my personal thoughts are irrelevant. Catholic teaching is that marriage is ordained by God as the union of one man and one woman for the joint purpose of unity and procreation, with the ultimate goal of building the kingdom and attaining union with God in heaven. Sexual intercourse in biology has only one purpose, which is procreation. God added the unitive purpose when he created man and woman as a higher order of being, in His image. Anything which deliberately frustrates either end of marriage is immoral. A Catholic who enters into marriage with the deliberate free will intention of remaining childless does not contract a valid marriage. The Catholic who uses artificial chemical, surgical or other means to prevent conception also sins gravely and willingly and intentionally separates himself from Christ’s grace in the sacraments and from communion with Him in the Church.
I’ve read some of the Catechism on this subject, I’m still uncertain as to whether the Church is directing us to have limitless children or not. Though I did read an encyclical which addressed responsible parenting, and further it is leaving it up to the couple to decide that responsibility, but it still seems like it’s a duty and obligation to have as many kids as possible. So I also would like to see how others respond to it. If I read it correctly, married couples are expected to have children at some time in their marriage, and as many as they can, and apparently they are sinning if they don’t even if they are practicing NFP? Is that correct? And is that a dogma?
One can exchange the ‘rights’ of marriage validly but not exercise them… as have countless marriages where they lived as brother and sister…for the sake of prayer etc…
I saw something the other day, apparently from Church teachings (I won’t say I’m 100% sure of that as I can’t recall where it was written, I think it was in a hard copy catholic news paper or something - but may not have been official RCC teaching… ah… anyway)
The world is not over populated, this is a myth. The issue is “population density”. People living and over farming the wrong parts of the planet.
It said while it was important that marriage is open to children, and that’s kind of the point to have children, it did say that parents arent doing their Christian duty if they have 20 kids and all are living in horrific poverty and starving. Long and short of it, parents have to determine the number of children they can afford, yet at the same time, they cannot refuse to be open to children because they want to buy another mercedes or something equally vain.
**That’s a little better, or rather, more reasonable. But I do wonder if a couple, who is practicing NFP, is sinning if they don’t want children. They’re open to having them, as they’re praciting NFP, but at the time, they don’t want them. **
The world is not over populated, this is a myth. The issue is “population density”. People living and over farming the wrong parts of the planet.
**I didn’t mean thatI meant, when God directed Adam and Eve to populate the earth, there were only a few people. Even in the later parts of the Bible, there weren’t that many people.So, when I said I could understand it, I really can: there weren’t that many people. But we have filled the earth as directed. So I don’t get why we are under the same directive. I won’t say it’s to the point of overpopulating, but we have filled it. **
But I think its important that Catholics start having larger families, my uncle and aunty have four kids and its considered huge and irresponsible by some people I know who are “catholic”, my parents had three kids and still some consider that too many.
**IMOHO it’s important that Catholics who want larger families have them, that’s for sure. But I am concerned that a couple who doesn’t want any…or many…may be viewed as living in sin because of it. **
Well, if you don’t want 20 kids, perhaps its a good idea to practise some ‘restrain’ and adopt the rhythm method to minimised the chances of conception. However, one must still remain open to the possibility that if God so wills it, then you should not deny the child his/her life.
and OP did not ask about that, she ask about a couple contemplating marriage now with the intention to avoid having children. If you embark on any vocation with the deliberate intention of preventing the primary gift of that vocation, you are not entering into it validly.
I don’t know what the population is like in NZ, but in the city where I live overpopualtion is too obvious to deny. And I see people who have lots of kids crammed into tiny apartments. Overpopulation is no myth. Many children in the USA will go to sleep tonight hungry and homeless because they were born to mothers who could not afford to take care of them. Everyone cares about protecting children before they are born, but after they are born no one cares what happens to them.
if a couple chooses not to have children, then they have to use artificial birth control methods, which is a sin
Just wanted to note on the bolded part above that the Catholic Church’s acceptance of Natural Family Planning (NFP) is not the “rhythm method” as there are several methods of observations that a couple can use:
You are spot on the money. That was another thing.The bolded was what I was wondering as well.
Well, right now I would be unable to get a Church marraige, because I am apostate, which might change or might not, considering I don’t plan on marraige until I am at least 26, but my boyfriend was raised Jewish, and has no interest in converting. I’ve just always been curious about it, and I do want to learn more about the Church, because it is how I was raised, and there were a lot of things I never understood, so I want to learn more about it.