bodies to each other, we who aren’t married offer our bodies directly to God…If not married, our body is set apart for the Lord…and we’re not to join our bodies to someone whom God hasn’t given us to be our spouse, and who hasn’t offered themselves completely to us as our spouse…St. Paul says, “The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.  You are not your own, for you have been purchased at a price.  Therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6)…

The problem with being sexually active outside of marriage is that it’s a sham of true love.  It’s always filled with hidden fears and manipulation because there’s not the security that comes with the vows of marriage.  Listen to the words of Crystalina Evert again, “There’s no peace until there’s total love.  I lived with a constant fear of getting pregnant, getting caught, getting infected, and getting used…it was always there…I began to numb my conscience and value the gift of my body less and less.”

But Scripture says, “Perfect love casts out every fear.”  Without the security of the total gift of self in marriage, women are often left with this fear…fear of getting hurt, fear of being used and abused…and that is not love…It’s not what they deserve…If there’s any fear in our relationships, that’s a sure sign something’s not right.

Crystalina continues, “A girl knows she’s being used if she’s afraid to say no and draw the line, b/c that would be a test of his love…So, she just goes along, dreaming that things will change.  But purity will never ruin loving relationships.  If it is based on lust, purity will end it.  But if it’s based on love, purity will save it.”

There’s a lot of fear these days, too, of diseases.  Despite all the promotion we hear about “safe sex,” the idea that we can give away our bodies outside of marriage and not get hurt is an illusion.  We’re made for the security of total love, not for fear!  And all the “security” offered from “safe sex” is no security at all.  “Using protection” can’t guarantee protection against human papilloma virus, Chlamydia, or herpes, the most common STD’s that cause cervical cancer, infertility, and a lifetime of infection.  Besides, we’re not making visible God’s total love when we have to ‘protect’ and put barriers up between us first…

Now, women, you really do have power in this arena.  Listen again to Crystalina, “By the way we dress, by the way we carry ourselves, we can invite a man to be a gentleman or a beast.  Plain and simple, women teach men how to treat them…The fact is that every guy has the ability to be a pure gentleman.”  Right, men?  We do.  And we enjoy the challenge of it…  “But why should he go to the trouble?” she continues, “If he can get all the physical benefits of marriage without even knowing a girl’s last name, don’t expect him to pop the question anytime soon, much less woo her with real romance…We can either keep blaming the guys or do something about it and have the courage to bring out the best in them… You’d be surprised what guys are capable of when a girl expects to be treated with dignity.”  And men, this is our mission, to cherish women and not use them or see them as something to be conquered…

She continues, “Imagine if every woman on earth began to be pure and respect her body and her future husband.  Sure, plenty wouldn’t have dates next weekend, but the guys would figure out pretty quickly that if they want female company, they have to be gentlemen…If the standard is “sex is for marriage,” there’s no debating when marriage takes place: Either he’s your husband or he’s not.  If a man loves a woman, he’ll wait for her.  Not only that, he’ll wait with her, because he’ll focus on guarding her purity as well as his own…The challenge of purity builds in us the character and class that good men look for in a bride.”  And men, I think we’d agree.

Now I know that this may not sound that appealing…but chastity has a purpose.  It frees us to set our goals and dreams in life so that we know what our passions are and how God wants us to use our gifts…Being chaste and single doesn’t mean being alone; it means having an opportunity to learn to live for others.  If you’re called to marriage, then by giving yourself fully to God now, you’ll be able one day to give yourself fully to your future spouse when you marry.  Focus now on deepening friendships…and if you feel lonely, turn to God and cast all your cares on him.  Trust God with your heart and with your body.

So then, finally, what about people who experience same-sex attraction (SSA)?  They too are called to offer their bodies to God to glorify Him in their bodies…If you experience SSA, your body belongs to Jesus Christ as much as mine…For the sake of heaven, out of love for Him, Jesus beckons you, too, to offer Him your body, your love, your desires, and place all your hope for fulfillment in Him…

The world tells people with SSA that they have two options: either hide in the closet in fear or come out, embrace your identity, and sleep with whoever you want…But the Church offers an alternative…to acknowledge your attractions, but then live a pure life in loving service to others…and there’s a home for you in the body of Christ…in the Church!

Someone who has these attractions may not want them, or even know where they’re coming from or how they began…But no matter what our feelings may be, our bodies are made for union with the complementary sex…I know it seems that by saying they can’t marry each other, we’re banishing them to a lonely and loveless existence…but I’ve known and talked about this with seven men and one woman who experience SSA, and each one of them speak of the lonely, loveless existence they lived when they were sexually active, going from one partner to the next in search of love…they say that it wasn’t until they stopped this and started to live chastity that they actually developed real friendships with others that  broke into their loneliness…

We don’t believe that we can simply change our attractions by an act of the will…Although our sexual  desires can be hard to control and may not be something we can change, with the strength that comes from God’s grace we can control what we do with our desires…We all experience the same struggle of having sexual desires, but for love of Jesus choosing to respect the dignity and meaning of our body and others’ bodies…There’s nothing sinful about having sexual desires, toward either sex…They attract us to others and move us out of ourselves into love…And for those who aren’t married, this means a life of generosity toward friends, family members, our parish, and toward meaningful work for the good of others…People with SSA, too, have many gifts and passions and goals in life that serve to build up the kingdom of God on earth…

The people who I know with SSA have discerned their gifts and found where God’s calling them to offer their bodies…They’ve wrestled with God’s call to chastity and have accepted it…and their life is not lonely and loveless…One man I know said to me, “I heard God asking me, ‘Am I enough for you?’,” that is, “Can I be satisfied with God alone?”  He now sees his SSA as something that opened him to grace, because through his struggles, he heard his call to offer himself totally to God…He’s now teaching in a Catholic high school, giving himself to passing on the faith which he loves…He has many friends, and I’m happy to be one of them…Another man is a professional trombonist, working to build up culture through the art of music…Another has found joy in using his artistic gifts to serve people as an interior decorator… Another is giving his life to the sick as a registered nurse…The woman I know is a physical therapist downstate, dedicating her life to serving children with disabilities...They’re all finding fulfillment in living the call to chastity and respect for their bodies…

So chastity does involve discipline, but it brings the peaceful fruit we heard about in our second reading…a way of life that brings peace, freedom, respect, and relationships without regrets…

So how can we stay pure?  First, humbly admit it when there’s a problem, and don’t give in to discouragement!  Instead, set reachable goals.  Avoid situations that lead to impurity, and get rid of any impure things you own.  If it’s porn, trash it, and get an internet filter.  Whatever your struggle, go to confession and be open and honest and receive the graces God wants to give you to live a life of chastity.  Listen to Crystalina.  She says, “Confession scared me to death, so I avoided it like the plague.  But I was only running from mercy.  It was only with the power of the Mass and the graces from confession that I was able to start over without turning back.  Following confession, I had a peace that no relationship ever seemed to offer.  Instead of being an occasion for embarrassment, the sacrament became an experience of joy.” 

Never abandon the Mass…and come pray before the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle.  Jesus’ example of “This is my body, given up for you,” is the antidote to our tendency to look at people and think, “This is your body, taken by me.”  Ask God for the gift of purity, especially when you feel tempted.  Ask Mary to teach you how to be a pure woman, or to teach you how to look at women with purity.  Offer up a fast for purity, for women, and for men.  Take advantage of good websites (www.chastity.com). Do something meaningful with your free time…St. Francis said, “Always be doing something worthwhile, then the devil will always find you busy.”  Finally, be patient with yourself.  John Paul II said that “chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently  for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness that it must bring.  But at the same time, chastity is the sure and narrow way to happiness.”

If we as Jesus, he’ll give us the gift of chastity…He’ll give us the grace to strengthen our drooping hands and our weak knees so that we can enter the narrow gate, because we are his sons and daughters!  John Paul II gives us a final encouragement, “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures.  We are the sum of the Father’s love for us.  No matter what has happened, you still have yourself to give.  You are still God’s unique creation, made by love and for love.”

Share |

Tweet

Raquel Welch blames the pill for breakdown in morals

In yesterday's Daily Telegraph, Simon Caldwell reports that the former Playboy favourite has distanced herself from the sexual revolution of which she was a protagonist. John Smeaton of SPUC compares her words as reported by Simon Caldwell:

Miss Welch said the widespread use of oral contraceptives had led to a breakdown in norms of sexual morality and fuelled the growth of rampant promiscuity among the young.

with those of Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae:

Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection. (HV17)

Will people listen?

Britain a 'top priority' for boy-size condoms

This from this week's edition of 'The Week':

Extra small condoms for boys as young as 12 are going on sale in Switzerland - and manufacturers are eyeing up Britain as their next potential target. The condoms, called Hotshot, were produced by Lamprecht AG, after studies showed that a growing number of 12 to 14-year olds were sexually active, but that a quarter of boys aged 13 to 20 found standard condoms too large. The firm says Britain will be a "top priority" if it expands abroad.

The sexualisation of our youngsters is big money. It will of course lead to more abortions for more young girls.

I see that this has already been widely reported. (Daily Mail, NY Daily News)

This is of course entirely in line with the Government's Every Child Matters "programme of change to improve outcomes for all children and young people... (taking) forward the Government's vision of radical reform for children, young people and families." and which is a key programme that all schools (Catholic schools included) in the UK are assessed on.