Time Magazine Report: Portland Archdiocese advises artificial contraception?

[Mike_O]

In a recent Time issue they had those sidebars of quotes.

One of them was from a woman who had conceived a child with a Portland seminary student. The explanation of the quotation revealed that the archdiocese had advised the woman to “use birth control.” I cannot recall precisely what was said but I distinctly remember that Time reported that a Catholic archdiocese had advised the use of artificial contraceptives because the woman was demanding child support from the Church.

Obviously, this seems outlandish. Can anyone confirm or deny this report?

 

[sententia]

I remember reading something about that awhile back.

I remember, however, that this was taken to court (child support or soemthing?), and the lawyer the archdiocese hired used that defense. Stupid.

 

[JimG]

If she’s demanding child support, it’s a little late for contraception.

 

[dafalax]

Sigh. There was a miscommunication. The lawyer for the Catholic Church argued that the woman who got pregnant by a priest in seminary was obviously trying to get pregnant to keep him from entering fully into the priesthood. If she didn’t want to be pregnant, she would have used contraception to prevent the pregnancy. Only he said it, she should have used contraception. Which made it sound like the Church said she should have used contraception. And I believe it was Archbishop Levada who should have looked over that argument before letting the lawyer proceed with it. Anyhoo, the point is, the Church does not now, nor has she or will she ever, endorse birth control. Certain renegade clergy may, but it will never be official Church doctrine. Ever. And that woman may have wanted to get pregnant to keep him out of the priesthood, but if he was really committed to the priesthood, he shouldn’t have been fornicating. They should have laicized him until the child was raised. I think it’s bunk to make parishioners pay for his prior transgressions and for a boy to grow up without his daddy. And now we’re funding his trial. Tsk tsk.

 

[StCsDavid]

This is a classic example of secular media run gone wild over anything they can to trash the Catholic Church.

I live in the Archdiocese of Portland. I’m named along with all the other Catholics in our diocese in the lawsuit against it over the priest sex abuse scandal, eventhough I wasn’t even born when the offenses occured. Seems the lawyers for the plaintifs believe that my parish and everyone elses is all part of this vast corporation known as the Catholic church. It doesn’t help that the Bishop in Boston illegally confiscated parishes to settle his own problems and may have set a precedent as a judge just ruled in Spokane that the individual parishes were indeed property of that diocese.

It is a cross we have to carry for the sins of the bad priests and the poor management of those priests. They can take my church and all its assets, but Christ will always be present in the Eucharist. If we have to use a picnic table as an alter in a park to celebrate mass…we will do that. If government can take away our church like that, then I’m proud to say that I am a Catholic who lives in America, but don’t call me an American.