What do you think about this priest's advice regarding birth control?

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Londoner said:
He is highlighting the hypocrisy of white Europeans exporting their belief systems and cultural norms to Africa while permitting themselves rather more flexible standards in the mother country.
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Except that’s not what’s happening here. The European priest is giving unsound advice to his parishioners. And the Anglican theologian is okay with it.
You were the one who said he called the European priest urbane and sophisticated.
 
Londoner said:
I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t work the same way for every woman.
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The signs of fertility are indeed the same for every woman. The fertility signs used include: body temp, cervical mucus, and cervical position. Methods of observation vary.

Also, in the methods that use testing strips, the fertility signs consist of female hormones.
 
Londoner said:
Since you don’t know the person in question, it seems extraordinary that you are content to call him “totally racist”.
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I didn’t say the person was “totally racist”. That statement certainly is.
 
Londoner said:
find the Church’s teaching on birth control problematic in general, and I am surprised to find that the consensus of opinion among the laity seems to be that a priest is wrong to permit any deviation from the strictest adherence.
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This isn’t a rule, it’s the moral law. It’s not up for debate and there aren’t any exceptions. It’s grave matter against the sixth commandment.

No power on earth can give someone “permission” to sin against God. So yes, the priest is wrong to do so.

It’s not about “deviation from strict adherence”. I mean, what do we call those who deviate from the strict adherence of the seventh commandment? Thieves. What do we call those who deviate from strict adherence to the fifth commandment? Murderers.

The commandments do not admit a greater or lesser adherence— we adhere, period. When we don’t, that’s what confession is for.
Londoner said:
This same priest once flatly told me that he would refuse to marry a couple who didn’t want to have children.
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As he should. Since that is an impediment to valid marriage, he could not knowingly witness such a marriage.
 
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Londoner said:
I quoted the incident to an Anglican theology professor and he seemed to think that he priest’s advice was good, but he objected to the fact that a couple who have an urbane and sophisticated priest in Europe can get one kind of advice while couples in Africa would invariably be given another kind of advice.
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It is terrible that “an urbane and sophisticated [presumably Roman Catholic] priest” would advise anyone to commit a grave sin.

Luckily, those in Africa are getting better advice.
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
Your Anglican theology professor comes across as smug and more than a little racist by comparing the “urbane and sophisticated” white priest against the ignorant and backward black priest.

He may want to be careful of that.
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This is funny because the Church of England is so desperate to be a multicultural church. But this attitude is present in the CofE’s liberal wing and they continue to wonder why non-whites flock to Pentecostal and Baptist churches or even the conservative Evangelical parishes in the CofE (yes they do exist!).
 
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Londoner said:
Yes, how the Church sees the world is important, but I also think it is important when I see what people outside the Church are saying about the Catholic Church and the two things that come up every time are the sexual abuse crisis and birth control, especially in the developing world.
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It is ironic that these are the two topics that come up. In the one case, priests and bishops are very rightly criticized for going against Church teaching, and in the other, the Church is criticized for not going against Church teaching.
 
What do you want me to say about it?
 
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Londoner said:
My apologies if this is too personal a question, but since you brought it up, do you mean counselled by a priest or counselled by a doctor? I find the Church’s teaching on birth control problematic in general, and I am surprised to find that the consensus of opinion among the laity seems to be that a priest is wrong to permit any deviation from the strictest adherence.
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Why? We are bound to follow Church teaching. The priest is not allowed to “excuse” us from following the Church teaching, nor is he permitted to give advice that goes squarely against it.

In addition, those of us who are sincerely trying to follow Church teachings are not concerned with how others might perceive the teaching or how those outside the Church might feel about the teaching. Why would we care? People are committing sins and immoralities right and left every day because they don’t agree with Church teaching. The Church does not change to accommodate them.

We’re also not Anglicans. If the Anglicans or Episcopalians or whoever want to agree with the priest’s bad advice, that’s their problem. We are Catholic.
 
Londoner said:
But he seemed to think that in exceptional circumstances that could prove insufficient and one could resort to using condoms as a way of avoiding further suffering.
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He would be gravely mistaken. There is no compromising with that which is intrinsically evil.
 
I mean counseled by a priest. Several in fact. And the Church’s teaching on birth control is not problematic. What is problematic is the attitude of some like yourself who seem to want to smile when telling someone to eat poison because they think it is merciful.
 
Sorry? I’m wondering whether you were meaning to reply to somebody else. I’m the only person on this thread who actually sympathises with your situation and agrees with the advice you have received. I think I’ve been fairly consistently critical of the Church’s position on birth control and have made no secret of that. I certainly have no idea what you are getting at when you say that I smile while people eat poison because I think it’s merciful. No idea at all. I think you must have misread everything I said.
 
IdaCatholic said:
I mean counseled by a priest. Several in fact. And the Church’s teaching on birth control is not problematic. What is problematic is the attitude of some like yourself who seem to want to smile when telling someone to eat poison because they think it is merciful.
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Why would you go to a Priest for such advice?
 
He means your compassion is disordered because artificial contraception is absolutely forbidden by the Church and anyone who says it is okay to use contraception to stop procreation, whether it be you, the priest with whom you spoke or the priest(s) with whom he spoke, is advising him it is okay to sin gravely (poison).

Priests and even bishops can be wrong. The ones with whom both of you spoke were.
 
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I’m wondering how you could assume so much. You are not on my side by advocating that birth control is ok. I’m also shocked because you do so knowing nothing of the situation. Your contributions on this thread have been damaging to those who wish to attain holiness.
 
I’m a man. May I ask why on earth you would assume my gender by what I’ve posted?
 
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