Posted on 04/17/2018 8:16:30 PM PDT by ebb tide
Catholic teaching prohibiting the use of contraception is unchangeable, Oklahoma City’s archbishop wrote in a recent article. Using contraception, such as the pill or the condom, to purposefully block the creation of a new life is “sinful,” he added.
Writing about the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life), Archbishop Paul Coakley said in a March 28 article that contraception is harmful to both marriage and the individual person.
“To separate these two [unitive and procreative purposes of the conjugal act] prevents the intimate expression of conjugal love from realizing its divinely intended purpose. To engage in sexual activity outside of marriage or for selfish purposes or while interfering with its natural fruitfulness by contraception is a rejection of God’s intended meaning and purpose. It is sinful,” he said.
He wrote that a secular mindset since the release of Humanae Vitae has placed the judgment of human beings above God, and this worldly attitude has affected some in the Church, affecting its teaching credibility.
“The secular mentality says that human beings, rather than God, are the measure of all things,” the archbishop said. “Right and wrong are determined on the basis of what is practical rather than what is true or good. This worldview values results over reason.”
“It has affected the attitudes and values of many in the Church as well,” he said. “Uncomfortable with being a “sign of contradiction,” some prefer to accommodate the Gospel and the Church’s teaching to the wisdom of the world. The salt loses its savor (Mt. 5:13). The Church loses its credibility as a witness.”
“The Church cannot change its teaching on the immorality of artificial contraception, however unpopular and admittedly difficult it can be to embrace and live,” Archbishop Coakley said.
“The Church does not create the moral law, but is only its guardian and interpreter,” The Oklahoma City archbishop said. “Ultimately, contraception is morally unacceptable because it is contrary to the true good of both the human person and marriage.”
God makes His support available to the faithful through the grace of the sacraments, he added.
“Catholics who strive to live according to the Church’s teaching will find divine assistance by having recourse to the grace of the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist,” said Archbishop Coakley, “as well as to prayer and the cultivation of virtue.”
The exhortation from Blessed Paul VI was promulgated July 25, 1968. Reports of a papal commission charged with re-examining the document have prompted concern among Catholics.
These concerns have been underscored by Pope Francis having appeared to contradict Church teaching on contraception during a 2016 in-flight press conference and by some interpretations of his exhortation Amoris Laetitia. These were also augmented by the pope’s appointment of some opponents to the Church’s teaching on birth control to the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Conferences have been convened and statements composed to commemorate and defend Humanae Vitae and its upholding of Church teaching on contraception.
Archbishop Coakley acknowledged the controversy in his column, and joined the countless observations recognizing Humanae Vitae as prophetic.
“The publication of Humanae Vitae was a reaffirmation of the traditional moral teaching of the Catholic Church,” he wrote. “It was met with widespread controversy and a vocal dissent that was symptomatic of the age.”
He cited the exhortation’s predictions of “conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality” and loss of respect for women.
“Certainly, many family problems and social ills are linked to this widespread contraceptive mentality that separates sexual love from its proper context in the divine plan for marriage,” the archbishop said.
Among the resulting societal harm he detailed was the judicial redefinition of marriage, gender confusion, plummeting populations, skyrocketing divorce, and widespread tolerance for adultery, homosexual activity, and abortion. The archbishop also listed the upsurge of pornography and the increasing acceptance of euthanasia, embryonic stem cell experimentation and human cloning among the social ills resulting from the advent of contraception.
“The loss of respect for God’s plan for marriage erodes respect for the dignity of human sexuality and the sacredness of life,” Archbishop Coakley stated.
Paul VI’s document gave the reminder “that something as sacred as the transmission of human life cannot be cut loose from its moorings without grave consequences to individuals, marriages and families, and to society as a whole,” wrote Archbishop Coakley. “The transmission of life and dignity of married love are integrally entwined. Both are sacred.”
The archbishop wrapped up his column by sharing what he called the “priceless gift” of natural family planning (NFP).
NFP methods consist of a husband and wife refraining from conjugal activity during the wife’s fertile time. Unlike contracepted sex, they do nothing to block the life-giving potential of the sexual act. They simply refrain from engaging in sexual activity. In this lies the specific moral difference between NFP and contracepted-sex.
“NFP is a healthy means of family planning that enables couples to cooperate with God and one another in spacing pregnancies in a way that actually strengthens their relationship,” Archbishop Coakley said. “Perhaps now is a good time to take another look at the benefits NFP can offer to you and your marriage.”
Good to see you, ebb tide.
Gee, I haven’t heard this teaching for decades, and never in my 17 years as a convert have I yet heard it in a Mass. Reading of it, of course, where it’s historically plain as day.
Better hope the pope doesn’t have an anti-aircraft gun and an abandon airfield somewhere Archbishop Coakley.
Being courageous and speaking truth to power has consequences, but you have the ultimate Mentor.
The prophetic vision of Blessed Paul VI
Created on Wednesday, 28 March 2018 13:02
April 1, 2018
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Blessed Paul VI’s prophetic encyclical letter, “Humanae Vitae” (Of Human Life) published on July 25, 1968.
Pope Paul VI reminded Catholics and all people of good will that something as sacred as the transmission of human life cannot be cut loose from its moorings without grave consequences to individuals, marriages and families, and to society as a whole. The transmission of life and dignity of married love are integrally entwined. Both are sacred.
The moorings that ensure respect for the dignity of human sexual love are rooted in God’s plan for marriage. The conjugal act (sexual love between spouses) has a meaning that comes from the Creator. As a sign and expression of the covenant between spouses, every conjugal act ought to be both unitive (an act of mutual self-giving love) and procreative (open to the transmission of life).
To separate these two prevents the intimate expression of conjugal love from realizing its divinely intended purpose. To engage in sexual activity outside of marriage or for selfish purposes or while interfering with its natural fruitfulness by contraception is a rejection of God’s intended meaning and purpose. It is sinful.
The publication of “Humanae Vitae” was a reaffirmation of the traditional moral teaching of the Catholic Church. It was met with widespread controversy and a vocal dissent that was symptomatic of the age.
1968 was a year of massive social and political unrest worldwide. In the United States, it was the year of the assassinations of Senator Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was the height of American involvement in the war in Viet Nam. It was a year of rioting on campuses and cities all over the country, including at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It should be no surprise that the challenge to authority that characterized that age, and ours, affected the way this teaching was received by many within the Catholic Church and certainly by those outside of the Church.
The secular mentality says that human beings, rather than God, are the measure of all things. Right and wrong are determined on the basis of what is practical rather than what is true or good. This worldview values results over reason.
It has affected the attitudes and values of many in the Church as well. Uncomfortable with being a “sign of contradiction,” some prefer to accommodate the Gospel and the Church’s teaching to the wisdom of the world. The salt loses its savor (Mt. 5:13). The Church loses its credibility as a witness.
Pope Paul VI had prophetic insight in recognizing the grave consequences that follow when people fail to consider where the acceptance of artificial birth control would lead society. Separating sex from babies has disastrous and far-reaching consequences. A contraceptive mentality would lead inevitably, he said, “toward conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality.”
It would be disastrous for marriage and families leading to loss of respect for women, “to the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his (man’s) respected and beloved companion.”
Certainly, many family problems and social ills are linked to this widespread contraceptive mentality that separates sexual love from its proper context in the divine plan for marriage. The recent judicial redefinition of marriage is a clear result of this separation.
A refusal to accept God’s plan in creating us male and female with a natural complementarity between the sexes has led to gender confusion on a massive scale. It has led to plummeting populations and a “demographic winter” in many countries.
Skyrocketing divorce, widespread tolerance for extramarital and homosexual activity, abortion and a host of other problems follow in its wake. The loss of respect for God’s plan for marriage erodes respect for the dignity of human sexuality and the sacredness of life.
It has contributed to the explosion of pornography as a multi-billion-dollar industry and society’s slide toward embracing euthanasia, embryonic stem cell experimentation and even human cloning. Instead of reverencing one another, we use one another as instruments for our own selfish purposes and enjoyment.
The Church cannot change its teaching on the immorality of artificial contraception, however unpopular and admittedly difficult it can be to embrace and live. The Church does not create the moral law, but is only its guardian and interpreter. Ultimately, contraception is morally unacceptable because it is contrary to the true good of both the human person and marriage.
Catholics who strive to live according to the Church’s teaching will find divine assistance by having recourse to the grace of the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist, as well as to prayer and the cultivation of virtue.
A priceless gift also is available through the scientifically-proven methods of Natural Family Planning. NFP is a healthy means of family planning that enables couples to cooperate with God and one another in spacing pregnancies in a way that actually strengthens their relationship.
Perhaps now is a good time to take another look at the benefits NFP can offer to you and your marriage.
Bookmarking
I have to admit, I don’t hear much about *any* sins in Mass. It seems to be assumed that we know about sins, and need to learn more about other stuff, like fully living out loving God and our neighbor.
The gauge for the Church is her “sign of contradiction”— “a peculiar people”, wholly sold out to Truth in Him who came to save us.
Our identity as the Catholic Church faithful has been remade and diminished, so as not to be a contradiction with the secular to no be no longer seen as peculiar in our pious practices, abused outright, quite the same as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass remade and pleasing to man.
Thanks so much for the column header.
Jesus didn’t mince words; he told the truth, bluntly at times. should all preachers follow his example? If they did, I bet their churches would be overflowing. People want to hear the truth!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3648185/posts
Should we conform with modern society?
Or conform with Jesus Christ?
To me, the answer is very simple! I’ll take Jesus, no matter how difficult it might be.
Yes, it seems we are led to be pacified and unserious, using modern “readers” for a homily and resources of really nice modernists, while shelving the Greatest Books the World has Ever Known, the Early Fathers, the saints, all the popes and their struggles and their deadly serious endurance with the armor of holiness.
Thank you dearest. Your unquestionable loyalty to Christ Jesus is legendary, around here. Duty bound and unfailing, you teach faithfully!
Thank you for your kind words.
It’s true, and has been for almost two decades.
A loving chaplain deserves an all too infrequent, but heart felt, expression of gratitude.
We all know who you are and that we can turn to you and depend on you, as long as you are able and so long as we can still read. :)
THAT is amazing! I didn’t know that! God is good to Free Republic FReepers. Just, WOW!
At my parish we do hear about sin, the Seven Deadly Sins are preached comprehensively throughout Lent.
''We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has ever experienced. I do not think that the wide circle of the American Society, or the whole wide circle of the Christian Community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the Antichrist. The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God's Plan, and it must be a trial which the Church must take up, and face courageously.”
~ Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, who became Saint John Paul the Great {Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, “Notable & Quotable,” “Wall Street Journal” (Nov. 9, 1978), 30.}
All I hear at my church is how I need to help others by donating to the local food pantry and by contributing to the bishop’s annual appeal. Not going to help the bishop help illegals.
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