Pope takes the classic Vatican approach to birth control and Zika

[gilliam]

You know it was a scintillating papal press conference this week when, in reply to a question about Donald Trump, the pontiff described the GOP candidate’s stance on immigration as “not Christian,” and arguably it wasn’t even the most important thing the pope said.

In the same news conference, Francis suggested he’s open to the idea of artificial birth control as a means of trying to combat the spread of the Zika virus in Latin America, while emphatically taking abortion off the table.

That answer was more than political theater. While a pope can’t dictate the outcome of an American election, he certainly can control what the Catholic Church approves.

To be clear, Francis did not say he was formally endorsing birth control to prevent infection. He also did not signal any shift in the Church’s negative stance on contraception as a means of preventing new life.

cruxnow.com/church/2016/02/20/pope-takes-classic-vatican-approach-to-birth-control-and-zika-virus/

 

[Pulvis]

Crux may be many things, but a defender of orthodoxy aint one of them.

 

[phil19034]

You know it was a scintillating papal press conference this week when, in reply to a question about Donald Trump, the pontiff described the GOP candidate’s stance on immigration as “not Christian,” and arguably it wasn’t even the most important thing the pope said.

In the same news conference, Francis suggested he’s open to the idea of artificial birth control as a means of trying to combat the spread of the Zika virus in Latin America, while emphatically taking abortion off the table.

That answer was more than political theater. While a pope can’t dictate the outcome of an American election, he certainly can control what the Catholic Church approves.

To be clear, Francis did not say he was formally endorsing birth control to prevent infection. He also did not signal any shift in the Church’s negative stance on contraception as a means of preventing new life.

cruxnow.com/church/2016/02/20/pope-takes-classic-vatican-approach-to-birth-control-and-zika-virus/

I have come to believe that when Pope Francis says that he is “open” to something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is for it. But rather that he is open to pray about, investigate it, dialog about it, etc.

But being open to pray about, investigate, or even dialog about something controversial or even heretical doesn’t mean that the Pope will actually do anything.

We orthodox Catholics need to remember that the Pope himself has said that public speaking isn’t is strong suit. He’s an old man, and changing isn’t really in the cards once you’re pushing 80 years old. It’s important for all of us to hear what he says through a Catholic lens and help others to understand the Catholic teaching.

God Bless!

 

[Regina7]

We have to remember that the Pope’s (any pope) off-the-cuff remarks, interviews, etc are NOT Church teaching, nor are they infallible.

 

[TCEL]

We orthodox Catholics need to remember that the Pope himself has said that public speaking isn’t is strong suit. He’s an old man, and changing isn’t really in the cards once you’re pushing 80 years old. It’s important for all of us to hear what he says through a Catholic lens and help others to understand the Catholic teaching.

God Bless!

Amen. Public speaking isn’t my strong suit either, so I definitely feel for him. There’s no way I could navigate those political waters.

 

[St_Francis]

Where is this idea coming from that abc will stop the spread of Zika? What abc would do is to stop the conception of babies who might end up microencephalic.

If it is sinful for a woman whose life would be endangered by a pregnancy to use abc, how can it be anything other than sinful for women where the Zika virus is?

 

[Cider]

We have to remember that the Pope’s (any pope) off-the-cuff remarks, interviews, etc are NOT Church teaching, nor are they infallible.

Tell that to 80+% of Catholics already using BC. They will just see this as an endorsement. We’ve already seen many of his other statements easily used to endorse other actions against church teaching. Personally, I don’t think these kinds of statements are in any way helpful to Catholics or non Catholics. It just serves to further confuse people.

 

[Cider]

Where is this idea coming from that abc will stop the spread of Zika? What abc would do is to stop the conception of babies who might end up microencephalic.

If it is sinful for a woman whose life would be endangered by a pregnancy to use abc, how can it be anything other than sinful for women where the Zika virus is?

The CDC and other medical officials are telling women to wait to try to conceive if they visited an area with Zika due to the possibility of microcephaly.

 

[Regina7]

Tell that to 80+% of Catholics already using BC. They will just see this as an endorsement. We’ve already seen many of his other statements easily used to endorse other actions against church teaching. Personally, I don’t think these kinds of statements are in any way helpful to Catholics or non Catholics. It just serves to further confuse people.

I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve been trying to convince my family for years that abc is immoral, yet now the response is, “Well, Pope Francis says it’s ok.” :banghead:

 

[TCEL]

I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve been trying to convince my family for years that abc is immoral, yet now the response is, “Well, Pope Francis says it’s ok.” :banghead:

Yes. I’m concerned this will make me look “fringe.” While that isn’t important in and of itself, it is if I’ve been putting this out as Catholic teaching. My circle consists mainly of liberal and conservative Protestants, dissident Catholics, anti-Catholic atheists, humanists, the religiously lukewarm, and very devout Catholics.

 

[St_Francis]

The CDC and other medical officials are telling women to wait to try to conceive if they visited an area with Zika due to the possibility of microcephaly.

Yes, but what some are saying is using contraception to stop the spread of Zika, which is a totally different thing.0