Is sex before marriage truly immoral in EVERY SINGLE circumstance?

[Hovannes]

Oh, I know all about the culture. I came of age in it. I just didn’t realize that Catholic priests were preaching that sex before marriage was fine and natural.

What a mess.

I’ll say! I don’t know of any of the kids I grew up with and attended a Catholic school with who still acknowlege themselves as Catholic.
I had just transferred to public school when the wierdness hit and throughout Jr High and High School we had absolutely no sampling of “Catholic culture” Confirmation was a joke----the sister who taught our class left the faith shortly after along with many others of her order, IIRC (I’ll have to look this up----it could have been a different order I’m thinking of) do remember being forsed to listen to Simon and Garfunkle’s Sounds of Silence over and over (and over)

This phenomenon isn’t new, btw. For years after every Church Council, wierdness has prevailed for many, many decades until the Church was able to recover. Read about it in Diane Moczar’s excellent What Every Catholic Wants To Know Catholic History Its as if Judas Iscariot was the archtype for heretics within the Church.

 

[aemcpa]

I love how a question with a one-word answer generates 160+ posts.

 

[Hovannes]

Oh, I know all about the culture. I came of age in it. I just didn’t realize that Catholic priests were preaching that sex before marriage was fine and natural.

What a mess.

This wasn’t a widespread heresy by any means and perhaps what was more harmful was that orthodox Catholic teaching on the subject simply wasn’t being preached (keep in mind this regarding *my *parish and it was a long time ago—my memory is sketchy but it certainly created an impression on this then young person!)

We were trying to be like “other” Christian traditions back then. How this manifested its self in different parishes and dioceses often took disasterous turns. When I was an EMHC at a hospital I talked to numerous “old” Catholics who left their faith at about the same time. The hurt and betrayal they felt haunted them to thier dying day. Sad.

We need good priests & religious faithful to the Magisterium. We need to pray for them. They have an extraordinarily difficult job.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I’ll say! I don’t know of any of the kids I grew up with and attended a Catholic school with who still acknowlege themselves as Catholic.
I had just transferred to public school when the wierdness hit and throughout Jr High and High School we had absolutely no sampling of “Catholic culture” Confirmation was a joke----the sister who taught our class left the faith shortly after along with many others of her order, IIRC (I’ll have to look this up----it could have been a different order I’m thinking of) do remember being forsed to listen to Simon and Garfunkle’s Sounds of Silence over and over (and over)

This phenomenon isn’t new, btw. For years after every Church Council, wierdness has prevailed for many, many decades until the Church was able to recover. Read about it in Diane Moczar’s excellent What Every Catholic Wants To Know Catholic History Its as if Judas Iscariot was the archtype for heretics within the Church.

Thanks, I’ll look that book up! I know very little Church history since my formal catechism halted at the age of 10. Didn’t even think I was a Catholic for over 20 years. In a strange way, it’s almost a comfort to think that even if I had continued in catechism, I might not have turned out any differently.