As background, Fr. Cekada was one of "the nine" Anerican priests expelled from the SSPX in 1983 by Abp. Lefebvre for continuing to offer the unadulerated rite of the traditional Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, i.e. pre-Bugnini. Fr. Cekada is curate to Bp. Dolan at Saint Gertrude the Great Church in the Cincinnati suburbs. They either hold that the see is impeded or the see is vacant due to pre-existing heresy by the one elected.
Saint Gertrude the Great Church
Natural Family Planning: On Recent Condemnations of NFP
by Rev. Anthony Cekada
NOTE: In Fall, 1998 the “Voice Crying in the Wilderness” newsletter, a widely-circulated traditionalist periodical, published an article condemning Natural Family Planning (NFP).The following is a letter to the Editor, written by Father Anthony Cekada. In addition to offering the traditional Latin Mass in Cincinnati and Columbus, Father Cekada is professor of canon law and pastoral theology at Most Holy Trinity Seminary, Warren, Michigan.
To the Editor:
This afternoon I spoke with a parishioner who was very upset over your article on Natural Family Planning (NFP).
I had to assure her (as I will probably have to assure others) that your comments were —and there is no diplomatic way to put this — presumptuous, ignorant and dangerous.
First, you have no business even offering an opinion on the morality of NFP, still less condemning it as sinful in a publication that you send out to tens of thousands of people.
One may indeed (as you do in other articles) catalogue, dissect and condemn the Modernists’ doctrinal errors, since so many of them are obvious and have already been condemned. But the morality of NFP is an issue for moral theology — the branch of theology which analyzes right and wrong, virtue and sin.
The subject matter of moral theology is vast and enormously complex, covering all the general principles of morality and all their particular applications. In the seminary moral theology is one of the major courses. It requires three or four years’ worth of classes conducted several times a week to cover all the material.
Despite the length of this course, it can only impart to the priest-to-be the mere “basics” for the confessional and counselling. Priests who wrote on moral issues before Vatican II — and it was only priests who were permitted to become moral theologians — always had advanced degrees.
Their books were carefully checked by their religious superiors and diocesan censors.
If moral theologians did any speculative writing, it never appeared in popular publications such as yours.
You have no training in, and no experience dealing with, a complex moral question like NFP. We traditional Catholic priests have studied moral theology and we apply it in the confessional and in counselling. Leave such matters to us — and leave our people alone.
Second, although moral theology manuals emphasize that NFP is not a topic one should discuss in sermons or mass-circulation publications, The Angelus, The Remnant, and your own publication have spread some dangerous errors on the issue, and it is necessary that someone correct them, lest Catholics wrongly conclude they are committing mortal sin.
The moral aspect of NFP and periodic continence may be summed up as follows:
1. General Principles.
Spouses are free to choose whatever time they want to exercise their marriage right or abstain from exercising their marriage right by mutual consent.
Conversely, they are not obliged to exercise their right during fertile periods, or abstain during sterile periods.
Deliberately to limit marital relations to sterile periods to avoid conception is morally lawful in actual practice, provided the requisite conditions are met.
Family limitation without good and sufficient reason involves a degree of moral fault.
Periodic continence is morally permissible because it fulfills the other ends of marriage (mutual love and fidelity, alleviation of concupiscence) and because it does not physically hinder the natural processes of conception.
2. Requisite Conditions.
Mutual consent or willingness of the spouses.
Ability properly to observe periodic continence without danger of sin.
Sufficient justification or cause, just and grave, either medical, eugenic, economic, or social, which justifications are outlined by various theologians.
3. Gravity of the Various Obligations.
The issues involved with NFP were not fully discussed by pre-Vatican II theologians.
The gravity of an obligation (if any) to exercise the marriage right during fertile periods was not clearly established.
Neither was the gravity of the unjustifiable use of periodic abstinence.
Do not presume that the defection of the post-Vatican II hierarchy gives you the right to settle all this, and then tell Catholic couples they are committing sin. Your article was ill-advised and very harmful. I suggest you issue a retraction and an apology to your readers.
— The Rev. Anthony Cekada
(September 1998)
We are dealing with a very complex subject because it essentialy deals with “pastoral care” but if we look at Catholic principle's the answers are there.
First I would like to ask little little jeremiah;OrthodoxPresbyterian what religion they are. I assume the former is a protestant conservative while the latter is a strict Presbyterian. I find your views very refreshing given that most of the Protestants I know are for artificial contraception. It seems you are both against artificial contraception- correct me if I am wrong.
First all of the pre Vatican II popes always promoted BIG families. Pius XII obviously said NFP was OK under certain circumstances. The Rhythm method has always been around for years and was always licit under certain strict conditions. The Billings Ovulation Method since about 1957 or thereabouts.
Even Pope JP II years ago in the early 80's I think criticize those couples who practice NFP in a self centered to only have a few children.
The problem today is that there is so much emphasis on so called “responsible parenthood” by the liberal Catholics that big families are discouraged. We all have been brainwashed to thinking that we have to provide for our children every material comfort including a college education so therefore we can only have 3 children at the most. This is one reason why we have so few religious vocations because if you only have one or two children you want grandchildren so you discourage a religious vocation.
Around 307 Lactantius explained that some "complain of the scantiness of their means, and allege that they have not enough for bringing up more children, as though, in truth, their means were in [their] power . . . or God did not daily make the rich poor and the poor rich. Wherefore, if any one on any account of poverty shall be unable to bring up children, it is better to abstain from relations with his wife" (Divine Institutes 6:20).
So we see that even this early Christian Father is saying that in extreme poverty you could abstain. First however he says that people use this as an excuse and that God will provide. Look at Latin America- there is extreme poverty yet most people have at least 5 children and many have 8 or 9.
G. K. Chesterton was not against periodic abstinence and said that the modern birth control (at his time they had condemns, withdrawal, abortion and sterilization) means NO BIRTH and NO CONTROL which Catholics are against. So he said the Church wasn’t against Birth Control but against the way it was being practiced i.e. have sex but thwarting reproduction.
However, there is another good and long standing Catholic method which is to not use any regulation at all i.e. period abstinence in a controlled way to space out children and simply rely on the providence of God. The problem today with this is that people who use this acceptable and good form of having children are put down- Oh can’t you control yourself, why don’t you use NFP if you don’t like the pill or other unnatural methods or don’t you already have enough children. This is wrong.
Some people use NFP to only have say two or three kids because they claim they are emotionally unable to have more children yet they do not have mental illness and are perfectly happy. They just want to have all of the material comforts, be in control of everything, have two vacations every year and not want to change diapers in their 40's or deal with putting kids through College in there 60's. I am not here to judge anyone- only God can do that and we should really not assume just because a good Catholic only has two children that they were practicing contraception or NFP or another couple that has 5 children never sterilized themselves or practiced artificial contraception. As Catholics if we personally know of an individual who is thinking of sterilizing themselves we should talk with them and discourage them from doing it because it is a mortal sin. Every Catholic should be open to life and not say well I will not ever have another child when I could because God should be the giver and taker of life. The Catholic population is not reproducing as it should because a very high percentage of people are contracepting to limit their family for self centered reasons and this is wrong and against scripture- “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”. The Muslims will overtake us in terms of population and we will contracept ourselves out of existence or abstain ourselves out of existence. The number of children that a couple has is between them and God provided that they are generous with their fertility as God has naturally given it to them, that they use licit means in child spacing(breast feeding is a natural means and the best food for the child- our Lord was fed by this means as a baby) and that they do not cut themselves off from generating new life because they distrust God’s providence due to fear of having too many children.