birth control

[Sunshine007]

If someone is nearly 40 and engaged and does not wish to have a high risk pregnancy for Down’s syndrome or birth defects, nor do they have the money to raise a child and both have had a few life long health problems…

Do Catholics use condoms in secret? Is it a lesser sin?

 

[bpbasilphx]

**
Do Catholics use condoms in secret? Is it a lesser sin?**

Lesser than what?

 

[kalt]

If someone is nearly 40 and engaged and does not wish to have a high risk pregnancy for Down’s syndrome or birth defects, nor do they have the money to raise a child and both have had a few life long health problems…

Do Catholics use condoms in secret? Is it a lesser sin?

Yes. I’ve known Catholics who’ve used other forms of BC, too. Catholics aren’t supposed to, though.

We can only recite the rules here. Remember that no one here is an expert, and that no one here is trained as a counselor of any kind, much less a spiritual counselor. And even if a trained professional dropped in, it would be unprofessional and unethical to offer his professional opinion here.

Talk to your priest about your situation. There should be classes on natural family planning. The priest or parish secretary can help you find them.

 

[1ke]

If someone is nearly 40 and engaged and does not wish to have a high risk pregnancy for Down’s syndrome or birth defects, nor do they have the money to raise a child and both have had a few life long health problems…

Do Catholics use condoms in secret? Is it a lesser sin?

Sunshine. You should be asking your questions on the Moral Theology or Apologetics section. You are in the Non Catholic section.

At any rate, the answer to your question is that a Catholic must have a just reason for postponing/avoiding pregnancy. In such cases, a Catholic may use periodic continence (abstaining from relations) through the observation of fertility signs (natural family planning).

No, they may not use condoms “in secret” nor is it a “lesser sin.” It is grave matter, always. Some Catholics may in fact commit the sin of contraception, but it remains gravely immoral and any Catholic who does so will have to answer to God for their sins on judgment day.

I encourage you to study natural family planning and dispell any misinformation you may have about it.

 

[1ke]

Lesser than what?

Exactly, I’d like to know this too. It’s an odd question.

 

[notself]

What happened to the terms, Mortal Sin and Venial Sin? Are they out of fashion now?

Venial Sin = a Lesser Sin.
Mortal Sin = a Grave Sin.

The OP is asking if using a condom is a venial sin.

I can’t answer the question because I am not Catholic and many things have changed since I was.

 

[1ke]

What happened to the terms, Mortal Sin and Venial Sin? Are they out of fashion now?

Venial Sin = a Lesser Sin.
Mortal Sin = a Grave Sin.

The OP is asking if using a condom is a venial sin.

I can’t answer the question because I am not Catholic and many things have changed since I was.

Perhaps it was just the way the question was worded.

Yes, contraception is grave matter. If done with full knowledge and free will it is a mortal sin.

 

[puzzleannie]

If someone is nearly 40 and engaged and does not wish to have a high risk pregnancy for Down’s syndrome or birth defects, nor do they have the money to raise a child and both have had a few life long health problems…

Do Catholics use condoms in secret? Is it a lesser sin?

If there is risk attached to possible pregnancy the choice is to abstain, either periodically with the help of modern natural family planning methods which accurately determine the fertile period, or completely until such time as the risk no longer exists. Perhaps Catholics do use artificial birth control in secret, I couldn’t say and it is none of my business, but it is still objectively sinful to do so.

 

[ralphinal]

What happened to the terms, Mortal Sin and Venial Sin? Are they out of fashion now?

Venial Sin = a Lesser Sin.
Mortal Sin = a Grave Sin.

The OP is asking if using a condom is a venial sin.

I can’t answer the question because I am not Catholic and many things have changed since I was.

Perhaps it was just the way the question was worded.

Yes, contraception is grave matter. If done with full knowledge and free will it is a mortal sin.

We have a mixing of terms. AS 1ke said, it is grave matter. Grave matter is the first piece in mortal sin, but it is not the only one.

The Church still uses the terms mortal and venial once it moves into actual sin. The act itself is grave (serious) matter or less serious matter. Once you factor in knowledge of the act and freedom of choice, it becomes a mortal sin.

 

[mlldrl]

I suppose a barrier method is lesser only in the sense that you’re not (potentially) causing the baby to be aborted, which happens with the pill (as well as other hormone based ABC) and the IUD. Best to stay away from ABC and use NFP.

M

 

[notself]

For those having sex outside the confines of what the Church teaches, (premarital, adulterous) I think one should use condoms. You can’t go to hell twice, and the failure to practice safe sex could result in sexually transmitted disease.

Condoms, when properly used, prevent the spread of HIV, HPV, and most other sexually transmitted diseases. Even with a condom, some diseases such as herpes can still be passed on.

According to the study “Trends in Pre-marital Sex in the United States, 1954-2003”, 93% of men and women have had premarital sex by the age of 30. It is an interesting study. Here is the link.

publichealthreports.org/userfiles/122_1/12_PHR122-1_73-78.pdf

There is a very old saying, probably from the 1940’s, “If you can’t be good, be safe.”