Bishop Conry wrong to question Humanae Vitae

I am disappointed that Kieran Conry, Catholic bishop of Arundel and Brighton, has again questioned papal teaching on contraception, specifically as found in the encyclical Humanae Vitae of Pope Paul VI (pictured). In his latest pastoral letter, Bishop Conry writes:

"[Some Catholics] campaign on the moral issues of the day – someone said recently that a person’s attitude to Humanae Vitae was a ‘litmus test’ of being a Catholic, whereas many might not know what Humanae Vitae is. These are all undoubtedly important issues, but they will never get anywhere near expressing our faith in its entirety, and we can ask if some of these questions are actually fundamental to faith at all."

This latest pastoral letter of Bishop Conry mirrors an interview he gave to The Catholic Herald in December in which the bishop was quoted, inter alia, as saying [extracts]:

"I would disagree that [the teaching of Humanae Vitae is] a key teaching ... It's not a life issue ... [Abortion and Humanae Vitae are] two completely different issues."

Interviewer Andrew M. Brown:

"Does it matter if people disobey that teaching?"

Bishop Conry:

"In the great scheme of things I don't think it's high up the list."

Interviewer Andrew M. Brown:

"Was Humanae Vitae a mistake?"

Bishop Conry:

"I don't know. I don't know."

Interviewer Andrew M. Brown:

"But is the teaching itself wrong?"

Bishop Conry:

"It could be. It's not an infallible teaching."

Interviewer Andrew M. Brown:

"So in a sense it's a matter of opinion?

Bishop Conry:

"Well, it's... It is."

Earlier in the interview, the bishop asserted unequivocally that:

"We've got first of all massive climatic change heading our way inexorably."

I refer readers to my blog earlier today, in which I wrote:

"The claim that man-made carbon dioxide omissions threaten to cause catastrophic global warming is a scientific theory and one that must be considered seriously and objectively. As it is a theory, it cannot be asserted with certainty that people will die if developed countries don't agree to further reductions in carbon omissions ...Whatever the evidence regarding man-made global warming, the right to life and the right to found a family are fundamental, universal human rights..."

Regarding the link between contraception and life issues, which Bishop Conry denies, the late Pope John Paul II taught in Evangelium Vitae (13):

"[T]he negative values inherent in the "contraceptive mentality" which is very different from responsible parenthood, lived in respect for the full truth of the conjugal act are such that they in fact strengthen this temptation when an unwanted life is conceived. Indeed, the pro-abortion culture is especially strong precisely where the Church's teaching on contraception is rejected ... [D]espite their differences of nature and moral gravity, contraception and abortion are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree ... The close connection which exists, in mentality, between the practice of contraception and that of abortion is becoming increasingly obvious."

Bishop Conry's view of the importance of Humanae Vitae is starkly at variance to that of Pope Benedict, who said in May last year:

"The teaching expressed by the Encyclical Humanae Vitae...conforms with the fundamental structure through which life has always been transmitted since the world's creation, with respect for nature and in conformity with its needs. Concern for human life and safeguarding the person's dignity require us not to leave anything untried so that all may be involved in the genuine truth of responsible conjugal love in full adherence to the law engraved on the heart of every person."

In his pastoral letter, Bishop Conry said quite rightly:

"If we are to be truly Catholic, then we must be truly human too".

Bishop Conry should therefore read the analysis of Archbishop Raymond Burke, the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (the "supreme court" of the Catholic Church). According to Archbishop Burke, Pope Benedict has emphasised in his latest encyclical Caritas in Veritate that the message of Humanae vitae is fundamental to achieving authentic human development:

"It is instructive to note that Pope Benedict XVI, in his most recent encyclical letter on the Church's social doctrine, makes special reference to Pope Paul VI's Encyclical Letter Humanae vitae, underscoring its importance "for delineating the fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes" (Caritas in veritate, no. 15). Pope Benedict XVI makes clear that the teaching in Humanae vitae was not simply a matter of "individual morality," declaring: 'Humanae vitae indicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics, ushering in a new area of magisterial teaching that has gradually been articulated in a series of documents, most recently John Paul II's Encyclical Evangelium vitae' (Caritas in veritate, no. 15).

" ... The respect for the integrity of the conjugal act is essential to the context for the advancement of the culture of life."

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Papal teaching on artificial birth control is infallible: Fr Thomas Crean O.P.

Dr Pravin Thavasathan has written a fascinating editorial on artificial birth control in the most recent edition of Catholic Medical Quarterly, the journal of the Catholic Medical Association.

Dr Thavasathan provides a brief and helpful historical account of the false teaching and of the plain bad teaching which followed the publication of Pope Paul VI's encylical Humanae Vitae on the regulation of birth which, Dr Thavasathan says ...

" ... ought to be seen as prophetic bcause the Holy Father warned that the widespread use of artificial birth control would lead to a breakdwon in the moral order, the exploitation of women and state mandated population control. All these things have happened. And soon, logically enough, there will be same sex marriage."

Dr Thavasathan also convincingly disposes of the argument that the teaching of Humanae Vitae grew out of the undue influence of an over-emphasis on the procreative good of the marriage act above other goods.

The current issue of the Catholic Medical Quarterly is also graced by an invaluable article by Fr Thomas Crean O.P. entitled "The infallible teaching of Humanae Vitae". In this article he expands on the four conditions that Vatican I laid down for a papal teaching to be infallible:

• The Pope must be exercising his office of ‘shepherd and teacher of all Christians’
• He must be ‘defining a doctrine with his supreme apostolic authority’
• The Pope must be speaking about a matter of faith or morals, and not, for example, giving his opinion about literature or secular history
• He must intend that his teaching be accepted as true by the whole Church

Fr Crean's thesis is credible because, in clear language which can be understood by ordinary lay men and women, he sets out the facts and he provides credible, authoritative sources for those facts.

Finally, on the matter of Humanae Vitae's specific teaching on artificial birth control, the current edition of the Catholic Medical Quarterly publishes a letter from St Padre Pio to Pope Paul VI. The edition also has articles on natural family planning by Dr Adrian Treloar, Dr Helen Davies and, on NaProTechnology, by Dr Anne Carus.

For reasons I have frequently presented on this blog, to my own mind it’s quite clear that countless human lives have been destroyed as a result of the rejection of Humanae vitae and its teaching on the wrongfulness of the separation of the unitive significance and procreative significance of the conjugal act, not least through birth control and IVF practices, including amongst Catholics.

According to Archbishop Raymond Burke, the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (the "supreme court" of the Catholic Church), Pope Benedict has emphasised in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate that the message of Humanae vitae is fundamental to achieving authentic human development:

"It is instructive to note that Pope Benedict XVI, in his most recent encyclical letter on the Church's social doctrine, makes special reference to Pope Paul VI's Encyclical Letter Humanae vitae, underscoring its importance "for delineating the fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes" (Caritas in veritate, no. 15). Pope Benedict XVI makes clear that the teaching in Humanae vitae was not simply a matter of "individual morality," declaring: 'Humanae vitae indicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics, ushering in a new area of magisterial teaching that has gradually been articulated in a series of documents, most recently John Paul II's Encyclical Evangelium vitae' (Caritas in veritate, no. 15).

" ... The respect for the integrity of the conjugal act is essential to the context for the advancement of the culture of life", said Archbishop Burke.

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The Tablet: the anti-Humanae Vitae megaphone drowing out the voice of reason

Catherine Pepinster uses The Tablet, of which she’s the editor, like a megaphone to bellow her opposition to Humanae Vitae and to drown out the voice of reason. Like the bigot at a public meeting who has no intention of listening to those on the public platform, she declares in The Times today:

“The Church has much to teach society about the needs of the developing world and the nature of justice. Yet dialogue between secular society and the Catholic Church over climate change has been painfully limited and stymied until very recently. With the impact of a rapidly escalating world population playing its part in climate change, birth control has been the elephant in the room in discussions.”

Maybe she didn’t hear or read Pope Benedict’s address on 10th May, when he said:

“What was true yesterday is true also today. The truth expressed in Humanae Vitae does not change; on the contrary, precisely in the light of the new scientific discoveries, its teaching becomes more timely and elicits reflection on the intrinsic value it possesses.”

Pope Benedict was addressing the participants of the international congress organized by the Pontifical Lateran University on the 40th anniversary of the encyclical Humanae Vitae. I wonder if Catherine Pepinster sent any of her editorial staff to hear what the speakers had to say at that conference.

And I wonder if The Tablet sent anyone to the conference in Rome the following month when over 200 FertilityCare Practitioners and NaProTechnology physicians and gynaecologists gathered for the annual meeting of the American Academy of FertilityCare Practitioners, inspired by the teaching of Humanae Vitae. I can send Catherine Pepinster a full report if she likes!

Evidence presented there shows that the medical applications of NaPro have grown to become a comprehensive branch of women’s health medicine, which respects both the natural fertility cycle and the teaching of the Catholic Church. Working cooperatively with the woman’s body, NaPro has been shown to treat many gynaecological conditions including Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, miscarriage and other causes of infertility. Is The Tablet interested by any chance?

Other evidence presented at the conference by Dr. Phil Boyle showing that NaPro has between a 40-60% success rate in achieving pregnancy. This compares to a maximum success rate of 30% for IVF (UK average raw data “take-home-baby” rate).

As I blogged yesterday, IVF – which gave birth to the first IVF child thirty years ago – has led to over two million embryos discarded, or frozen, or selectively aborted, or miscarried or used in destructive experiments. (2,137,924 human embryos were created by specialists while assisting couples in the UK to have babies between 1991 and 2005, according to BioNews. During this period, the HFEA informs us that the total of live babies born through IVF procedures was 109,469.)

Pope Benedict’s address (above) continues:

“As I wrote in my first Encyclical Deus Caritas Est: "Man is truly himself when his body and soul are intimately united.... Yet it is neither the spirit alone nor the body alone that loves: it is man, the person, a unified creature composed of body and soul, who loves" (n. 5). If this unity is removed, the value of the person is lost and there is a serious risk of considering the body a commodity that can be bought or sold (cf. ibid). In a culture subjected to the prevalence of "having" over "being", human life risks losing its value.”

Would Catherine Pepinster be interested in exploring in The Tablet the connection between the Pope’s words and what’s happened during the past 30 years with the IVF industry?

Catherine Pepinster reminds The Times readers that “The Church has much to teach society about the needs of the developing world and the nature of justice”

If she could put down her anti-Humanae Vitae megaphone for a moment and reflect on Pope Benedict’s words in the opening address of his visit to Australia for World Youth Day:

"The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God himself and thus inviolable."

One starting-point for this “profound reflection” might be the abortifacient nature of virtually all contraceptive drugs and devices – with the exception of course of prophylactics like condoms – as freely acknowledged by their manufacturers. And what about about the fulfilment in England and Wales of Pope Paul VI’s prophecy in Humanae Vitae, that governments will impose on countries birth control measures which are considered lawful by couples in pursuit of a solution to particular family difficulties? And how the Catholic authorities in England and Wales are co-operating with the British government in imposing birth control, including abortion, on families through children’s access to secret abortion in schools, including in Catholic schools?

Are these aspects of Humanae Vitae in which Catherine Pepinster is interested? Or is she actually on the other side of the abortion debate? After all, a recent edition of the Tablet (which describes itself as "the international Catholic weekly") contains a glossy full-colour insert advertising Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), sometimes known by its English name Doctors Without Borders (DWB). The insert's front page has a modern paraphrase of the Hippocratic Oath, "I will tread with care in matters of life and death". Yet inside, an MSF nurse working in the Democratic Republic of Congo recounts how her team "trained local nurses to provide emergency contraception", i.e. the morning-after pill, which may cause an early abortion. See my recent blog on this here.

Finally, if Ms Pepinster must continue to use the Tablet as an anti-Humanae Vitae megaphone, spare us the percentages of Catholics who ignore or don’t know or don’t understand the Church’s teaching. It will be less grating to hear such observations when journals like The Tablet put down their megaphones and begin to follow what’s happening in the world and to count the human cost of Humanae Vitae’s message being ignored.

Bishop Egan preaches that same-sex marriage was "the inevitable outcome" of the rejection of Humanae Vitae

Philip Egan, the Catholic bishop of Portsmouth, has issued a very important statement on the passing of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act. He makes clear that same-sex marriage is "the inevitable outcome" of the rejection of the intrinsic link between the unitive and procreative aspects of sexual intercourse, the link taught in Pope Paul VI's encylical "Humanae Vitae" (and taught of course by the Church throughout its history). I have blogged many times about Humanae Vitae and its importance for the pro-life/pro-family movement, for example:

• 27 December 2008: Humanae Vitae and truth about marriage intimately linked to the pro-life message
• 12 May 2008 Pope Benedict's ringing endorsement of Humanae Vitae – a call for action for the pro-life movement worldwide
• 14 February 2008 Why Humanae Vitae was right about contraception

 Here is the core of Bishop Egan's statement:

"The passing of this Bill is the inevitable outcome of a process that has been gathering pace since the sexual revolutions of the 1960s. Until then, the traditional (that is, the natural and Christian) understanding of marriage, sexual intercourse and family life prevailed. Sexual intercourse was seen as located exclusively within married family life and having a double end or purpose: the expression of love and the procreation of children. Since the 1960s, however, artificial contraceptives have been widely available, which split these two ends of sexual intercourse, separating the unitive and suppressing the procreative aspect. Lifted from its natural context within married love and commitment, and coupled to pleasure without responsibility, sexual intercourse could now be experienced outside marriage, and thus, in time, take on a new meaning in human relationships. This has led to the ‘contraceptive mentality’ Pope Paul VI spoke of so prophetically in his 1968 Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae and to the decline of marriage and now to its redefinition. For in the revised understanding of sexual intercourse and family life, powerful lobby groups have enabled homosexual relationships to become socially acceptable, and so the Government’s attempt to extend marriage to same-sex couples - and in time, presumeably, to other combinations and partnerships - is an inevitable development.

"As Catholics, like Israel in Egypt, we now find ourselves in an alien land that speaks a foreign language with unfamiliar customs. For what we mean by the matrimony, sexual intercourse and family life is no longer what today’s world, the government, the NHS and policy-makers understand by marriage, sex and the family. Parliament’s Orwellian attempt to redefine marriage radically changes the social context and this presents a massive challenge to the Church in England and Wales: to those who wish to marry in our churches, to Catholic parents bringing up children, to teachers in our Catholic schools, and to the clergy engaged in pastoral ministry. It may also be a legal minefield, although we will have to wait before the full implications of the new legislation take effect. We will certainly need to review our preaching, teaching and school curricula, which henceforth must recognise that our Catholic system of meanings and values is strikingly different from what secular culture now deems normal or acceptable."

As I said in a blog in October 2011, "gay marriage will be here to stay if Catholic leaders don't witness to the whole moral truth about homosexuality". Bishop Egan's clear witness will help future generations to see that, as Pope John Paul II  taught in no. 97 of his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

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Let's hope Canadian bishops' strong endorsement of Humanae Vitae marks turning of tide

A few weeks after the promulgation of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical on birth regulation, the Canadian Catholic bishops expressed their dissent from it. The same body has now contradicted the position of the so-called Winnipeg statement with a pastoral letter which calls the encyclical prophetic and laments the modern contraceptive mentality which it warned about. The Rosarium group wants the Winnipeg statement formally retracted but concedes that Liberating Potential, the recent letter, effectively does so.

The pastoral letter urges Catholics to study the encyclical and expresses concern at the state of marriage and family. Humanae Vitae is: "a major reflection on God's design for human love," the bishops say. They also praise Pope John Paul II's theology of the body. They write: "it is urgent to remember the importance of the connection that exists between conjugal love, sexuality and fruitfulness." Humanae Vitae and the theology of the body are challenges to the world, the bishops say. The married vocation is "great and difficult", and the Canadian bishops offer couples their support.

Pope John Paul II warned of the close connection between contraception and abortion. In part 13 of his 1995 Evangelium Vitae, he laments the liberal supply of abortifacient birth control through the same channels as contraceptives. In February, I blogged about how pupils in a Catholic school as young as 13 were given information on how to get abortions and abortifacient birth control.

It is sad when a doom-laden prophecy is proved to be true. "I told you so," sounds as if the person rejoices when things go wrong for others – what German-speakers call Schadenfreude. However, Humanae Vitae is being proved right before our very eyes, and we take no pleasure in observing this. Sexuality is cheapened, families collapse, innocent human life is deliberately destroyed, and "measures regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty" are imposed on entire countries (even with the co-operation of Catholic authorities [in England]) as Humanae Vitae, 17, predicted.

While the Canadian bishops' de facto retraction of their misguided 1968 statement is long overdue, let us hope it is a turning of the tide. Once the Catholic church again speaks with one voice on the prophetic truth of Humanae Vitae there will be a sound foundation laid, both within the Catholic community and amongst those who agree with its teaching on this matter, for building a culture of life.

Why Humanae Vitae was right about contraception

It's good to see that Janet Smith, the famous author of Humanae Vitae: A Generation later and editor of Why Humanae Vitae Was Right is speaking in Westminster Cathedral Hall on 6th March.

After 34 years working in the pro-life movement, I am convinced that the teaching of Humanae Vitae on the inseparable connection between the unitive significance and the procreative significance of the marriage act is of fundamental importance for the future of the family and for the sanctity of human life throughout the world. Furthermore, I believe that what is happening today to the family and to the sanctity of human life in Europe provides overwhelming evidence of the prophetic importance of Pope Paul VI’s words:

“The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life." Humanae Vitae, 11

In a presentation in Warsaw last May, at the World Congress of Families, I said:

Britain is witnessing the fulfilment of the prophetic message of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s historic encyclical which celebrates its 40th anniversary next year. Speaking about the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative significance of sexual intercourse he wrote: “Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone.” (Humanae Vitae 17)

Moreover, as Pope John Paul II points out in Evangelium Vitae (13), there is a close interconnection between contraception and abortion.According to the manufacturers, one of the contraceptive pill’s modes of action is to cause an early abortion.

Last year [2006], a teacher at a Catholic comprehensive school for boys and girls in Kent, England, spoke out publicly about the sex education given to her class of 13- to 14-year-old children. The teacher, a Miss McLernon, said: “I think people should be aware of what is going on in schools. I witnessed the nurse using a plastic model to show these children how to put on what she said was a chocolate flavoured condom.” She went to on to explain to her pupils that flavoured condoms had been made because prostitutes didn’t like the taste of rubber.

Miss McLernon added: “Every child in the class was given a card explaining where you could get free contraceptives and the abortion-inducing morning-after pill. The card also gave details of a website for young people explaining how a surgical abortion could be arranged. This is a Catholic school where you would expect children to be protected from this sort of thing.”

Sadly, more and more Catholic parents are telling us at the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children about terrible experiences in Catholic schools, both at secondary and primary school level. Protests on the part of Catholic parents and teachers seeking to protect young people do not appear to be heard.

---

The full text of my talk is here. A list of resources published by Janet Smith is here.

I am speaking today at the University of Gdansk

Today I am speaking at the University of Gdansk at a day conference organized by Human Life International, Poland. The meeting room is being provided free of charge by Solidarity, the first independent trade union in the former Soviet bloc, whose former leader, Lech Walesa (pictured), won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for the part he played in Poland's push for freedom.

I am speaking today about the threat to freedom posed by the British government's sex and relationships education proposals in the Children Schools and Families bill which has its second reading in the House of Lords on Monday. I urge my visitors in the UK - before reading any further - to read my post of yesterday to find out what you can do to lobby peers.

I am explaining to over 200 delegates from across Poland that the British government's legislative proposals are designed to extend confidential access to abortion for children in every state school in the country, including Catholic and all faith schools, and to make explicit sex education compulsory for little children from five years old.  I am telling them - with considerable shame as a Catholic myself - that the government's draconian legislation is being supported by the Catholic authorities in England, including Catholic bishops of England and Wales.

I am saying:

Britain is witnessing the fulfilment of the prophetic message of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI's historic encyclical which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. Speaking about the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative aspects of sexual intercourse he wrote: "Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone."

I'm telling Polish delegates that it's vital that the pro-life movement in Europe studies the history and consequences of the overwhelming rejection of Humanae Vitae by Catholics in the West, following its publication in 1968 and the failure of Catholic leaders to teach the truth of Humanae Vitae. I say:

One of the consequences of this failure is an article published on the front page of Osservatore Romano in March last year, written by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. His article appears to defend a direct double abortion carried out on a little Brazilian girl. Whilst the issue has been clarified by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Fisichella insists that the clarification vindicates his original article. This is a major scandal for the Church and seems to create a dubium about abortion at one of the highest levels just as happened 40 years ago on contraception.

Finally, reflecting on the worldwide drive for abortion I am telling delegates that the Polish people's resistance to the culture of death and, historically, to totalitarian regimes, has inspired the world. I conclude:

But there is a new totalitarianism which persecutes the unborn, families and parents. It's a totalitarianism in which, to name but one country, Catholic bishops in England and Wales are involved in imposing.

Our crisis began with the rejection of Humanae Vitae. It will end with its acceptance and implementation.

The acceptance and implementation of the prophetic teaching of Humanae Vitae will only be possible if there is a radical change in the nomination policy of Bishops throughout Europe. The nominations of bishops who do not have a sustained and genuine track record of fidelity to the teachings of the Magisterium on the transmission of human life (Humanae Vitae) must stop. Such nominations must stop because the cost in babies' lives is simply too great. Humanae Vitae which has been re-stated in Pope Benedict's Caritas in Veritate must become central to your movement. You and your bishops will go on to lead the world provided you are united on the totality of the truth on human life and its transmission.

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It's vital that Cardinal Turkson reiterates papal teaching on condoms

It's been reported that Peter Cardinal Turkson (pictured) has been appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Earlier this month, I mentioned Cardinal Turkson's conspicuous failure to condemn the use of condoms. I said that this was "disturbing", not least in the light of Pope Benedict's ringing endorsement of the teaching of Humanae vitae earlier this year:

“The truth expressed in Humanae vitae does not change; rather, in light of the new scientific findings, its teaching becomes even more up to date and induces reflection upon its intrinsical value ... The concern for human life and the safeguard of the dignity of the person impose upon us not to leave anything untried so that it may be shared with all people the genuine truth of responsible conjugal love in full adherence to the law written in the heart of every person.”

I have been actively involved in the pro-life movement for 36 years. In my experience, the deafening silence of so many church leaders on the wrongfulness of the separation of the unitive significance and procreative significance of the conjugal act is the greatest obstacle we now face in the battle against abortion, IVF practices and euthanasia - for reasons I have explained elsewhere on this blog.

Pope Paul VI predicted that once contraception became “regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty” (HV, 17), brute power would be used by governments to impose birth control policies on their populations. Nowhere is this more true than in Britain where we face the prospect of the Brown government's final anti-life legislative push expected in November - promoting access to abortion for schoolchildren without parental knowledge and consent.

According to Archbishop Raymond Burke, the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (the "supreme court" of the Catholic Church), Pope Benedict has emphasised in his latest encyclical Caritas in Veritate that the message of Humanae vitae is fundamental to achieving authentic human development:

"It is instructive to note that Pope Benedict XVI, in his most recent encyclical letter on the Church's social doctrine, makes special reference to Pope Paul VI's Encyclical Letter Humanae vitae, underscoring its importance "for delineating the fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes" (Caritas in veritate, no. 15). Pope Benedict XVI makes clear that the teaching in Humanae vitae was not simply a matter of "individual morality," declaring: 'Humanae vitae indicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics, ushering in a new area of magisterial teaching that has gradually been articulated in a series of documents, most recently John Paul II's Encyclical Evangelium vitae' (Caritas in veritate, no. 15).

" ... The respect for the integrity of the conjugal act is essential to the context for the advancement of the culture of life", said Archbishop Burke.

In the light of his appointment as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, it's all the more vital that Cardinal Turkson, inspired by the example of Archbishop Burke, reiterates clearly papal teaching on condoms - "which is not simply a matter of 'individual morality'".

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The pro-life movement should start a counter-revolution on the oral contraceptive pill

The UNFPA has drawn attention this week to the 50th anniversary of the approval of oral contraceptive pills in the US. The anniversary occurs tomorrow, Mother's Day in the US, as UNFPA is at pains to mention.

And today at an all-day symposium on the pill and its consequences “50 Years after the Pill — The Revolution Continues” is taking place in Washington. One of the speakers at this symposium is Nafis Sadik (pictured). (In 1991,  as UNFPA's  executive director Nafis Sadik said: "China has every reason to feel proud of and pleased with its remarkable achievements made in its family planning policy and control of its population growth.” [Xinhua, 11 April 1991] In 2002 China's State Family Planning Commission gave Nafis Sadik its own Population Award.)

I think counter symposia need to be organized by the pro-life movement worldwide, symposia for which I would suggest the working title "50 years after the Pill - the counter-revolution begins".

Such symposia should focus on the fact that virtually all contraceptive drugs and devices – with the exception of course of prophylactics like condoms – may work abortifaciently as their manufacturers freely acknowledge.

Also, two major sessions at this symposium should cover the fulfilment of Pope Paul VI's prophetic encyclical Humanae Vitae on artificial birth control and, in particular, the following extract from section 17:

"Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone.”

The first of these sessions should be addressed by scholars who are expert in China's coercive abortion/birth control policy - the one-child policy - which provides such a brutally tragic fulfilment of Pope Paul VI's prophecy. The UNFPA's participation in China's forced abortion one-child policy is, of course, well-documented. China's policy is funded by regular donations from over 180 countries worldwide, including over 40 million US dollars from the UK in 2007.

The second of these sessions should be addressed by experts on how the Catholic church authorities in England and Wales are co-operating with the British government in imposing the use of birth control, including abortion, on Catholic (and non-Catholic) families. Catholic authorities, which include the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, are doing this by welcoming into Catholic schools Connexions whose job it is to make abortion and contraception available to children, without parental knowledge or consent. Connexions is a government agency which is committed to giving schoolchildren, under the age of 16, access to abortion and abortifacients without parental knowledge or permission. Connexions' advisers are trained to tell young people that they can obtain abortion and abortifacients without parental knowledge or consent. This session might also deal with how Archbishop Vincent Nichols painted in an entirely positive light the British government's sex and relationship education proposals - which were defeated in Parliament just before the general election. These proposals which would have enabled the promotion and facilitation of abortion, contraception and homosexuality* in schools in England, including Catholic schools.

Finally, expert speakers should be invited to explain how countless human lives have been destroyed as a result of the rejection of Humanae Vitae and its teaching on the wrongfulness of the separation of the unitive significance and procreative significance of the conjugal act, not least through birth control and IVF practices, including amongst Catholics (albeit on the question of the separation of the unitive significance and the procreative significance of the marital act SPUC itself has no policy. The Society is made up of people of all faiths and none and SPUC’s remit is solely concerned with defending the right to life from conception till natural death.)

The pro-life movement, including everyone in the movement of all faiths and none, needs to understand and to teach the truth that our crisis began with the rejection of Humanae Vitae. It will end with its acceptance and implementation.  As a Catholic I am convinced that the acceptance and implementation of the prophetic teaching of Humanae Vitae will only be possible if there is a radical change in the nomination policy of Bishops throughout the world. The nominations of bishops who do not have a sustained and genuine track record of fidelity to the teachings of the Magisterium on the transmission of human life (Humanae Vitae) must stop. Such nominations must stop because the cost in babies' lives is simply too great. Humanae Vitae which has been re-stated in Pope Benedict's Caritas in Veritate must become central to our movement.

If any pro-life leaders are interested in the idea of organizing such symposia - do please contact me at johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk

*(I emphasise that my comments above, both as a Catholic and as a pro-lifer, are motivated and inspired by John Paul II’s words in Evangelium Vitae, paragraph 97 that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.)

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Pope Benedict ushers into Catholic Church pro-Humanae Vitae Anglicans

I have mentioned before that I think that Pope Benedict's Apostolic Constitution and the entry into the Catholic Church of members of the Traditional Anglican Communion will greatly strengthen Catholic witness on pro-life matters. A recent post about contraception on The Anglo-Catholic confirms my view. It begins:

"It is an unfortunate — but not altogether infrequent — occurrence to find a 'traditional Anglican' who believes that his faith permits the use of artificial means of contraception despite the difficult moral teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. It is supposed (by the ignorant) that our acceptance of the courageous teaching of Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae and reinforced in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (the doctrinal standard proposed by Anglicanorum Coetibus) would be, at least, a novelty, a rigorous discipline beyond what has been required in the past. But it is important to understand that with respect to this now controversial point of moral teaching, the Church of England, and her daughter Churches throughout the world, followed the tradition of the Church Catholic from the earliest days."

The Anglo-Catholic article is timely, particularly in view of Pope Benedict's recent strong emphasis in Caritas in Veritate that the Catholic teaching on contraception is not just a matter of personal morality. As Archbishop Burke explained last year in the US:

"Pope Benedict XVI makes clear that the teaching in Humanae vitae was not simply a matter of 'individual morality', declaring:

'Humanae vitae indicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics, ushering in a new area of magisterial teaching that has gradually been articulated in a series of documents, most recently John Paul II's Encyclical Evangelium vitae' (Caritas in veritate, no. 15)

For reasons I have frequently presented on this blog, to my own mind it’s quite clear* that countless human lives have been destroyed as a result of the rejection of Humanae vitae and its teaching on the wrongfulness of the separation of the unitive significance and procreative significance of the conjugal act, not least through birth control and IVF practices, including amongst Catholics.

(*Albeit on the question of the separation of the unitive significance and the procreative significance of the marital act, SPUC itself has no policy. The Society is made up of people of all faiths and none, and SPUC’s remit is solely concerned with defending the right to life from conception till natural death.)

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Humanae Vitae and truth about marriage intimately linked to the pro-life message

As a pro-lifer, I am grateful for Bishop Campbell's translation of Pope Benedict's 2008 Christmas Address to the Roman Curia. (Bishop Campbell, pictured, is coadjutor bishop of Lancaster.)

It's clearer than ever from this papal address, given two days before Christmas, that Catholic teaching on the full truth about human sexuality - "the nature of the human being as man and woman" - is intimately linked with Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life.

In an illuminating passage, Pope Benedict urges the world to re-read Humanae Vitae. He reminds mankind, showing no fear of the hostility of politically-correct opponents of church teaching: "The great Scholastic theologians have characterised matrimony, the life-long bond between man and woman, as a sacrament of creation, instituted by the Creator himself and which Christ – without modifying the message of creation – has incorporated into the history of his covenant with mankind ... Beginning from this perspective, it would be beneficial to read again the Encyclical Humanae Vitae: the intention of Pope Paul VI was to defend love against sexuality as a consumer entity, the future as opposed to the exclusive pretext of the present, and the nature of man against its manipulation ... "

I have referred in previous posts to how "the nature of man" has been manipulated, in fulfilment of Pope Paul VI's prophecy, both inside and outside the Catholic Church, as a result of ignoring, and ignorance of, the message of Humanae Vitae: the promotion of abortifacient birth control and abortion, without parental knowledge or consent, including in Catholic schools, in England and Wales; coercive abortion in China, funded by the overwhelming majority of the world's governments (including the Republic of Ireland); the countless lives destroyed through IVF practices - also so widely accepted amongst Catholics.

Pope Benedict echoes Pope John Paul when he says the devaluation of the "language of creation" leads to "the self-destruction of man". In paragraph 97 of Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul teaches that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

All of this is very timely for us in England - the Pope's address and Bishop Campbell's speedy translation of it - especially when the link between the sanctity of life and the church's teaching in Humanae Vitae has been so unfortunately challenged in an interview in The Catholic Herald this past week.

Blairs attack papal teaching on culture of life

This week Tony and Cherie Blair have launched a high profile attack on two fundamental aspects of papal teaching on building a culture of life.

In an interview in the Church of England newspaper, Tony Blair, received into the Catholic Church in December 2007, underlines his continued belief in "gay rights".

And Cherie Blair, a fellow Catholic, filmed in the final part of the Channel 4 series "Christianity", said: "I'm a feminist… how could I have done all the things I have done if I hadn't used contraception?" - an attack on Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI's encyclical on the regulation of birth, recently praised in the highest terms by Pope Benedict as "guiding us along the path to the future".

According to the Christian Institute: "During Mr Blair’s premiership a raft of gay rights legislation was brought in" ensuring the promotion of homosexuality in schools and elsewhere, legalizing joint adoption by homosexual couples, giving legal recognition to homosexual relationships with the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which "extended all the legal rights and privileges of marriage to homosexual couples".

In Evangelium Vitae paragraph 97, Pope John Paul II taught that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

And Pope Benedict made a similar point in his address to members of the Roman Curia last Christmas when he said:

"Since faith in the Creator is an essential part of the Christian creed, the Church cannot and must not limit herself to passing on to the faithful the message of salvation alone. She has a responsibility towards creation, and must also publicly assert this responsibility. In so doing, she must not only defend earth, water and air as gifts of creation belonging to all. She must also protect man from self-destruction. What is needed is something like a human ecology, correctly understood.

"If the Church speaks of the nature of the human being as man and woman, and demands that this order of creation be respected, this is not some antiquated metaphysics. What is involved here is faith in the Creator and a readiness to listen to the “language” of creation. To disregard this would be the self-destruction of man himself, and hence the destruction of God’s own work."

During this speech, Pope Benedict refers to Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae as a guide to the future. He says:

"An integral part of the Church proclamation must be a witness to the Creator Spirit present in nature as a whole, and, in a special way, in the human person, created in God’s image.

"From this perspective, we should go back to the Encyclical Humanae Vitae: the intention of Pope Paul VI was to defend love against sex as a consumer good, the future against the exclusive claims of the present, and human nature against its manipulation."

And Pope Benedict’s address on 10th May last year, also underlined the unchanging teaching of the Church on birth control. He writes:

“What was true yesterday is true also today. The truth expressed in Humanae Vitae does not change; on the contrary, precisely in the light of the new scientific discoveries, its teaching becomes more timely and elicits reflection on the intrinsic value it possesses.”

I have blogged before on how the prophetic teaching in Humanae Vitae has been fulfilled in the culture of death - in British laws and British government policies at home and overseas. The objective data is convincing to people of all faiths and none.

Tony Blair, who has refused to repudiate the anti-life laws and policies he steadfastly pursued throughout his political career, was received into the Catholic Church in December 2007. Cherie Blair, also a Catholic, endorses the work of CEDAW committee (as well as other radical pro-abortion groups) - and specifically its work on "reproductive rights". The CEDAW committee is notorious among pro-lifers for using the CEDAW convention to bully countries into allowing abortion, even though the convention doesn't mention abortion.

I hope and pray, for the sake of the millions of babies and other vulnerable human beings who have been killed, and mothers and families injured, as a result of these laws and policies, and for the sake of countless young people whose health and happiness are being destroyed, as a result of these laws and policies, that there will be a spirited response on the part of leading Catholic and pastors to the Blairs' attack on papal teaching on these fundamental issues. Catholics in public life cannot be allowed continually to undermine the faith to which they belong, especially on matters relating to the sanctity of human life.

Ghanaian cardinal should condemn condom use

It is disturbing to read that, once again, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana has failed conspicuously to condemn the use of condoms. In comments reported at the Synod for Africa, currently taking place in Rome, he speaks mainly about the ineffectiveness and inadvisability of using condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. At no time does he say that condom use is wrong - in fact, he refuses to say publicly one way or the other, repeating a line that couples must make their own decision.

Cardinal Turkson's equivocation on the issue is in stark contrast with Pope Benedict's comments on the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI's encyclical which condemned the use of contraception as intrinsically wrong):

“The truth expressed in Humanae Vitae does not change; rather, in light of the new scientific findings, its teaching becomes even more up to date and induces reflection upon its intrinsical value.”

After 36 years of working in the pro-life movement, I am convinced that the teaching of Humanae Vitae on the inseparable connection between the unitive significance and the procreative significance of the marriage act is of fundamental importance for the future of the family and for the sanctity of human life throughout the world. Furthermore, I believe that what is happening today to the family and to the sanctity of human life in Europe provides overwhelming evidence of the prophetic importance of Pope Paul VI’s words:

“The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life." Humanae Vitae, 11

I have explained previously why, to my mind, it’s quite clear that countless human lives have been destroyed as a result of the rejection of Humanae Vitae and its teaching on the wrongfulness of the separation of the unitive significance and procreative significance of the conjugal act, not least through birth control and IVF practices.
 
Cardinal Turkson must come off the fence and condemn all use of condoms.

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Catholic authorities in England and Wales co-operating with government in providing schoolchildren secret access to abortion and contraception

It’s good to see another international conference in Rome coming up on the 40th annversary of Humanae Vitae, entitled "Humanae Vitae, A Topical and Prophetical (sic) Encyclical". It is badly needed, particularly for countries like Britain.

This international congress is important for Catholics and for everybody. It's especially important for the pro-life movement. As I have mentioned before on this blog, the prophecy of Pope Paul VI regarding artificial birth control has been fulfilled in ways that even he did not predict. He wrote:

"Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone.” (Humanae Vitae 17)

Nowadays in Britain and elsewhere, the Government is "imposing" the use of birth control, including abortion, on families; and the Catholic Church authorities in England and Wales are co-operating with the government in imposing it in England - by welcoming into its schools Connexions whose job it is to make abortion and contraception available to children, without parental knowledge or consent, a point I made last year in an interview with Zenit.

As a father and a grandfather and as a Catholic I can say, without reservation, this is the worst thing that's happened since I got involved in the pro-life fight 34 years ago. By what right do Government and Church authorities rob parents of their God-given right to protect their children from such grave moral harm and from such serious risks to their health? By what right do their rob parents of the right to protect their grandchildren from being aborted?

The "lectio magistralis" is being given by Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, archbishop of Bologna (pictured above). Cardinal Caffara is a contributing author to Why Humanae Vitae Was Right, edited by Janet E. Smith, which reproduced, as an article, his keynote address for a conference held in Rome to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. In her introduction to his article, Janet E. Smith writes: "He demonstrates that the use of contraceptives violates the dignity of man since it entails a rejection of the goodness of being...".

Elsewhere, Cardinal Caffara writes about the "intrinsic illicitness" of in-vitro fertilisation since it "establishes between the one performing the fertilisation and the one to be born a relationship of 'production of an object'".

The international congress is also being addressed by Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, the newly appointed president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.

Pope Benedict's ringing endorsement of Humanae Vitae – a call for action for the pro-life movement worldwide

Over the weekend, Pope Benedict made a statement on the forthcoming 40th anniversary (25th July) of the papal encyclical letter Humanae Vitae. Pope Benedict’s statement is of huge significance for the world and for the pro-life movement.

His endorsement of the truth of the teaching of Humanae Vitae could not be more emphatic. He writes: “The truth expressed in Humanae Vitae does not change; rather, in light of the new scientific findings, its teaching becomes even more up to date and induces reflection upon its intrinsical value.”

The pope's sense of urgency about spreading the truth of Humanae Vitae is palpable and must provide a call for action for the pro-life movement, in particular, worldwide. He says: “The concern for human life and the safeguard of the dignity of the person impose upon us not to leave anything untried so that it may be shared with all people the genuine truth of responsible conjugal love in full adherence to the law written in the heart of every person.”

See my post on 14^th February to understand why I think Pope Benedict’s statement is of such supreme significance for the pro-life movement.

Humanae Vitae must inform the way Universal Declaration of Human Rights is implemented, says top Vatican official

Monsignor Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's under-secretary of state for relations with states, put the implementation of Humanae Vitae at the top of the Church's political agenda at a major international medical workshop in Rome last night.

Anthony Ozimic*, SPUC political secretary, is currently in Rome attending a workshop held by Matercare a Catholic organisation of medical and bioethical professionals at the cutting-edge of Catholic thought and practice on maternal health.

The first talk of the workshop was given last night by Monsignor Pietro Parolin (pictured above) under-secretary for relations with states, Office of the Secretary of State of the Holy See.

Monsignor Parolin reminded workshop participants that 2008 is an important year because of two anniversaries: the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI's encyclical on human life) and the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He said that Humanae Vitae should inform the way in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is to be implemented and that the right to life gives meaning to the presence of the Holy See in the world: to stop the spread of the culture of death. He reminded doctors that Pope Paul VI had said that Catholic doctors must conduct their profession in accord with faith and right reason. Finally, he warned that ambiguous language is increasingly used by certain groups to claim rights with no reference to natural ethics, in order to justify acts against the right to life, e.g. the term reproductive rights to include abortion.

The Vatican's placing of Humanae Vitae at the top of the international political agenda could not be more timely. With the Catholic Church in England and Wales making it clear that it will collaborate with Government plans for statutory sex and relationship classes in primary and secondary schools, as I blogged last month, we see the fulfilment of the prophecy of Pope Paul VI regarding artificial birth control in ways that even he did not predict: i.e. the complicity of Catholic authorities with the imposition of secret provision of birth control drugs and devices, including abortion, to schoolchildren under the age of 16, without parental knowledge or consent.

Monsignor Parolin's message to doctors - to conduct their profession in accord with faith and right reason - underlines the importance of lay professionals, parents and other citizens, standing up to the state and religious authorities when their fundamental human rights are being threatened.

*Anthony Ozimic, who has a master's degree in bioethics, is speaking at the MaterCare workshop on the effects of abortion on the moral character of the provider.

Newman, Clifford Longley, conscience, contraception - and abortion

Fr John Fleming has some interesting comments to make about Cardinal Newman (right), contraception and about Clifford Longley's assertion in The Tablet (29th May 2010) "that we just do not know what Newman would have said about ... the standing of Catholics who dissented" from Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI's encyclical on the regulation of birth, published on 25th July 1968.

Fr Fleming's article should be read in full on The Anglo-Catholic blogpost. Here are some extracts:

" ... Well known writer on Catholic affairs and doyen of the liberal party in the Catholic Church, Clifford Longley, seems to have recognised the foolishness of calling John Henry Newman as a witness to the liberal account of ‘conscience’ where contraception is concerned (The Tablet, 29 May 2010). He acknowledges the obvious, that no one knows 'what Newman [died 1890] would have said about Humanae vitae [published 1968]'. But his assertion that no one knows what Newman would have said about the standing of Catholics who dissent from long-standing authentic Church teaching on contraception is by no means so obvious ... "

" ... The Pope was faced with the need to consider traditional Catholic teaching in the light of new developments in contraceptives, specifically the oral contraceptive pill. In the light of the Church’s constant moral tradition the Pope provided that teaching having first sought and taken advice. To suggest, as Longley does, that the Pope was governed by a desire to protect the Church’s teaching authority even though he knew better, represents detraction at its worst. And it is none the better for it having been so self-righteously asserted without a skerrick of evidence cited in support of it.

"What lies behind the Longley piece is the ineffable sense of the infallibility of the liberal ‘intelligentsia’. 'We are right and the Successor of St Peter has got it wrong!' And this in 2010 when we have abundant evidence that the prophecies of social misery that Pope Paul VI (Humanae vitae n 17) warned about have come to pass!

"Indeed contemporary attempts in the UK to impose contraception and abortion based sex education on the young are a graphic reminder of the Pope’s warnings:

"'Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favouring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.' (Humanae vitae n 17) ...

"At the beginning of his article, Longley indulges in a remarkable piece of intellectual sophistry. Both progressives and conservatives are guilty of what he calls the 'fundamentalist fallacy'. This 'fallacy' he describes as 'an assumption that a sort of infallible magic belongs to the words on the page'. But nowhere does Longley provide any evidence at all that the various interpretations of Newman are based on any such assumption. Both sides are attempting to understand what Newman meant when he said what he said. But Longley smugly positions himself as intellectually above all the 'others', although he singularly fails to tell us what is his preferred hermeneutic and why it is better than everyone else’s. Is it that Longley believes that since the author is dead his words can be made to mean whatever we would like them to mean in our present time? He doesn’t say.

"So why not let Newman be allowed to speak for himself on the matter of conscience:

"'Conscience has rights because it has duties; but in this age, with a large portion of the public, it is the very right and freedom of conscience to dispense with conscience, to ignore a Lawgiver and Judge, to be independent of unseen obligations. It becomes a licence to take up any or no religion, to take up this or that and let it go again, to go to church, to go to chapel, to boast of being above all religions and to be an impartial critic of each of them. Conscience is a stern monitor, but in this century it has been superseded by a counterfeit, which the eighteen centuries prior to it never heard of, and could not have mistaken for it, if they had. It is the right of self-will.' (Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, section 5 on Conscience)

"Newman may well have been writing in the nineteenth century, but his words are even more apt in the twentieth century. Humanae vitae may not have been around for Newman to have been able to consider it. But the fundamental teaching of the Church on contraception certainly was, and was widely accepted throughout the Christian world. It was not until 1930 when the Anglicans proposed a weakening of that teaching that the Catholic moral position on contraception was seriously challenged. So Newman would undoubtedly have supported the Catholic moral teaching and would have been surprised that anyone would have thought to associate his name with dissent from it.

"Finally, Longley attributes cowardice to the English bishops who settled, he says, for an easy life by allowing people to make their own decisions in the matter. He sort of excuses their alleged moral cowardice by saying they really didn’t have much choice. 'Sackings of hundreds of dissenting priests and the excommunication of thousands of dissenting laity would have been a disaster for the Church.' A disaster? Really? Why so? Did not hundreds of dissenting priests and thousands of dissenting laity leave anyway? And despite the moral failings of Mediaeval Christians at the time of the Reformation, the Church still continues her faithful witness to the truth ... "

I have often commented on the links between contraception and the culture of death in which are living and, just yesterday I posted a review of an interview with Monsignor Jacques Suaudeau, the scientific director of the Pontifical Academy for Life, on the interrelationship between certain forms of contraception and abortion.

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