Eucharist and contraception

[fredystairs]

Thank you for the response. I understand that you were responding in a medical context.

If I could, I’d like to ask a couple of questions for my own edification.

1. What medical term is currently used for the period between fertilization and implantation, since the term “pregnancy” is not used.
2. I found the following question and answer on the National Catholic Bioethics Center website:

Question 2. Why are means that eliminate the embryo before implantation considered “contraceptives”?

Reply: This is a legal issue. In the mid 1970s, the World Health Organization, following the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, changed the definition of pregnancy. Instead of the period between fertilization and birth, they defined it as the period between implantation and birth. Thus, products that destroy an embryo before implantation could no longer be said to cause abortion.

https://www.ncbcenter.org/files/3814/4916/3459/NCBCsummFAQ_AbortionContraceptionParenthood.pdf

Do you know why the definition of pregnancy was changed?

Thank you for your time on this and other threads.

Blessings

 

[71coog]

Not sure but I do think this is a matter of individual conscience. If not, then most Catholics don’t stand a chance except through the mercy of God.

 

[thistle]

Not sure but I do think this is a matter of individual conscience

Abortion is not a matter of individual conscience. It is the killing of a human life.

 

[71coog]

Abortion is murder. It is absolutely not a matter of concience. I have no doubt about that. I was talking about birth control. Thanks.

 

[fredystairs]

Not sure but I do think this is a matter of individual conscience.

I was talking about birth control. Thanks.

Actually the teaching of the Church is pretty clear on artificial birth control. This from the CCC:

2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality.157 These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible” is intrinsically evil:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P86.HTM

Blessings

 

[EvangelistVictor]

I’ve recently come back to the Catholic Church after studying the history of Christ Church. I agree so far with probably 95% of its teachings.

I believe when the time comes for the Third Vatican Council, family planning, aka contraception will be allowed. Contraception is NOT murder, as abortion is. I for one cannot afford to have another baby in my older age. Its just common sense in this matter and puts a burden on Christ Church to really put it into practice.

We live in the 21st century, not the stone ages and the Third Vatican Council will reflect this mark my words.

 

[thistle]

I’ve recently come back to the Catholic Church after studying the history of Christ Church. I agree so far with probably 95% of its teachings.

You are not back if you reject 5% of Church teachings! Whether you fully understand them is another matter but you must accept 100% of them. Rejection of even one teaching (infallible or non-infallible) is a sin of grave matter.

 

[EvangelistVictor]

You are not back if you reject 5% of Church teachings! Whether you fully understand them is another matter but you must accept 100% of them. Rejection of even one teaching (infallible or non-infallible) is a sin of grave matter.

Contraception is then the only teaching of the Catholic Church that I don’t agree with 100%. And not only me, but 80% of Catholics agree with me and the Catholic Church is the only denomination left on planet earth that holds to this view.

If anybody can prove to me from scripture that contraception is a mortal sin punishable by hell fire, then I’ll repent of my sin. After reading the New Testament around 30 times, I just don’t see any evidence to support this view.

 

[Reuben_J]

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. - TA

 

[thistle]

Contraception is then the only teaching of the Catholic Church that I don’t agree with 100%. And not only me, but 80% of Catholics agree with me and the Catholic Church is the only denomination left on planet earth that holds to this view.

If anybody can prove to me from scripture that contraception is a mortal sin punishable by hell fire, then I’ll repent of my sin. After reading the New Testament around 30 times, I just don’t see any evidence to support this view.

You either believe the Catholic Church was the Church established by Christ or not. If you do then you know that all Church teachings in matters of faith and morals have the full authority of God supporting them and that they are correct. To reject a Church teaching is to reject God.

 

[guanophore]

Contraception is then the only teaching of the Catholic Church that I don’t agree with 100%. And not only me, but 80% of Catholics agree with me and the Catholic Church is the only denomination left on planet earth that holds to this view.

The Catholic Church is not a “denomination”. It is the Church founded by Christ, from which all others denominated. All of those ecclesial communities can be defined by how much, and which parts, of the doctrine of Christ committed to the Catholic Church they reject.

Truth is not defined by those who depart from it, and the Church is a Theocracy, not a democracy. If your logic was sound, then in the early days of the Church, when 80% fell into the heresy of Arianism, we would all be Arian today.

The fact that the CC staunchly clings to the Teachings of Christ on this matter against all who think otherwise actually demonstrates that she holds the Truth, despite the pressures of modernism.

If anybody can prove to me from scripture that contraception is a mortal sin punishable by hell fire, then I’ll repent of my sin. After reading the New Testament around 30 times, I just don’t see any evidence to support this view.

Well, the heresy of Sola Scriptura itself is a mortal sin, so you are in good company with Luther there.

You might consider pondering the words of Christ to his fledgling Church:

Luke 10:16 “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Matthew 18:18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The problem here is not whether you can be persuaded the NT speaks about contraception as a sin. The problem is the attitude of disobedience to the authority appointed by Christ.

 

[guanophore]

What medical term is currently used for the period between fertilization and implantation, since the term “pregnancy” is not used.

When fertilization has occurred, it is “conception”. Most contraception is abortifacient, meaning it kills the fertilized egg, or zygote. This is most often accomplished by making the uterus an inhospitable environment so that the fertilized egg cannot implant.

We do not know the point at which God imbues the conceived life with an immortal soul, so we err on the side of safety, and count it from conception. A fertilized egg will develop into a human being, unless something occurs to terminate that life. This is science, not religion.

 

[guanophore]

if you sincerely (underlined) want to stop abortions, then you have it in your power to stop the conditions that cause a large percentage of abortions: poor women just can’t afford another baby.

I think this “condition” is really only a symptom. The underlying “condition” is a lifestyle devoid of walking with God. Even a poor person can practice continence and chastity. Poverty does not force someone to have sex during their fertile times.

 

[EvangelistVictor]

Lets break this down in simplest terms.

If I use a condom with my wife, its a mortal sin leading to hell?

Condom usage = murder???

 

[PJM]

Sorry for the explicit nature of this question. Can a married Catholic practice artificial contraception and still receive the Eucharist? (I am assuming it can be confessed, but if the practice continues then the question arises again.)

If the question is not easy to answer, due to individual circumstances and all that, I understand.

Thank you in advance.

The answer is NO, not worthily; {1st. Cor 11:23-30} as Sacramental Confession COMMANDS true repentance which cannot co-exist with contraception. PLEASE read Gen 38: 6-10, knowing that GODS standards for morality do not; cannot change.

God created women with a fertile and a infertile cycle which is GOD’s WAY for birth control when it is justified. Discuss this with your Confessor and PRAY that he holds to Catholic teaching on this important matter.

Thank you for asking; pray very much,
Patrick

 

[fredystairs]

I’ve recently come back to the Catholic Church after studying the history of Christ Church.

Welcome home.

believe when the time comes for the Third Vatican Council, family planning, aka contraception will be allowed.

I doubt that this will happen. As I noted above, the Church teaches that a contraceptive act is intrinsically evil. I cannot see the Church changing its stance.

We live in the 21st century, not the stone ages and the Third Vatican Council will reflect this mark my words.

But Christ, who founded the Church, does not change:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.(Hebrews 13:8)

From my perspective, what you are implying here is one of two things. Either the Holy Spirit got it wrong when the Church proclaimed that artificial birth control is “intrinsically evil” in the CCC citation I used above, OR the Holy Spirit will proclaim error at your Third Vatican Council.

If anybody can prove to me from scripture that contraception is a mortal sin punishable by hell fire, then I’ll repent of my sin.

As others have mentioned, this seems to me to be something akin to “sola scriptura” which is a Protestant tradition that the Church does not follow. The Church has a long teaching against artificial birth control. Below is a link to a Catholic Answers article that shows the consistent teaching on this issue.

Contraception

Historically, Christians always have condemned contraceptive sex. The two forms mentioned in the Bible, coitus interruptus and sterilization, are condemned with...

www.catholic.com

If I use a condom with my wife, its a mortal sin leading to hell?

For an act to be a mortal sin, three conditions need to apply. The act itself needs to be grave matter, the individual needs to know it is grave matter, and there needs to be free will. In your case, the matter is grave, per the CCC citation I quoted above. The other two conditions are subjective. It seems to me that you know that, based upon our conversation and the teaching of the Church, you know that it is grave. I do not know how free you are, therefore I cannot say if it is a mortal sin. This is something you should discuss with your priest.

I for one cannot afford to have another baby in my older age.

And the Church is not asking you to have another child. There are organizations that teach Natural Family Planning, which is a moral means to prevent further births. Again, see the CCC citation I quote above. One organization that I personally know of is The Couple to Couple League. Here is their web address:

Fertility Awareness | NFP Training | Couple to Couple League International

There are other organizations that I am not familiar with but that other posters can provide information on.

Blessings.

 

[fredystairs]

When fertilization has occurred, it is “conception”. Most contraception is abortifacient, meaning it kills the fertilized egg, or zygote. This is most often accomplished by making the uterus an inhospitable environment so that the fertilized egg cannot implant.

I agree.

We do not know the point at which God imbues the conceived life with an immortal soul, so we err on the side of safety, and count it from conception. A fertilized egg will develop into a human being, unless something occurs to terminate that life. This is science, not religion.

Respectfully, I think that the Church has stated that upon fertilization a new human person exists and this can only come about by the infusion of an immortal soul. I posted the following earlier in this thread.

would like to offer the following from Donum Vitae

The Congregation recalls the teachings found in the “Declaration on Procured Abortion”: “From the time that the ovum is fertilized , a new life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already. To this perpetual evidence … modern genetic science brings valuable confirmation. It has demonstrated that, from the first instant, the programme is fixed as to what this living being will be: a man, this individual-man with his characteristic aspects already well determined. Right from fertilization is begun the adventure of a human life, and each of its great capacities requires time … to find its place and to be in a position to act”. (25) This teaching remains valid and is further confirmed, if confirmation were needed, by recent findings of human biological science which recognize that in the zygote resulting from fertilization the biological identity of a new human individual is already constituted. Certainly no experimental datum can be in itself sufficient to bring us to the recognition of a spiritual soul; nevertheless, the conclusions of science regarding the human embryo provide a valuable indication for discerning by the use of reason a personal presence at the moment of this first appearance of a human life: how could a human individual not be a human person?*

Thus the fruit of human generation, from the first moment of its existence, that is to say from the moment the zygote has formed, demands the unconditional respect that is morally due to the human being in his bodily and spiritual totality. The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life . (Donum Vitae I, 1) (emphasis added)
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...h_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html

Blessings

 

[EvangelistVictor]

From my perspective, what you are implying here is one of two things. Either the Holy Spirit got it wrong when the Church proclaimed that artificial birth control is “intrinsically evil” in the CCC citation I used above, OR the Holy Spirit will proclaim error at your Third Vatican Council

If thinks can’t change, then why did the Second Lateran Council held in 1139 rule to forbidding priests to marry. Then in 1563, the Council of Trent reaffirmed the tradition of celibacy. Was the Holy Spirit wrong for 1000 years??

Same logic applies to contraceptives.

 

[fredystairs]

Actually no. Whether priests can marry is a matter of Church discipline. That can change. We’re not talking about Church discipline; rather we are talking about a moral issue that has not changed in 2000 years per the Catholic Answers article I linked.

Blessings

 

[Reuben_J]

When fertilization has occurred, it is “conception”. Most contraception is abortifacient, meaning it kills the fertilized egg, or zygote. This is most often accomplished by making the uterus an inhospitable environment so that the fertilized egg cannot implant.

We do not know the point at which God imbues the conceived life with an immortal soul, so we err on the side of safety, and count it from conception. A fertilized egg will develop into a human being, unless something occurs to terminate that life. This is science, not religion.

Erikaspirit16:

if you sincerely (underlined) want to stop abortions, then you have it in your power to stop the conditions that cause a large percentage of abortions: poor women just can’t afford another baby.

I think this “condition” is really only a symptom. The underlying “condition” is a lifestyle devoid of walking with God. Even a poor person can practice continence and chastity. Poverty does not force someone to have sex during their fertile times.

Dugtrio1:

Sorry for the explicit nature of this question. Can a married Catholic practice artificial contraception and still receive the Eucharist? (I am assuming it can be confessed, but if the practice continues then the question arises again.)

If the question is not easy to answer, due to individual circumstances and all that, I understand.

Thank you in advance.

The answer is NO, not worthily; {1st. Cor 11:23-30} as Sacramental Confession COMMANDS true repentance which cannot co-exist with contraception. PLEASE read Gen 38: 6-10, knowing that GODS standards for morality do not; cannot change.

God created women with a fertile and a infertile cycle which is GOD’s WAY for birth control when it is justified.

Some of the best answers on contraception from the Catholic perspective here, which is noteworthy.