Posted on 10/24/2013 7:26:48 AM PDT by Morgana
No wonder why the Catholic Church is losing parishioners.
I prefer to do my own family planning.
Where is there for Catholics, who choose to marry, but want to devote their life to other causes which may preclude children?
So, don’t marry a women over 40, even if you are too??
Adoption? Foster children?
It’s always been this way...an openness to human life is seen as fundamental to a truly Christlike love.
Annulment: Another name for Catholic divorce.
God's first commandment to humanity: "And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth". -Genesis 1:28
Our society's self-delusion/denial that there's a reproductive component to sexual intercourse is the root cause of many of our ills.
This has been grounds for many an annulment. I think the Church wants to maintain the connection between sex and creating children. The loss of that connection has resulted in many of modern society’s problems.
What about those couples who cannot have children, or were older when they got married?
Well their marriage can still be fruitful, via helping others come to faith in the Lord.
You beat me by 15 seconds :-)
Love Intends.
Love is not selfish.
Good thing my parents did not preclude children.
Love cannot be unloved.
Love is always an outward action and virtue.
Love does not go inward to the self.
Childen are an outward expression
of the love of 2 people for each other.
Love is both spiritual and physical, for we are not angels but human beings with bodies and souls.
The Duality of Love.
Most Catholics don’t seek annulments. A murder trial would be less stressful. Often it would require asking children to testify against one of their parents...a bridge too far for many people.
If one or both parties say "yes" to this, with the full intention of contracepting for part or the entirety of their marriage, then they are lying before their friends and family -- but more importantly, before God.
I remember that old joke about what one Italian said about the Pope: “Him no playa the game, him no maka the rules!”
The problem really comes when a couple is past childbearing. Then it has to be omitted out.
My boyfriend [now husband] brought this topic up at our Marriage Encounter. And those running the Encounter cringed a bit, and those in attendance were surprised! Because a priest is not supposed to marry ANY couple who say they have no intention of procreating, yet, how many priests bring this up during the talk/testing/etc. they have with the couple prior to marriage?
The problem really comes when a couple is past childbearing. Then it has to be omitted out.Yet, look at Elizabeth! :)
It looks more like an adroit setting aside the word of God as the Scriptures say only death and adultery end the marriage contract.
Nope. Divorce is a legal document that breaks a contract. A Catholic view of marriage is that it is a sacrament ... not a mere contract. So while a civil divorce renders the contract as void, it does not do away with the sacrament ... the two are still bound by that. The annulment process is a very complex investigation to determine whether or not both parties entered into the sacramental bond of marriage. If not, then the annumlment is granted.
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