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"The Church has always taught the intrinsic evil of contraception — that is, of every marital act intentionally rendered unfruitful. This teaching is to be held as definitive and irreformable. Contraception is gravely opposed to marital chastity; it is contrary to the good of the transmission of life (the procreative aspect of matrimony) and to the reciprocal self-giving of the spouses (the unitive aspect of matrimony); it harms true love and denies the sovereign role of God in the transmission of human life."
Pontifical Council for the Family, Vademecum for Confessors Concerning Some Aspects of the Morality of Conjugal Life, 1997.
Introduction
In this essay, I discuss the continuing crisis in the Catholic Church provoked by the teaching of the ordinary magisterium that individual acts of contraception in marriage are intrinsically evil. I explain why the resultant controversy in the Catholic Church is so serious and needs to be resolved as soon as possible. I discuss for whom and in what manner the magisterial teaching is controversial, and the harm being done as a result. I discuss the traditional approaches to this issue and explore whether there are any Scriptural references relevant to the problem. I discuss recent magisterial responses to the issue. I describe the main arguments and counter-arguments being put forward from both sides of the controversy and evaluate their relative merits. Finally I look at possible approaches to resolving the present controversy. I argue that Christian marriage is not something static with its own immutable moral laws, but something dynamic and constantly evolving with the changing nature of society in different cultures. Thus, norms that may have been valid in the past do not necessarily apply today.
In discussing contraception, I am referring to non-abortive contraception. Discussion of the possible abortive effects of some contraceptives is outside the scope of this essay, except that allegations that the contraceptive pill often functions to prevent implantation of a fertilised ovum are discussed.
An Annotated Bibliography is provided as a starting point for further research.
The controversy
The publication of Humanae Vitae, in 1968, precipitated a controversy [1] that is still continuing in the Catholic Church [2] . Dissent from the teachings of the papal magisterium and Vatican congregations on the matter of contraception is widespread [3] among the Catholic laity, clergy, theologians [4] and even bishops [5] . Included among the dissenting theologians have been men like Karl Rahner and Bernard Häring, recognised as the most eminent Catholic theologians of the twentieth century in their respective fields [6] . On the other side of the controversy are men like Germain Grisez [7] whose scholarly status, honesty and dedication to the Church are beyond doubt. An enormous amount of theological effort that could have been devoted to other pressing problems in the Church and the world has been expended on this controversy [8] .
In Western countries, it is estimated that up to 96% of fertile, sexually active Catholic women are using means of contraception condemned by the Vatican as intrinsically evil [9] . It is estimated that up to 80% of all Catholics dissent from the official Catholic teachings on contraception [10] . This has destroyed the credibility of the Catholic Church as a moral guide in matters of sexual and biomedical ethics [11] . It has caused a great deal of suffering to those trying to balance the demands of a committed marital union and the demands of parenthood with the teachings of the Church on contraception [12] . On the other hand, it has led to a mass exodus from the Church in some countries [13] . Cardinal Ratzinger recently stated that, in some German cities, only about eight percent of the population now call themselves Christians. [14] Of course, the controversy over contraception is not the only reason for that. European churches have been in decline since the mid eighteenth century, but the contraception controversy has certainly alienated many people. My personal observation from Catholics with whom I went to high school and people I have met over the past 40 years, is that Humanae Vitae alienated a major proportion of two generations of Australians from the Church. In the UK., among those still attending mass the use of the "individual confession" form of the Sacrament of Penance has declined dramatically [15] . My personal observation is that, in Australia, the decline started with the publication of Humanae Vitae. Married couples who continued to use contraception and refused to consider a change were denied absolution, so they just stopped going. To some extent this has had a good effect in focussing people on their total relationship with God, rather than a regular catalogue of individual sins and frequencies. However there are also undesirable effects. A recent publication indicates that many university students who have been educated at Catholic high schools see no purpose in feelings of guilt when they have caused harm to another person [16] .
The lack of credibility of the Catholic Church on sexual and biomedical ethics and the alienation of people from the Church means that the Church cannot function effectively as the moral guide so much needed in contemporary society. Research shows young people becoming sexually active in their early teens, or even earlier [17] , often with little understanding of the dangers involved. Cohabitation before marriage is becoming the norm despite good research evidence that cohabitation (as opposed to pre-marital sex in engagement [18] ) significantly increases the risk of failure of a future marriage. [19]
Also, recent research [20] has shown (unexpectedly) that one key characteristic of strong families over many cultures and nations is a firm religious commitment. Thus, the problems caused in the Church by the controversy over contraception may be weakening the very family values the Church should be striving to protect.
Pressure groups like Catholics for Contraception [21] and the Couple to Couple league have sprung up [22] and are publishing articles and advertisements sometimes containing definitive statements and accusations that have little respect for factual evidence [23] .
The preoccupation of Pope John Paul II with matters of sexual ethics and his perceived need to suppress dissent within the Church [24] have had very undesirable effects within the Church. Though the Pope is not himself a restorationist, a small but very active restorationist group has gained power in the Church, especially in Rome. [25] There has been serious interference from Rome in the affairs of national churches [26] . Bishops have been removed from their diocese or had all authority transferred to an "assistant" bishop [27] . Books have been burned and nuns forced to leave their congregations [28] . Dissenting Catholic laity have been threatened with excommunication [29] . Theologians have been "investigated" by the CDF or dismissed from their teaching positions [30] . These include leading theologians whose personal lives of humility, courtesy and piety have been an inspiration to many [31] . In the case of Charles Curran it has been suggested that his removal from Catholic University of America was in part because of his exemplary life style. The restorationists cannot admit that such qualities can exist in someone who dissents from official teachings [32] .
The collegial function of the world's bishops has come under attack, with Synod meetings in Rome dominated by the restorationists, with the bishops not permitted to raise issues of serious concern to the Church [33] . New "loyalty oaths" [34] are being imposed on teachers of theology and others holding office in the Church. Unilateral changes in Canon Law [35] have been introduced with the effect of stifling debate on disputed issues and previous Vatican teachings admitted to be non-infallible are now being described as "irreformable" [36] . "Corrections" have been introduced into the Catechism of the Catholic Church to remove a section that could be used to argue in favour of contraception [37] .All of this hinders ecumenical dialogue. [38]
All of the above adds up to a very serious crisis in the Church, but in the New Testament "crisis" also denotes a time of opportunity for a new beginning and a move towards the "kingdom" that has drawn near. We urgently need to find that way forward.
The relevance of Scripture
The Gen. 38:8-10 text on Onan is no longer considered to be a condemnation of contraception, but please note the comments of Häring (1989) on the long standing sacred duty to practice coitus interruptus in the service of preserving infant life among certain African nations.
Pope John Paul II has cited the accounts of the creation of man and woman in Gen. 1 and 2 as the basis for his meditations leading to his new "theology of the body" and "language of love". Pruss (2000) has cited Tobit 8:7 (And now, Lord, not out of lust do I take this kinswoman of mine, but in accordance with truth.) as part of the basis for his attempt to develop a new approach to the theology of contraception [39] .Pruss also cites Gen. 2:23, Gen. 2:24, Ex. 22:16, Lev. 18:22, The Song of Songs [as a whole], Mark. 10:8b-9, and 1: Cor. 6:15a.
One could also cite 1 Cor. 13 and 1 Cor. 8:9-12 on how to approach the current controversy, and texts such as Ezek. 34:1-10, Matt. 15:8-9 and Luke 11:46, on the misuse of spiritual authority.
However Cahill (1985) draws attention to the problems of applying historically conditioned biblical texts to contemporary moral problems, so great care is needed when arguing on the basis of such texts.
The history and current status of Papal and Vatican teaching on contraception.
Noonan (1965) has traced the history of teachings on contraception from patristic times up to 1965. Though contraception was condemned throughout that period, with varying degrees of severity, the reasons changed over time and, until the discovery of the human ovum in 1826, were based on an incorrect biology. There were many changes and reversals of teachings on the morality of various aspects of marital intercourse. [40]
Pope Pius XI's rejection, in Casti Conubii, of the use of contraception in marriage is well known, as is the support of that ban by Pope Pius XII. Pope John XXIII established and Pope Paul VI expanded a commission of lay experts, bishops, and theologians to advise on whether a change in the Church's teachings had become necessary.
It is well known that, in the Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae, Paul VI rejected the recommendation of the Papal Birth Control Commission [41] that the morality of contraception should be seen in the context of the totality of a marriage rather than in terms of individual acts.
Pope John Paul II has continued to defend the teaching that "every act must remain open to the transmission of life" [42] and to condemn contraceptive acts as intrinsically evil [43] . However, he has changed the basis of that ruling from a classical Natural Law approach to a new more personalist approach based on a further development of his philosophical treatise The Acting Person. In a series of Wednesday audiences from December 1979 to April 1980 [44] he drew on the Genesis stories of the creation of man and woman, taking them almost literally. He developed his theme further in Familiaris Consortio (1981) and in a further series of addresses from 11 July through 28 November, 1984 [45] (mostly in defence of Humanae Vitae).. He has developed a theology of the body [46] in which man and woman come to fulfil "the very meaning of their being and existence" through chaste marital intercourse which constitutes a special language of love in which the two persons give themselves totally to each other.
The nuptial meaning of the body is "the [body's] capacity of expressing love: that love precisely in which the person becomes a gift and - by means of this gift - fulfils the very meaning of his being and existence" (General Audience 1/16/80) [47] .
(One might wonder where this leaves celibate, or simply unmarried, people.) Somehow, not clearly explained, contraceptive marital intercourse is intrinsically evil because it overlays the language of love with a contradictory language by not accepting the fertility of the partner. This basic approach has been repeated and developed in the Encyclicals Familiaris Consortio and Veritatis Splendor in which a personalist approach [48] is combined with a Thomistic Natural Law approach [49] similar to that of Existential Thomism, rather than the Transcendental Thomism that emerged from Vatican II as the major Thomistic approach. [50] By adopting a more personalist approach John Paul II has addressed, in part, an objection to Humanae Vitae raised by McCormick in 1981 [51] .
The Pope's teaching in these talks and documents has not received widespread support from Catholic moral theologians, though some have welcomed it and adopted it in their own works [52] . Space does not allow a detailed analysis of the issues here My own conclusion from a study of the Pope's teachings and other documents cited here is that the Pope has constructed a beautiful and in many ways poetic model of marriage that has some aspects of an ideal to be moved towards [53] . However, he has not established that his model corresponds to the existential reality of marriage as lived in Western Society. The Pope may have unwittingly contributed to the argument in favour of contraction in marriage. In 1964, Paul Ricoeur wrote: "it is possible that a rational use of contraception can only succeed when men are spiritually aroused to the need for maintaining the quality of the sexual language." [54]
There are two negative aspects of the Pope's methodology that detract from his conclusions. Firstly, he seems to think that a certain asceticism is good for married couples [55] . John Paul II believes that they cannot truly give themselves to each other until they have achieved "self mastery" through asceticism. He does not realise how infrequently the opportunity for marital intercourse can arise for a busy couple caring for a young family. Secondly, he regards NFP as a perfect, almost saintly, way for a married couple to live [56] , thereby ignoring the firm empirical evidence that NFP is not for all couples and can be very damaging to a marriage [57] . Price (2000) argues that the fullness of the unitive power of martial intercourse can be experienced only by those who have received the grace of the sacrament.
A new Natural Law argument against contraception
In 1966 Germain Grisez and John Ford admitted that that the traditional Natural Law argument against contraception was unconvincing [58] . However Grisez, Finnis and others have, over the past two decades, developed a new approach to Natural Law which they claim rules out contraception [59] .
Grisez-Finnis base their new approach [60] on a set of "basic human goods" which are "the intrinsic aspects of personal full-being" and underlie all reasons for choosing and carrying out valid moral choices. Though based on human nature, the basic human goods are not determined from a study of human nature but are self-evident. Among them are "life" and "play". They "transcend any particular state of affairs that can instantiate them". They are open ended, so we can never exhaust them. They do not themselves determine moral norms which are determined in terms of the moral agent's attitude towards the basic human goods and are defined through a new model of human action.
The Grisez-Finnis approach has received a lot of negative criticism in the literature [61] with accusations that their definition of the basic human goods is arbitrary, their arguments are difficult to follow and their methodology leads to ridiculous conclusions. For example, their rule that a basic human good cannot be violated in order to achieve another basic human good is said to lead to the conclusion than one cannot morally rescue a drowning child (thereby achieving the basic human good of "life") if it would mean interrupting your golf game (thereby violating the basic human good of "play"). Grisez and Finnis have responded by claiming that some of their critics have misunderstood their approach [62] .
Concerning their argument against contraception, I must come down on the side of the critics. Grisez-Finnis consider a situation where a couple have a morally good, or even compelling, reason for not having another child. They concede that if they avoid the "coming to be" of a potential child by NFP they are refraining from doing something that may result in the child, whereas in contracepting they are taking positive action to prevent the coming to be of the child; but clearly they do not consider that argument as morally compelling [63] . Their argument hinges on what they see as two different attitudes towards the basic human good of "life". Granted that the possible coming to be of another child is "emotionally repugnant" to the potential parents, if the coming to be is avoided by NFP, the child is still a "wanted child" and the basic human good of "life" is respected. But if the coming to be of the potential child is avoided by contraception, the potential child is an "unwanted child" and the basic human good of "life" is violated. I cannot see that they have proved their point.
Other arguments against contraception.
According to various opponents of contraception, it will lead to:
· the destruction of marriages [64] :
· untold early abortions caused by the contraceptive pill [65] ;
· euthanasia;
· the death of Europe through under population [66] ;
· atheism [67] .
The last two arguments are difficult to defend. Also, it has not been established that marital contraception leads to a lack of respect for life that would justify euthanasia. The first two arguments require analysis.
There is not much empirical evidence on the effects of contraception on marriage stability, but the research that has been conducted indicates that contraception significantly lowers the probability of disruption of a marriage [68] and usually leads to greater happiness in marriages [69] . A recent publication of the Couple to Couple League [70] admits that they can find no research publications to support their expectation of a lower divorce rate among ordinary couples using NFP compared to those using contraceptives. There was a low (though not zero) divorce rate among the highly committed members of the Couple to Couple League who teach NFP.
Kippley (1996) and Zimmerman (1994) have stated that it is an established fact that the contraceptive pill causes untold early abortions through preventing implantation of fertilised ova. Independent studies of the research literature by Tonti-Filippini (1995) and Larimore (2000) could find no published research to support that claim, though both reseachers admit it as a theoretical possibility and have called for caution and further research. On the other hand Maguire (2001c) argues (somewhat ambiguously) that there is no evidence of prevention of implantation by 'emergency contraception', but he cites no research to support his argument [71] .
Arguments against the condemnation of contraception
· The condemnation has not been accepted as infallibly taught.
· The condemnation is against the sensus fidelium [72] .
This is supported by fact that the vast majority of the Church for over 30 years has held a different view and put it into practice in their lives.
· Pope John Paul I contradicted the Church's ban on in vitro fertilisation [73] , and made it clear that he would revise the teaching on contraception after wide ranging consultation [74] .
· NFP does not always have the personal and interpersonal benefits claimed by the magisterium.
It can in fact be very damaging to persons and marriages [75] . It has also been condemned as unnatural [76] . Price (2000) has argued that the natural cycle of nocturnal emission of semen in celibate males indicates the natural frequency that God intends for sexual intercourse in marriage. The strictest and most effective form of NFP restricts intercourse to every second day of a ten day period at the end of a woman's monthly cycle [77] . This not in accordance with the dynamics of a marital relationship.
· NFP and non-abortive contraception are not morally different.. This is my own version of the argument.
NFP uses a temporal barrier to prevent a fertile ovum from meeting a viable sperm. The detailed sequence of actions required by the sympto-thermal method ensure that that temporal barrier is in place. The couple themselves erect the temporal barrier by choosing not to have intercourse on days when the woman is considered fertile. Use of a condom erects a spatial barrier to the union of sperm and ovum. But modern physics shows that space and time are both components of the space-time continuum. May one place a barrier on one component but not the other? I think a viable argument could be developed along these lines.
· The reasons for change proposed by the Papal Birth Control Commission have not been shown to be wrong.
· The proportionalist approached developed primarily by Richard A. McCormick [78] , though condemned by the magisterium [79] , has not been proved wrong [80] .
· As discussed above, sociological research shows that contraception is associated with lower divorce rates and greater marital happiness [81] .
The fact that the vast majority of fertile, sexually active, Catholic women have continued to use contraception over the past thirty five years supports the sociological evidence.
· The immoral means adopted by Church authorities to suppress dissent detract from the credibility of the teaching.
· Though young Australian women have the world's highest per capita rate of usage of the contraceptive pill, a recent survey [82] shows that 92% of those young women expect that, at age 35, they will be either married or in a stable relationship and will have children. Similar international studies show that such expectations are usually achieved. The authors conclude that "Young women still aspire to family and children as did previous generations for whom easy access to contraception was not the norm."
Thus contraception does not seem to have destroyed traditional family values.
· It is accepted by the Church that a woman can suppress ovulation by heavy and continuous lactation over a long period in order to avoid another pregnancy. Why should her sister who is not physically capable of such sustained lactation not be morally able to produce the identical hormonal changes through a pill?
· In human beings, alone of all animals, couples can continue to enjoy the unitive effects of sexual intercourse after the woman's menopause. Why should not the time of menopause be medically brought forward for the good of the existing children and the marriage partners?
· Gudorf (1994) has argued that the positioning of the clitoris on the female human indicates that God intends sexual pleasure as an end in itself, separated from procreation (at least for women).
I think it may be hard to defend that argument.
But perhaps the most telling argument is as follows: In 1966 the correctness of the condemnation of individual acts of contraception was in a state of practical doubt and it remained so after Humanae Vitae [83] . More than 35 years later, given the non-reception of that teaching by the Church, it remains in a state of practical doubt. Given the serious suffering that can result to persons trying to implement the teaching of the magisterium in their own marriages, it is immoral for the magisterium to try to enforce acceptance of that teaching when it is not absolutely proven that it is in conformance with the will of God [84] .
The weight of evidence
While neither side of the controversy has been able to definitively prove the validity of its viewpoint, the weight of evidence reviewed above is heavily in favour of rejecting the thesis that every individual act of non-abortive marital contraception is always and everywhere, intrinsically evil.
Possible ways of resolving the controversy
It would. seem that the most viable approach for those wishing to gain acceptance of the teachings of the magisterium would be to establish that there is a real difference between NFP and contraception and that the difference is morally normative. Perhaps this could come from further development of the Grisez/Finnis approach to Natural Law. So far, as discussed above, the arguments are unconvincing.
On the other hand, Arraj (1989) has attempted the opposite approach in trying to show that there is no real difference between non-abortive contraception and NFP. Since the Church accepts NFP he argues, it can accept non-abortive contraception.
I suggest an alternative, and in some ways new, approach. In 1944 the Holy Roman Rota ruled that a valid marriage could be contracted solely in terms of the procreative aspect. "to the positive exclusion" of the unitive aspect [85] . In 1970, the Rota reversed that ruling and ruled that lack of love in a marriage is the same as lack of consent. [86] What had changed? Was it just the understanding of the Rota? I claim that it was the existential reality of marriage in Western Society that had changed, though the Rota may have been slow to acknowledge the change.
In Old Testament times God permitted polygamy. In that society and in other primitive societies with a high male death rate, polygamy may be essential to the survival of the race. In societies with a high perinatal mortality, contraception could also be a threat to the survival of the race. However, Häring (1989) points to an example of the use of coitus interruptus in the service of preserving infant life. So, can we admit that the existential reality of marriage is an evolving historical reality with different characteristics depending on place and time. May it not be then that we have fulfilled the command of Gen.1:28a to "fill the earth" and that contraception may become, not a sin, but a moral imperative? [87]
Rausch [88] has suggested 11 "principles" that are really preconditions for an effective dialogue to resolve the current controversy in the Church. I agree with Rausch's "principles", but the fate of Cardinal Bernadin's "Catholic Common Ground Initiative" in the USA [89] indicates that such a dialogue cannot take place without the leadership of the Vatican, which is unlikely to occur in this papacy.
Conclusion
I have shown why the continuing controversy over contraception is seriously damaging to the Church and needs to be resolved as soon as possible. I have analysed the arguments being presented on both sides of the controversy and have concluded that the weight of evidence is against the claim that non-abortive contraception is always, and everywhere, intrinsically evil. I have suggested some possible approaches to resolving the controversy.
There is firm evidence that Pope John Paul II is not one to listen to the opinions of others or to be influenced by empirical evidence [90] . Thus, I think we will have to wait until after his death for real progress in resolving the conflict. Häring expected a rapid change with a new papacy [91] , though Curran [92] thinks the process will be a slow one.
There are some hopeful signs. Cardinal Ratzinger has called for simplification of the Church, with a return to the essentials [93] . On the questions of sexual ethics he has said: "Perhaps too much has been said and too often in this direction – and without the necessary connection of truth and love." [94] Also the Vatican press office recently released an official response to a UN claim that the Vatican had softened its opposition to UN population control policies [95] . The Vatican response [96] stresses that its stance had not changed and that it remains firmly opposed to abortion. "The Holy See has opposed the promotion of so called 'emergency contraception' because it considers such material as an abortifacient." It makes no mention of opposition to non-abortive contraception. Are we perhaps being prepared for a change early in the next Papacy?
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Annotated Bibliography
Alphonsian Academy, 1998, Father Bernard Häring Professor at the Academy 1949 – 1987, posted on the World Wide Web by members of the Alphonsian Academy, Rome, following Häring's death in 1998.
http://www.alfonsiana.edu/In%20Memoriam/EN%20-%20IM%20Haring2.htm
States that Häring is regarded by many as the foremost Catholic moral theologian of the 20th century. Provides a brief history of his life, pastoral work and seminal contributions to moral theology. Mentions his public disagreement with Humanae Vitae and subsequent investigation by the CDF. Stresses his humility and gentleness and his saintly lifestyle. "His presence exuded prayer and holiness".
Anonymous, 1999, "Obituary of Cardinal Basil Hume", The Tablet, Saturday, 26 June 1999, (the Editor):
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi?tablet-00294
Arraj, James, 1989, Is There a Solution to the Catholic Debate on Contraception?, Online Edition http://www.innerexplorations.com/catchtheomor/is.htm
This is an extremely lengthy article occupying 88 A4 pages, excluding Bibliography of 8 pages. Only a few major points will be summarised here.
Arraj contrasts "essentialist" approaches, concentrating on the nature of the act of sexual intercourse and stressing procreation, with an "existentialist" approach concentrating on the lived experience of contemporary marriage. He argues that these two approaches can be brought together by realising that we are not bound by natural law based on the original state of humanity because we are now living in a fallen-redeemed state. He holds that both NFP and contraception are against nature "as essence" but are permitted in our fallen redeemed state. A long attempt to justify this viewpoint based on Thomistic theology follows. He argues that there is no objective difference between NFP and contraception. Since the church accepts and even promotes NFP, it can also change its teaching on contraception.
Berry, Brian, 1999, "Roman Catholic Ethics: Three Approaches", This article first appeared in the March 1999 issue of Catholic Practice, the E-Magazine of PastoraLink, which is no longer on line, It can now be found on:
http://www.mcgill.pvt.k12.al.us/jerryd/ligouri/berry.htm
Berry discusses the deontological approach of Grisez, and "proportionalism" as chiefly represented by Richard McCormick. He then discusses "virtue ethics" a third major development since Vatican II. "Unlike deontology and revisionism, this approach does not focus on human actions, but on being a certain kind of person. In fact, virtue ethics criticises deontology and revisionism for focusing on actions and neglecting the importance of moral character. It argues that morality is as much about who we are as about what we do. Who we are extends into what we do and do not do, and what we do and do not do shapes the kind of persons we become."
Bertels, Ruth, undated, Father Bernard Haring – Part I,
http://www.takingfive.com/fatherbernardharing.htm
Documents Häring's heroic pastoral work during World War II and its influence on his subsequent theology.
Best, Kim, 1998, "Contraception Influences Quality of Life", Network, Vol. 19, No. 4, Summer 1998. Also available on:
http://www.fhi.org/en/fp/fppubs/network/v18-4/nt1842.html
Best reports that international studies have identified many benefits from marital contraception. On the link between marital contraception and marriage stability, Best reports the results of Kritz and Gurak (1997 version) and also reports that: "Contracepting couples in the Zimbabwe study described more peace and happiness in their homes than couples who were not using contraceptives. In the Cochalamba, Bolivia, study, current users of contraceptives were more likely than non-users to report better relationships with their partners." However some studies showed that use of contraceptives by a wife caused marital tensions where the husband or older relatives disapproved of contraception.
Birth Control and the Catholic Church, 2000, Birth Control and the Catholic Church: A Divisive Teaching in Need of Revision, is a web site with main page last updated 17 July, 2000, though there are links to more recent publications.
The URL is http://members.aol.com/revising/front.html
The site editor states:
"Note to Students: Many of the e-mails we receive inquire of the author of the web site for purposes of citing material
from this web site in an essay or research paper. As noted on the Home Page, however, the contributors to this web site have chosen to remain anonymous--mostly because they work for the Catholic Church and would probably lose their jobs if their identity was known. All of them have doctorate degrees, however, and are experts in biology, moral theology, and Church history."
This site contains links to the following articles:
· Theological Discussion (ongoing)
· A Short History of Catholic Teaching on Birth Control
· Why the Pope Really Said "Nope"
· Natural Law and Human Sexuality
· Pope John Paul II and the "Language of Love"
· Natural Family Planning and Artificial Contraception: Are They the Same?
· Can the Present Teaching Be Changed?
· Is Artificial Contraception a Mortal Sin?
· Birth Control and Marital Chastity
· Birth Control and Society
· Summary and Conclusions
Brumley, Mark, 1999, "Germain Grisez Explains It All (Well, Almost)", The Catholic Faith, March/April 1999.
http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Faith/MARAPR99/books.html
In this article Brumley reviews the book The Way of the Lord Jesus, Vol. 3: Difficult Moral Questions , by Germain Grisez, Franciscan Press, Quincy, IL. Brumley (whose own religious tradition is Judaism) reviews Grisez's book favourably, but with a few reservations. I have not read the book in question, but from a lengthy example quoted by Brumly I have one reservation about Grisez's approach.
The case study in question concerns twin brothers who have ceased to communicate because of differences over teachings of the Catholic magisterium. One brother is "conservative". The other is a "dissenter" guided by the writings of Charles Curran.
Grisez points out that there is fault on both sides and suggests practical steps towards reconciliation, but he "bluntly" tell the dissenting brother: "Examine your conscience, repent of your dissent, and then go and be reconciled with your brother."
This shows little respect for the conscience of the dissenting brother, which is an informed conscience based on study of the issues. Much less does it admit the possibility that the dissenting brother might ultimately be proved correct.
Bryson, Lois, Stefani Strazzari and Wendy Brown, 1999, "Shaping Families: Women, Control and Contraception, Family Matters No. 53, Winter 1999, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Bushman, Douglas, 2000, "How Contraception Destroys Marital Friendship", Third Millennium Perspectives, August 1, 2000.
http://www.interx.net/~mbrumley/contra.htm
Douglas Bushman, S.T.L., is director of the Institute for Religious and Pastoral Studies of the University of Dallas. He is also author of In His Image, an adult faith enrichment program published by Ignatius Press.
Burghardt, Walter, 2000, Long Have I Loved You: A Theologian Reflects on His Church, Orbis Books, Mary Knol, New York, 2000.
Burghardt was for many years, the editor of the Jesuit Journal Theological Studies. This autobiographical work traces his own development as a theologian and links it to important events in the Church at each stage of his life. His Chapter 11: "From the Apostle Paul to John Paul II: Crisis in the Church", comments upon changes in US society and in the US Church and on the current problems of dissent from teachings of the magisterium. I draw on Burghardt's discussion (p. 343) of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin's efforts, via the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, commencing in 1996, to bring American Catholics into dialogue on the issues polarising and paralysing the US Church.
The dying Cardinal commission a founding document, Called to Be Catholic: The Church in a Time of Peril summarising the current problems in the Church. Bernadin intended that document to be the basic for the hoped-for dialogue and his initiative was well received by many American Catholics. However, shortly after publication of the document, four US Cardinals, Law, Maida, Bevilacqua and Hickey, expressed reservations about such an initiative being undertaken except under the leadership of the Vatican and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Byrne, Lavinea, 1999, Timely Virtues, the Haring Lecture, Margaret Baufort Institute of Theology, 20 October, 1999
http://www.laviniabyrne.co.uk/haring_lecture.htm
Reviews the life and publications of Bernard Haring, his pastoral experience and development a theologian and teacher. Häring "wrote about what he called 'covenant morality', the life of faith of a whole community , rather than of individuals." In Called to Holiness (1982) Haring wrote: "I am only one voice in a great choir that sings out the invitation on the Lord, 'become a truthful image of God.'" He died in 1998 "after what his students called 'a courageous life, dedicated to love, faith, truth and human dignity.'".
Byrne, Lavinea, 2000, The Journey is My Home, Hodder & Stoughton, London, Sydney, Auckland, 2000.
Chapters 7 to 12 (pp. 103-200) document how Lavinea Byrne's book Woman at the Altar was burned on orders from the Vatican and how, despite support for her from Cardinal Hume, she was forced to leave her religious order after refusing to sign documents acknowledging her agreement with Humanae Vitae and the Vatican's teachings against the priestly ordination of women.
Callea, Michael, 2001, Human Sexuality: God's plans vs, a modern alternative", Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Aug/Sept 2001
http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Homiletic/2001-09/noting.html
Argues that marital contraceptors treat sex as "the mere experience of various kinds of enjoyment" rather than an expression of self giving love. Please click on the hot link under GOD AND SEX."
Cahill, Lisa Sowele, 1985, Between the Sexes: Foundations for a Christian Ethics of Sexuality, Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1985.
In Chapter 2, "The Bible and Ethics: Hermeneutical Dilemmas", Cahill draws attention to the problems of applying historically conditioned biblical texts to contemporary moral problems, and lays down some methodological guidelines. In Chapters 3, 4 and 5 she looks at biblical perspectives on human sexuality and gender roles considering both Old Testament and New Testament examples.
Catholics for contraception, undated.
Catholics for contraception have published a series of "Contraception in good faith" advertisements: (undated). These are accessible on:
http://www.cath4choice.org/contraception/faith1.pdf
http://www.cath4choice.org/contraception/faith2.pdf
http://www.cath4choice.org/contraception/faith3.pdf
http://www.cath4choice.org/contraception/faith4.pdf
http://www.cath4choice.org/contraception/faith5.pdf
Catholics for Contraception, circa 1998, Access to Family Planning Helps Women and Families: The Facts Tell the Story, Catholics for Contraception, Washington, DC,
http://www.cath4choice.org/contraception/access.htm
Access to contraception improves women’s health and well-being:
“It is estimated that 100,000 maternal deaths could be avoided each year if all women who said they want no more children were able to stop childbearing.” —World Health Organization: Health Benefits of Family Planning, 1995.
Also cites similar evidence from:
Johns Hopkins School of Health, Population Information Program: Population Reports, “Preventable Deaths, Avoidable Injuries,” Vol. XXV, No. 1, 1997
Also cites many other research studies showing that access to reliable contraception improves women's health and wellbeing and, through spacing of births, lowers infant mortality. [It could be argued that similar benefits could be obtained by strict NFP; but note other evidence in this bibliography that NFP can damage marriages.]
Catholics for Contraception, 1999, Catholics and Contraception: The Facts tell the Story, Catholics for Contraception, Washington, DC
http://www.cath4choice.org/nobandwidth/English/contraception/facts.pdf
http://www.cath4choice.org/contraception/catholics.html
96% of catholic women [in the USA] who have ever had sex have used modern contraceptives. Less than 3% of sexually active catholic women use church approved methods of contraception. Sexually active catholic women who attend church at least once per week or more use contraceptives at about the same rate as those who attend church only monthly, i.e. 73.5% compared to 75%. Source: 1995 National Survey of Family Growth.
Check, Paul N., circa 1997, "Wives be subject to your husbands": The authority of the husband according to the magisterium, Pontificio Ateneo Della Santa Croce Facolta di Theologia,
http://www.familylifecenter.net/html/resources/check2.html#V
Von Balthasar also examines the primacy of the husband from the standpoint of the conjugal act. He connects the authority of the husband with the fact that the man is the initiator in sexual intercourse while the woman is essentially receptive. According to von Balthasar, "it still remains true that absolute beginning lies in the progenitor--in the father--while the feminine principle, even as Magna Mater or as Mother Nature, can never be simply conceived as the beginning. In the Christian view of God, the begetting Father stands at the very source and origin of all things." Von Balthasar sees the man's role in procreation as a "distant analogy" to trinitarian and Christological self-giving. "But it is an analogy nonetheless; and this analogy allows us to acknowledge, even today, the truth contained in the statement that the husband is the head of the wife.
Churchwatch, 1998a, "Vatican orders books destroyed", Churchwatch, October 1998, call to action online,
http://www.cta-usa.org/watch10-98/vaticanorders.html
"Liturgical Press of Collegeville, Minn., has destroyed 1,300 copies of a 1994 book by Sr. Lavinia Byrne, IBVM that promotes women's ordination. The Benedictine monks who own the publishing house destroyed all unsold copies of "Woman at the Altar" by the well-known British theologian on orders from their local bishop, who got a directive from Cardinal Ratzinger's office in Rome."
Churchwatch, 1998b, "Pope helps women's equality". Churchwatch, October 1998, call to action online,
http://www.cta-usa.org/watch10-98/quotes.html
"Despite his resistance to equal roles for women in the Church, Pope John Paul II has dramatically changed church teaching toward women's equality in marriage, writes moral theologian Christine Gudorf in U.S. Catholic (July)".
"The Pope's 1988 letter on women makes 'a monumental move in church teaching' by insisting that the only subjection in marriage must be mutual between spouses. 'How many battered wives might find the courage to report or leave abusive husbands if they knew the church no longer taught unilateral wifely subjection?' asks Gudorf."
CIN, 1996,
Argues, on the basis of an analysis of human sexuality as distinct from animal sexuality, that the nature of human sexuality justifies the use of contraception. "Its essence, as human sexuality, is to join persons, to enable them to break out from their shell of loneliness and enter into a deeply intimate fellowship with other persons."
Coffee, Kathy, 2000, "It's time to end the hypocrisy over birth control". Original article appeared in the June 1998 issue of U.S. Catholic. URL is:
http://www.uscatholic.org/soundboard/1998/jun/bc2.html
Key paragraphs of the article follow:
It's high time we admit reality: no amount of railing or threatening from popes or bishops seems to affect people's decisions on the use of birth control made in good conscience. On this issue, people have learned to trust their own intuitions, faith understanding, and life experience. On other issues, they may let the church tell them what to do, but on this one they stand firm. Let's applaud their maturity instead of berating them for a supposed "defection." IIndeed, "defection" is the wrong word to use for such a rare and clear consensus, such a powerful demonstration of the sensus fidelium, the "sense of the faithful." Thirty years ago when Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Humanae Vitae, which condemned the use of any means of birth control other than the rhythm method, over 600 theologians signed dissenting statements. And ever since, the polls have consistently shown that the vast majority of the Catholic laity disagree with their church's official position and practice birth control in good conscience. To cite just two examples: A 1992 Gallup poll showed that 80 percent of U.S. Catholics disagreed with the statement "Using artificial means of birth control is wrong." And a 1996 study conducted by Father Thomas Sweetser for the Parish Evaluation Project found only 9 percent of Catholics who consider birth control to be wrong.
Kathy Coffey is the author of Experiencing God with Your Children and Hidden
Women of the Gospels, both from Crossroad Publishing.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1989, Profession of Faith and The Oath of Fidelity On Assuming An Office To Be Exercised In The Name Of The Church, 9 January 1989, AAS 81 (1989), 105. Published in L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 25 November, 1989.
Couple to Couple League, 1995, Marriage Stability and Natural Family Planning,
http://www.ccli.org/nfp/divorce.shtml
The Couple to Couple League has had many requests for data to support the claim that the practice of Natural Family Planning is associated with a very low divorce rate. We do not have the hard sociological data we would like to have about this relationship. The League administration has tried to get social scientists to study this matter, but thus far, while there has been interest in the subject, there has been no action.
CTA, 2002 , CTA Stronger after Nebraska bishop's censure.
http://www.cta-usa.org/watch5-96/ctastronger.html
"The saga began when Bruskewitz reacted to the establishment of CTA Nebraska by proclaiming that anyone among the 85,000 Catholics in his diocese who belongs to CTA or CTA Nebraska after May 15 faces automatic excommunication. He also banned membership in ten other organizations, including Planned Parenthood, Catholics for a Free Choice, and Masonic groups, but CTA was clearly his reason for acting now."
"No other U.S. bishop has joined Bruskewitz in the excommunication decree. Many, even conservatives, have called it a pastoral mistake. Cardinal Bernard Law's archdiocesan weekly in Boston editorialized that Bruskewitz should have consulted his fellow bishops, and said even Pope John Paul II invoked excommunication only as a last resort with schismatic Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Cardinal Bernardin of
Chicago said he likes CTA on some issues, disagrees on others, and always prefers dialogue to censure. Similar public statements came from the bishops of Denver, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Saginaw, MI, Kansas City, MO, Kansas City, KS, and Grand Island, NE. Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese, an expert on the U.S. hierarchy, predicted that the U.S. bishops would 'burn up the telephone wires talking about how they are going to handle Bruskewitz.' ".
"Call To Action USA (CTA) is an independent national organization of over 22,000 people and 40 local organizations who believe the Spirit of God is at work in the whole church, not just in its appointed leaders. We believe the entire Catholic church has the obligation of responding to the needs of the world and taking initiative in programs of peace and justice."
Curran, Charles, 1986, Faithful Dissent, Sheed & Ward, London, 1986.
Documents the events leading up to the dismissal of Charles Current from his tenured position at The Catholic University of America by order of the CDF. It includes copies of the following documents:
1. Statement from Curran's diocesan bishop, Matthew Clark, March 12, 1986, which states, in part: "Father Curran is a priest whose personal life could well be called exemplary. He lives simply and has a remarkable ability to combine a life of serious scholarship with a generous availability to a great variety of persons. My personal observation, supported by the testimony of many, is that Father Curran is a man deeply committed to the spiritual life. I am personally aware of his commitment and know by testimony of others that he is a respected spiritual guide for people who seek counsel in their journeys of faith.
As a theologian Father Curran enjoys considerable respect, not only in our diocese but across the country. He is unfailingly thorough and respectful in his exposition of the teaching of the church. Indeed, I have heard it said that few theologians have a better grasp of or express more clearly the fullness of the Catholic moral tradition."
2. Statement by Friends of American Catholic Theology, supporting Curran, signed by 20,000 people.
3. Statement signed by five former presidents of the Catholic Theological Society of America and 750 theologians, supporting Curran.
Curran, Charles, 1987, "Roman Catholic Sexual Ethics: A Dissenting View", Christian Century, December 16, 1987, pp. 1139-1142.
Curran says that the teaching of the magisterium on contraception has destroyed its credibility as a moral guide. He cites sociological research by Andrew Greeley which concludes that Humanae Vitae "seems to have been the reason for massive apostasy and for a notable decline in religious devotion and belief". He says that the vast majority of catholic moral theologians disagree with official teaching on sexual ethics and that the reaction of the magisterium has been to remove some dissenting theologians, including himself from their teaching positions. He discusses developments since Vatican II and also draws on material in a recent biography of Karl Rahner to illustrate some earlier controversies. Curran considers that "dissent from the authoritative noninfallible teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is an effort to support, not destroy, the credibility of the teaching office".
Curran, Charles, 1993, "Encyclical left church credibility stillborn", National Catholic Reporter, July 16, 1993 Vol. 29 No. 34, pp.14-15.
Curran, Charles, 1994, quoted in Luker (1994).
Curran, Charles, 1998, "Bernard Haring: a moral theologian whose soul matched his scholarship", National Catholic Reporter, July 17, 1998, Vol. 34 No.34, p.11.
Curran, Charles, 1999, The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis, Georgetown University Press, Washington DC.
1. On pp. 82-83, Curran discusses a significant change in the twentieth century in the Catholic approach to lying. Some authors see lying as a violation of my neighbour's right to truth. In the case of Nazi's seeking Jews in order kill them, those sheltering Jews could deny it without acting immorally, since the Nazi's had no right to the correct information. The 1994 edition of The Catechism of the Catholic Church adopted this relationship-responsibility approach to lying. However when the definitive Latin edition of the Catechism was published in 1997 the CDF made a "correction" to the text on lying removing references to he right to correct information. Curran claims that this was because the CDF had realised that a relationship- responsibility argument could be used to justify contraception.
2. On p. 222, Curran claims that the magisterium is preoccupied with the fear that any change in a moral teaching will open the way for "other changes including many seemingly far out proposals that circulate in today's world".
Curran, Charles, 2000, "Notes on Richard A. McCormik", Theological Studies, Sept. 2000, Vol. 61, p. 533 et seq.
A summary of the life and work of Richard A. McCormick, plus a small but useful bibliography.
Curran, Charles E. and McCormick, Richard A, (editors),1993, Dialogue About Catholic Sexual Teaching, Readings in Moral Theology No. 8, Paulist Press, New York, 1993.
Curran, Charles E. and McCormick, Richard A, (editors),1998, John Paul II and Moral Theology, Readings in Moral Theology No. 10, Paulist Press, New York, 1998.
Curran, Charles E. and McCormick, Richard A, (editors), 1999, The Historical Development of Fundamental Moral Theology in the United States, Readings in Moral Theology No. 11, Paulist Press, New York, 1999.
DeFrain, John, 1999, "Strong families around the world", Family Matters, No. 53, Winter 1999, pp. 6-13, Australian Institute of Family Studies.
"Perhaps the most controversial of our findings on strong families is the importance of religion or spirituality. Some families call this quality spiritual wellbeing. … The elusive concept called spiritual wellbeing, deep down, is about connection. Connection to each other and connection to that which is sacred to us in life." (p. 11.)
This paper can be down loaded from: http://www.aifs.org.au
Dejond, Thierry, 1996a, Contraception, Copyright (c) 1996 Eternal Word Television Network, Manassas, VA, FTP: EWTN.COM Telnet: EWTN.COM
URL: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARRIAGE/CONTRA.TXT
"The demographer Pierre Chaunu wrote: Since 1964--the take-off point for most European countries--we have arrived at a process of reproductive collapse never seen before in history...From a gradual death we are moving to an instantaneous death: Germany is dead; its situation is non-reversible (1.2 children per German woman, while an average of 2.1 children per woman is necessary to replace a generation). How is this implosion, this destruction, explained? The most blame apparently can be assigned to the contraceptive revolution which started in 1960."
Dejond, Thierry, 1996b, Contraception, Copyright (c) 1996 Eternal Word Television Network, Manassas, VA, FTP: EWTN.COM Telnet: EWTN.COM
URL: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARRIAGE/CONTRA.TXT
The first consequence - the most miserable, but one that at first escapes attention - is practical atheism. Whenever a man raises himself to the status of lord and master over life, to the role of "boss" over his own body, he ceases to recognize and acknowledge his dependence on God. Such a man fantasizes that he is creator, thereby mentally placing himself of God's throne. The person who does this becomes an atheist without even recognizing it. Such a person does not need to expressly deny God; he merely needs to accept a premise that is intrinsically sinful and materialistic rather than spiritual and holy.
Dombrowski, Daniel, and Robert Deltete (2001) quoted in Maguire (2001). These two philosophers from the Jesuit Seattle University consider that: "A rich spiritual life is not necessarily hindered by, and may actually be enhanced by, premarital sexual relations." Maguire regards their viewpoint as "simplistic".
Dunphy, William, (editor),1981, Marriage and the Mind of Christ: John Paul II, Genesis and Marriage, A.C.T.S. Publication No. 1742, February 1981, A.C.T.S. Publications, Melbourne.
This is an edited version of the text of Pope John Paul II's addresses concerning marriage from 10th December 1979 through 8th April 1980. In those addresses John Paul II, inspired by the words of Jesus in Matt. 19:4,9, returns to the stories of the creation of man and woman in Gen. 1:26 et seq. and Gen. 2:5 et seq.. Meditating upon those stories he develops a "theology of the body" including the "nuptial meaning of the body" and God's plan for it in the procreation of children. Mankind's original innocence is lost through original sin, but this does not change the nuptial meaning of the body and its implications for marriage as a permanent relationship of self giving and of supreme joy in which, in the union of bodies sinful but redeemed by Christ, a couple submit themselves to "the blessing of fertility". Man and woman are created for marriage and in the mystery of procreation we have a "primordial sacrament" in which man and woman become co-creators with God. Thus it is a matter of the utterly sacred. Through marriage and procreation sinful but redeemed humanity still share in the first vision of God that all of creation was "very good". Marriage is the path to "the redemption of the body".
Fertilityuk.org,, undated, Interpretation of the Sympto-Thermal Chart, http://www.fertilityuk.org/nfps410.html
Explains how the composite chart of the complete sympto-thermal method of NFP, (including date, temperature, mucus pattern and changes in the cervix) is to be interpreted.
Finnis, John, and Germain Grisez, 1981/1991, "The Basic Principles of Natural Law: A Reply to Ralph McInerny", in Natural Law and Theology, Readings in Moral Theology No. 7, Charles E. Curran and Richard A. McCormick (editors), Paulist Press, New York, 1991, pp. 157-170. Originally published in American Journal of Jurisprudence, 1n 1981.
Finnis and Grisez argue that McInerny's criticism of their new approach to Natural Law is due the his misunderstanding of their methodology and to his reading into their publications attitudes that they have never supported.
Finnis, John, Joseph M. Boyle, Jr., and Germain Grisez, 1987/1999, "A Sounder Theory of Morality", in Curran and McCormick, 1999, pp. 200-218. Originally published in John Finnis, Joseph M. Boyle and Germain Grisez, Nuclear Deterrence, Morality and Realism, Clarendon, Oxford ,1987.
This paper provides a summary of the new approach to Natural Law developed by Grisez and Finnis which they claim goes beyond both teleology and deontology. It introduces the idea of "basic human goods" which are the "intrinsic aspects of personal full-being" and are held to be self evident. They "transcend any particular state of affairs which can instantiate them" and are open ended, so we can never exhaust them. They underlie all the reasons for choosing and carrying out valid moral choices. Examples of basic moral goods are:
1. Truth and friendship.
2. Life – its maintenance and transmission – health and safety.
3. Knowledge and aesthetic experience.
4. Excellence in work and play.
5. Harmony, integration and community (fellowship).
How, they ask, can there be bad choices? The choice of a particular option is never rationally necessary, otherwise there would be not conflict between choices. Every rational choice is based on some intelligible good, but virtually every choice has some negative impact on some other good or goods. Consequentialism does not provide the answer since one can never fully evaluate all consequences of alternative choices. So, "how can basic human goods mark the moral distinction between choosing well and choosing badly?" (p. 205)
For these authors, the answer lies in the attitude of the moral agent towards the basic Human goods. The first moral principle is :"Morally right choices are those that can be made by one whose will is disposed towards the entire moral foundation with the attitude of appreciation" which includes respect, for and impartial interest in, all of the basic human goods in all their connotations. (pp. 206-207)
One cannot immediately derive concrete moral norms from the first moral principle, but "it does imply intermediate principles from which specific norms can be deduced." Among these is the Golden Rule [i.e., treat others the way you would like to be treated.. This precept is found in all of the world's major religions and philosophies. See: http://www.fragrant.demon.co.uk/golden.html ].
In order to see how moral norms are deduced from the intermediate principles, a new model of human action is needed.
Gordon, David, 1999, "New But Not Improved", The Mises Review, Winter 1999.
http://www.mises.org/misesreview_detail.asp?control=129&sortorder=issue
This article is a very unfavourable review of Robert P. George's book In Defense of Natural Law (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1999) and of the natural law theory of Grisez and Finnis that underpins the book. Gordon sees the selection of basic goods by Grisez and Finnis as arbitrary and finds George's arguments based on the approach of Grisez and Finnis almost impossible to follow. I have the same problem with some of the writings of Grisez and Finnis on natural law.
Grisez, Germain, Joseph Boyle, John Finnis and William E, May, 1988/1993, NFP: Not Contralife, in Curran and McCormick (eds.) (1993, pp. 126-134). This article first appeared in Humanae Vitae, a Defense, 1988.
. Grisez and his colleagues consider a situation where a couple have a morally good, or even compelling, reason for not having another child. They concede that if they avoid the "coming to be" of a potential child by NFP they are refraining from doing something that may result in the child, whereas in contracepting they are taking positive action to prevent the coming to be of the child; but clearly they do not consider that argument as morally compelling [97] . Their argument hinges on what they see as two different attitudes towards the basic human good of "life". Granted that the possible coming to be of another child is "emotionally repugnant" to the potential parents, if the coming to be is avoided by NFP, the child is still a "wanted child" and the basic human good of "life" is respected. But if the coming to be of the potential child is avoided by contraception, the potential child is an "unwanted child" and the basic human good of "life" is violated.
Gudorf, Christine E., 1994, Body, Sex and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics, The Pilgrim Press, 1994, p. 65, reprinted on:
http://www.uno.edu/~asoble/pages/gudorf.htm
A contemporary physicalist approach to natural law on sexuality must take into account that the female clitoris has no function save sexual pleasure--it has no reproductive, urological, or other function in the body. But the clitoris is the organ most sensitive to sexual pleasure. Within the twentieth century some commentators have suggested that the role of the clitoris is to provide pleasure to women as a reward for sex, as a way of ensuring the willingness of women to reproduce the species. But contemporary science has demonstrated that this attempt to link the sexual pleasure function of the clitoris to procreation is a failure. . . . Between 56 and 70 percent of women do not receive sufficient clitoral stimulation in coitus to reach the sexual satisfaction of orgasm; the majority require direct stimulation of the clitoris. That is, the procreative act does not itself stimulate pleasure sufficient to act as reinforcement for engaging in sex for the majority of women. If the placement of the clitoris in the female body reflects the divine will, then God wills that sex is not just oriented to procreation, but is at least as, if not more, oriented to pleasure as to procreation.
Gudorf, Christine E., 1995, "Don't cancel that guilt trip", U.S. Catholic, January 01, 1995. Reprint available on: http://www.smp.org/hs/printablepage.cfm?article=149
Gudorf reports her experience with young adult students who see no purpose in guilt feelings when they or others have done wrong. "I was astounded and dismayed. The majority of these students are practicing Roman Catholics with years of religious education, often from Catholic grade schools and high schools. How can such attitudes be compatible with models of conscience taught in Catholic religious education?"
Gudorf, Christine,1998, "Who says the church can't change? (Even when it comes to women)", U.S. Catholic, July 1998. Reprint available on: http://www.uscatholic.org/1998/07/change.htm
Gudorf reviews the development of a siege mentality in the Catholic Church following the reformation and the great changes initiated by Vatican II. She sees constant change and development as essential for the church, since institutions that do not change die. She then reviews the significant changes in the church's approach to the role of women initiated by Paul VI and especially by John Paul II, with all liturgical offices except that of the priest [and deacon?] now open to women.
"Changing historical contexts also mean that new perspectives arise that allow the church to better recognize long-standing evils to which earlier church communities had been blind. The church's rejection of slavery and the subjection of women are examples. Neither suddenly became evil after having been morally good or neutral for hundreds or thousands of years; what changed was the moral perspective the church used for interpreting the reality." (p. 10)
Gudorf, Christine, 2001, cited in Maguire (2001b).
Christine Gudorf suggests that within a generation or two the hierarchical magisterium will be forced by population and ecological pressures to encourage the use of contraception in marriage and to permit early abortion. She holds that not only is contraception not wrong but that it should be the norm in heterosexual intercourse in view of the grave moral responsibility of bringing another child into the world.
Gumbleton, Thomas J, 1993, quoted in " Birth Control and the Catholic Church". 17 July 2000.
http://members.aol.com/revising/front.html
Thomas J. Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, in America, November 20, 1993, said: ". . . Fr. Richard McCormick maintains that) there are many Jesuits who do not accept the thesis that every contraceptive act is morally wrong. I can vouch for the fact that very many bishops share the same conviction. However, sadly enough, fewer and fewer are willing to say this publicly."
Häring, Bernard, 1989, "Building a Creative Conscience: Resisting Moral Rigor Mortis", Commonweal, August 11, 1989,
http://www.peppercornplace.com/~haring/hcon.html
Häring writes: "Consider two examples, both having to do with Africa, both concerned with the regulation of birth, both reflecting the ethical significance of historical circumstances. With the help of missionaries, catechists, and others, we examined the methods of birth regulation traditionally followed by African peoples. In all the Bantu tribes (which constitute about half of Black Africa) and also in many other tribes, a sacral norm requires that a new pregnancy may not occur while the mother is breastfeeding a child; for she cannot simultaneously nourish two children, one at the breast and one in the womb without threatening life."
"The solution combines two methods: strong, consistent nursing (which impedes ovulation) and coitus interruptus. Every mother knows she is obligated to teach her daughter before marriage how to help her husband interrupt intercourse on time. Missionary doctors and native nurses have described to us how guilty young mothers feel, how strongly and publicly they are reproached, if a pregnancy comes about within the critical interval. Why has this norm maintained a strong consensus over such a huge continent right up to the present? Behind this specific form of contraception stands the high value of life, a value experienced as holy."
Häring's second example concerns Coitus interruptus which was, of course, condemned in the encyclical Casti Connubii (1930), citing the story of Onan in Gen. 38: 6-11.
Häring writes: "For the moralist whose views are embedded in Casti connubii, this was a condemnation of contraception. However, even without the benefit of skilled biblical criticism, it is clear from the text that what is branded evil, "detestable," is not contraception, but rather the refusal of the levirate obligation which was legally bound up with polygamy."
"Interestingly, the levirate obligation exists to this day in almost all tribes of Black Africa. Whoever refuses it because of the church's condemnation loses his good name and is plagued by his conscience. Today, such norms strike us as strange. But polemicists who deny their relevance must somehow explain how the norms evolved and have persisted with sacral sanctions over whole continents through many centuries --- or so long as the socio-economic, cultural, and demographic-political situation has not changed fundamentally."
'If church morality is to be proclaimed and operative for the entire populated earth, we will require a deeper understanding of the historicity of human culture, including revised behavioral norms---an understanding, for example, that for millennia, a need existed to exploit fertility to the utmost in order to assure the survival of clan and tribe, indeed the human race. Christian theology cannot afford to flee from such historical realities by deriving its moral precepts only from abstract reflection on biological processes."
Häring, Bernard, 1990, "Please take this as my confession of faith"; This article first appeared in The Tablet, July 28 and August 4, 1990. For a Web version see Yakimishyn (1999)
Häring, Bernard, 1993, as cited by Yakimishyn (1998):
"Rev. Bernard Häring, C.Ss.R., wrote an article for the Prairie Messenger on November 8, 1993. Häring writes that 'The church has greater concerns than this, and more urgent needs. Proclaim the Good News and encourage all to set out on the road to holiness. Let us honor God's gracious forgiveness by forgiving one another for the harm we have inflicted on each other, and for the anger we may have harbored in our hearts.' "
Häring, Bernard, 1993/1998, "A Distrust that Wounds", in John Paul II and Moral Theology, Readings in Moral Theology No. 10, Charles E. Curran and Richard A. McCormick (editors), Paulist Press, New York, 1998, pp. 42-46. Originally published in The Tablet in 1993.
1. Häring complains that the whole of Veritatis Splendor "is directed above all towards one goal: to endorse total assent and submission to all utterances of the Pope, and above all on one crucial point: that the use of artificial means for regulating birth is intrinsically evil and sinful, without exception, even in circumstances where contraception would be a lesser evil."
2. Häring says that Pope John Paul I was a noted moral theologian who had given a lot of attention to the morality of contraception and had left no doubt, after his election as Pope, that he would review the teaching of Humanae vitae after a wide ranging consultation including moral theologians and bishops.
3. Haring contrasts the consultative approach of John Paul I with that of John Paul II whose high sense of duty is "coupled with an absolute trust in his own, competence, with the special assistance of the Holy Spirit" and "a profound distrust towards all theologians (particularly moral theologians) who might not be in total sympathy with him."
4. "As a moral theologian, John Paul I shared fully in the conviction of the vast majority of moral theologians that it is unlawful and possibly a great injustice to impose on people heavy burdens in the name of God unless it is fully clear that this really is God's will,"
Häring, Bernard, 1997/1999, My Hope for the Church: Critical Encouragement for the Twenty-First Century, Ligouri/Triumph, Ligouri, Missouri; English translation 1999; German original 1997.
1. Pages 48-50: Regarding birth control, a crucial problem arises in dialogue with sister churches "when, on the Catholic side, only Rome's official pronouncements get to be heard, not the views of the overwhelming majority of Catholic scholars."
2. Page 72: "Anyone thoroughly familiar with the history of dogma and moral theology knows that many ideas once considered definitively settled have later been revised or have just slipped into oblivion."
3. Page 96: " One indication of the greatness of Paul VI is that he neither understood nor authorized repressive measures. . . . The pontificate of John Paul II, by contrast, has been marked by a whole series of measures, aimed at cutting off all reactions, except positive ones, to papal pronouncements."
4. Page 97: " .. the former bishop of Rottenburg, George Moser, told me that the pope hanged him about the German Bishops having to recant the so-called Königstein declaration on Humanae Vitae. Moser explained to me that he flatly rejected this demand, which he saw as outrageous,"
5. Page 100: " . . we must not overlook what is probably the most serious phenomenon: the growing religious distress in the face of outrageous demands that do not belong to the core of Christian faith".
6. Page 136: "I admire the courage but not the wisdom of the pope in his unlimited zeal for the controlled and controlling application of his doctrines and decisions. No doubt he is following his conscience. Of course, that conscience is shaped by a particular tradition and mode of thinking. More and more one hears the question as to whether popes have a harder time than ordinary mortals when it comes to changing their mind. The current papal practice in doctrine and discipline is painting itself into a corner."
Hartman, Megan, 1998, "Humanae Vitae: Thirty Years of Discord and Dissent", Conscience, Autumn 1998, http://www.cath4choice.org/nobandwidth/English/contraception/thirty.htm
Heaps, John, Bishop, 1998, A Love that Dares to Question,: A Bishop Challenges His Church, Aurora Books, Richmond, Victoria.
1. "The ordinary magisterium, however, does not possess a great record for reliability when it enters into matters of natural or human science. Its teachings on marriage and sexual ethics have been abysmal. Any pastoral priest will know from experience the misery inflicted on people through commonly accepted teachings, now no longer held the physical interpretations of the functions and purpose of God-given nature is, and was, a force for destruction of the human spirit that needs healing and redeeming. Even today we could ask in relation to this body-centred moral theology, what is more important to take seriously: the coming into being of a new human life, or the physical means by which we prevent this life? What is more important in the physical and sexual expression of love; its depth of reality or the time of the month in which it is most unlikely to conceive a child? What is more important: love and spirit, or caution and physical methods? "(Heaps, pp. 37-38.)
2. "Confirming past mistakes to prove we were not mistaken is no way forward." (Heaps, p. 52.)
3. "With regard to the law, Jesus did not observe any law which contradicted love." (Heaps, p.89.)
Hornsby-Smith, Michael, 1999, "Look on the bright side", The Tablet, 10 July 1999,
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi?tablet-00296
"The God in whom we believe is a God of history and of historical action. Faith, therefore, includes historically based thinking. And today, in dealing with the control of fertility, it must acknowledge the colossal ecological crisis that arises in great part from propagation. "
Somewhere around the 1960s, which was a period of major cultural change throughout the Western world, Catholics in England lost the "sense of hell" and began to make up their own minds over an increasing range of moral and disciplinary issues, such as contraception and the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. In historical context, the publication of Paul VI’s encyclical letter Humanae Vitae in 1968, reiterating the traditional ban on contraception, marks a watershed. Conviction in the legitimacy of clerical authority was severely dented and ever afterwards Catholics were much less likely to feel constrained by papal teaching if it did not fit their own experience.
Also lists other socioeconomic reasons for decline in the number of practicing Catholics.
John Paul II, Pope, 1979-1980. For an edited summary of Pope John Paul II's addresses on marriage from 10th December 1979 through 8th April 1980, see Dunphy (1981).
John Pa