[Magister] Goodbye, “Humanae Vitae.” Half a century later, the encyclical against artificial methods of birth control that marked the most dramatic moment of the pontificate of Paul VI, rejected by entire episcopates, contested by countless theologians, disobeyed by myriads of faithful, is now giving way to a radical reinterpretation, to a “paradigm shift” undoubtedly desired and encouraged by Pope Francis himself.
Paradox would have it that Paul VI should be the pope whom Jorge Mario Bergoglio admires and praises the most. And precisely - his own words - for the “prophetic brilliance” with which he wrote that encyclical and for his “courage in standing up against the majority, in defending moral discipline, in applying a cultural brake, in opposing neo-Malthusianism present and future.”
But the reality is that “everything depends on how ‘Humanae Vitae’ is interpreted,” as Pope Francis never fails to comment. Because “the question is not that of changing doctrine, but of digging deep and making sure that pastoral practice takes into account the situations and what persons are able to do.”
Link to Espresso....
AMDG
I've always thought that Paul VI should have only answered the question asked by a simple "No, you may not contracept." The fact that he talked about a "natural" way to avoid pregnancy kept the door to contraception ajar. I believe that was his intention. Like communists, modernists are very patient in implementing their ideology.
ReplyDeleteThe other Woody here: friend sired his fourth child while he and his wife were doing NFP and when asked, as he was already past 40, he replied, “it was the wine...” it is not hard to foresee that such consideration will become one of the compelling circumstances in the discernment process. In other words, that it would be impossible for anyone who is not teetotal to rely on NFP with certainty, and so... The larger implication here seems to be that circumstances will determine the morality, or at least the culpability associated with any objectively disordered act, and the discernment thereof will be lenient, so just about anything short of voting for anti- open borders candidates or applying capital punishment will be only venial. And you will be forwarding my mail to Moscow.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, if the Latin Church is going to be in effect applying economy to its moral practice, lining up with the Orthodox, then why not conclude that it was the Latin Church that split off from the other four Patriarchates and is only now coming in line with Orthodox practice, so why not go back to the church that at least has a venerable and reverent liturgy, growing monasticism and real fasting, not to mention a lot of other practices that date back to the early years of the church.
ReplyDeleteGet help.
DeleteIf ever the argument against contraception was self-evident it is the state of birth rate levels in the Western World / Christianity. Suicidal an appropriate epithet.
DeleteWoody,
DeleteStrictly speaking, Orthodox oikonomia for contraception is a lessening of the penance for the grave sin of contraception, not an approval of its use. Instead of the couple using contraception being barred from the Chalice each time they confess the sin of contraception, the confessor, seeing the weakness of the penitent, may not impose a lengthy excommunication from Holy Communion on the penitent. Catholics do not understand this discipline since Rome has not maintained the ancient practice of the Church, whereby serious sins are penanced with excommunication even after Confession. Unfortunately, many modern Orthodox also misinterpret oikonomia as an exception to the moral law (St. Paisios the Athonite attributed misunderstandings of oikonomia to modern man's desire to find approval for his sins). Nevertheless, the above description is the correct and Orthodox understanding of oikonomia that is preserved in Orthodoxy.
From its publication in 1968, +98 per cent of adult Catholics (bishops, priests, religious and laity) comprehensively rejected Humanae Vitae's prohibition on artificial birth control. They did not and still do not acknowledge HV as authentic Catholic doctrine or in anyway binding on their consciences. The papacy and most of the episcopate lost their moral authority way back then and they have compounded the fiasco with JP II's tarted up personal opinion that the Church has 'no authority' to ordain women when the Magisterium had long ago scuttled its own authority and evangelical congruence by continuing to protect clerical pedophiles under provisions mandated in Canon Law.
DeleteThe Catholic people will probably not come anywhere near to trusting their bishops for maybe a century or more after a more Christ-like way of selecting bishops and popes has been agreed on.
Just look at the birth rate in Orthodox countries, they’re even more abysmal.
ReplyDeleteTancred,
DeleteUnfortunately, many Catholics and Orthodox do not obey the traditional teachings of their Churches regarding contraception. However, in Pew’s May 2017 report, “Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe,” Orthodox Christians were found more faithful than their Catholic neighbors in rejecting artificial contraception. It is also noteworthy that no official change has occurred in Orthodox teaching on contraception. For example, among others, the Churches of Georgia, Romania, and Serbia explicitly reject contraception, and the Church of Greece has rejected birth control in her 1937 episcopal circular (reaffirmed in 1978 with the above understanding of oikonomia for difficult cases). Even in the Church of Russia, which some Catholics attack as making an ambiguous statement on non-abortive contraception in 2000, many clergy and bishops (especially Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevsky) reject contraception as a sin and the Patriarchal Commission on Family Matters and the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, led by outspoken contraception critic, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, regularly leads pro-family conferences in Russian Orthodox dioceses that teach the traditional Orthodox position on contraception. Don’t worry about the Orthodox Church and contraception. Her lack of concepts of doctrinal development, strong ascetic tradition, following of the saints (all of which, including the most recent, reject contraception), emphasis on the spiritual centre of Mt. Athos (which completely rejects contraception) bodes well for the preservation of her teachings. As you know, doctrine and morals do not change in Orthodoxy (the very claimed “paralysis” of the Orthodox Church that Catholics lament helps make this so), mileage just varies in proportion to the spiritual life of the faithful, as has been the case throughout Church history.
The Pope Francis is a worthy son of his fellow jesuit Antonio Escobar y Mendoza, the master of casuistry.
ReplyDeleteCardinal Bergoglio aka "francis 1st" is a false pope.
ReplyDeleteAs such he has no authority on anything .
All catholics should avoid him.
The onus of proof is on you to demonstrate that Cardinal Bergoglio's election to the papacy was, according to your assertion, invalid.
DeleteCardinal Bergoglio aka "francis 1st" is a false pope.
ReplyDeleteAs such he has no authority on anything .
All catholics should avoid him.
Self-referential ignorant and all P&W, Twit.
Delete