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Birth Control—Who Should Decide? You or the Church?Awake!—1989 | September 22
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A Dilemma for Sincere Catholics
How is the official Catholic ruling on birth control defined? Put simply, it declares that only “natural” methods of birth control are morally acceptable. The “natural” method was described by Pope John Paul II as “discerning the rhythms of human fertility and guiding . . . parenthood according to these rhythms.” Other forms of contraception are forbidden.
Clearly, many Catholics find the rhythm method impractical. Thus, they are obliged to follow either the dictates of their own conscience or the doctrine of their church. In most Western countries, pragmatic Catholics tend to ignore papal pronouncements, although not without some soul-searching. This is true even in predominantly Catholic countries.
A French priest explains: ‘Setting very high standards, not as directives, but in an absolute sense, leads to the existence of parallel churches: On the one side are those who lay down the law and a minority who obey. On the other side, a majority who do what they can or even decide to ride roughshod over these very complicated principles.’ In Spain over 60 percent ignore church teachings on birth control even though well over half of these consider themselves practicing Catholics. In Italy a recent poll indicated that less than 2 percent definitely align themselves with the official church position.
This enormous discrepancy between what the church teaches and what Catholics generally practice is not surprising in view of the conflicting opinions expressed by bishops, priests, and theologians on this question. While papal statements have been unequivocal, many high-ranking churchmen do not see the matter as clear-cut, some even speaking out openly against official dogma. Meanwhile, local priests, who have to counsel married couples, are often unwilling to make moral judgments in this regard.
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Birth Control—Who Should Decide? You or the Church?Awake!—1989 | September 22
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[Box on page 24]
Conflicting Voices
◼ Humanae Vitae (Encyclical of Pope Paul VI, 1968). The conjugal act ought to be “completely human, totally and exclusively open to the new life.”
◼ Pope John Paul II. “Contraception, judged objectively, is so profoundly illicit that it can never, for any reason, be justified. To think or to speak otherwise is tantamount to saying that there can be situations in which it is lawful not to recognize God as God.”
◼ Spanish cardinal Narcisso Jubany Arnau. “[It is] a grave sin to avoid fertility deliberately.”
◼ French Catholic bishops in a pastoral letter (1968). “Traditional wisdom dictates determining which is the most important duty before God in this particular case. The couple must make their decision after a long period of mutual reflection.”
◼ Catholic theologian Charles Curran. After the 1968 papal encyclical on birth control, Curran and some 600 other Catholic academics and church professionals issued a statement declaring that couples ‘were justified in following their own conscience.’
◼ An elderly French priest. “The church insists on speaking in terms that make it lose all its credibility. . . . It continues to lay down the law to the moon.”
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