Why is artificial birth control usage so wrong?

[Vezelay]

A gigantic percentage of Catholics use artificial birth control, 96% of us. We receive communion and the bishops have affirmed that using contraception “is no reason to refrain from receiving communion.” Now it continues to be said that birth control is wrong but if it is not a reason to refrain from communion then the “users” are in the state of grace, so how wrong can it be. In the 60’s the committee of 60 bishops spent TWO YEARS studying the issue and concluded that “there is no doctrinal or theological reason not to lift the ban,” which is why Catholics started using contraceptives in large numbers which have increased year by year. Humanae Vitae was rejected by the people of God, they agreed with the bishops’ conclusion. There is nothing infallible about HV. The doctrine of infallibility has been invoked so seldom since 1870 that it might as well not exist. Some theologians have called the decision of Catholic people to reject the ban on birth control as the single greatest blow to papal authority. Everybody in Italy uses birth control. It has the lowest birth rate in the world. If the pope cannot even persuade Italians, why should there be any surprise that the rest of church cannot be persuaded either. Those of you who think birth control is wrong are a very small minority of Catholics. By the way, the single best way to eliminate abortion is to eliminate unwanted pregnancies, ie birth control. Let us work for zero abortions through birth control education, including refraining from sexual relations until marriage, and access to contraceptives for those who do not refrain. Contraceptive use also reduces STDs, a scourge of our society. Join us, the Catholic people, who have a sensible view on this, a view that the bishops tell us is no reason not to receive communion. I don’t know why you few can’t follow the massive majority of the church.

 

[Abu]

Vezelay
How could you think that you are following Christ in His Catholic Church?

Until and unless you listen to Christ through His Church you may be in the same boat as His Apostles in earlier days – to His own Apostles, “whom He loved to the end” Jesus exclaimed: “Have you no sense, no wits, are your hearts dulled, can’t you see, your ears hear, don’t you remember?” (Mk 6:51).

If Jesus could tell His chosen St Peter to “Get behind Me Satan. You are an offence to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Mt 16:23), do you think you will be spared? Don’t you know that Bishops cannot change the truth on contraception given to us through Christ’s Pope’s? No committee can do so either, set up to offer facts on the new contraceptive pill.

Read the facts in posts #29 and #30, and start facing your Maker with contrition and humility.

It is vital to realize that the doctrinal teaching against contraception in *Casti Connubii *(Pius XI, 1930) and *Humanae Vitae *(Paul VI, 1968) are infallible definitions. Contraception is intrinsically gravely wrong.

 

[RosaryFan]

Hey everyone. Why is the usage of artificial birth control considered to be so wrong? A friend of mine claims that by using artificial birth control, you are distrusting God. But the fact is, God can overcome any method of birth control if He wants to. And isn’t using natural family planning in a sense being distrustful of God as well?

The only valid reason I can see to not use artificial birth control is because hormonal forms of it can be abortifacient. That and I can also see how perhaps it may cause disunity in the marriage somehow. But what about the above objection?

Being an abortifacient is reason enough, but all forms of birth control (condoms, too) even if they are not abortifacients are against the Church. If your marital act is not open to the possibility of life, you are, in effect, kicking God out of your sacred union. That’s the best way I know how to describe it. God has given us the gift of the sacrament of marriage which is meant to model the Holy Trinity. Giving and receiving love that is so powerful, it is meant to be life-giving. That is how marriage immitates God’s love for us. When you take the “life-giving” out of the equation, you are abandoning God’s main purpose for the marital act.

I hope that is helpful.

 

[Abu]

GrandeChartreus (post #26)
If there were no divergence and everyone agreed would make this debate about artificial birth control a no issue. …,until a ‘‘real’’ consensus that will carefully examine the values our god gave us and understand the new realities of our modern society…

This is the same fatal error exposed in posts #29, #30. Why do some Catholics feel that they can go against Christ and His Church and still claim to follow Him? What a morass of deceit.

The remedy is to take the time and trouble to study and know what the Magisterium is teaching and not what every Tom, Dick, Harry and Harriet are saying whether theologians or not! Realise that Christ gave no authority to theologians or laity against His Magisterium.

Dissent since Vatican II has been the flavour for the pick and choose cafeteria Catholic, theologian or laity, not the faithful Catholic and led publicly by the likes of Karl Rahner against the infallible condemnation against contraception in Humanae Vitae, reaffirming the infallible condemnation in Casti Connubii of Pius XI in 1930.

**The wise will heed the truth from EWTN:
Answer by David Gregson of EWTN on Nov-22-2002: **
“You are correct in stating that the Pope exercises his charism of infallibility not only in dogmatic definitions issued, ex cathedra, as divinely revealed (of which there have been only two), but also in doctrines definitively proposed by him, also ex cathedra, which would include canonizations (that they are in fact Saints, enjoying the Beatific Vision in heaven), moral teachings (such as contained in Humanae vitae), and other doctrines he has taught as necessarily connected with truths divinely revealed, such as that priestly ordination is reserved to men. Further details on levels of certainty with which the teachings of the Magisterium (either the Pope alone, or in company with his Bishops) may be found in Summary of Categories of Belief.”

Further, the birth dearth is gravely harming the West and Russia –don’t you know?
Europe’s Demographic Winter threatening the U.S.A.
Having Children: Anatomy of a Cultural Strategy
…for the first time, the birth rate in the United States has fallen below the replacement level. All of this is finally generating a buzz. If you’re a young Catholic looking for an effective long-term strategy to reclaim Western culture, having a large family should be on your short list.
catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=444

 

[jawgee]

By the way, the single best way to eliminate abortion is to eliminate unwanted pregnancies, ie birth control. Let us work for zero abortions through birth control education, including refraining from sexual relations until marriage, and access to contraceptives for those who do not refrain. Contraceptive use also reduces STDs, a scourge of our society.

Common thinking, but I would challenge those assumptions. Why are there over 1 million abortions every year in the US? Is it because there is a lack of contraception available?

Very few contraceptions protect against STDs. Why are STD rates on the rise in the US? Why does the US have the highest STD rate of any developed country? Again, is it because of lack of contraception? I don’t think so.

If you have the time, I would encourage you to listen to Janet Smith’s “Contraception, Why Not” talk. It dispels some myths and teaches the true consequences society has experienced as a result of contraception.

 

[RosaryFan]

By the way, the single best way to eliminate abortion is to eliminate unwanted pregnancies, ie birth control. Let us work for zero abortions through birth control education…

Ah, an archaic way of thinking which is how we got into this abortion mess. Quite the contrary, abortion became rampant when birth control became rampant and failed. Birth control fails (all of it) and when it does, abortion is the “backup plan”. THAT is why abortion is so prevalent in our society. The only way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and abortion is chastity. Chastity ONLY.

 

[ironband]

A gigantic percentage of Catholics use artificial birth control, 96% of us. We receive communion and the bishops have affirmed that using contraception “is no reason to refrain from receiving communion.”

Do you have a source for that quote? Because the article you referred to previously did NOT say that. It said:

But contraception figured heavily into a debate over a document on reception of communion, with the bishops rejecting an effort **to name **contraception as a reason to refrain from receiving communion.

Note that the document in question didn’t name murder, kidnapping, bank robbery, and other things which could certainly be considered grave matter.

Here’s another article: washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401071.html

Somewhat lost in reports from the meeting was the approval of a new document from the US church’s anti-aboration committee aimed at young Catholics who are engaged or recently married. Called “Married Love and the Gift of Life,” the document reaffirms the church’s stance that artificial contraception is immoral, even between husband and wife.

The document passed with **95 percent of the bishops voting in its favor **and no debate on the floor. The bishops were as unified behind their teaching on contraception as the flock and the dominate culture are against it. The expression “countercultural” came up repeatedly in conversations with bishops.

Now it continues to be said that birth control is wrong but if it is not a reason to refrain from communion then the “users” are in the state of grace, so how wrong can it be. In the 60’s the committee of 60 bishops spent TWO YEARS studying the issue and concluded that “there is no doctrinal or theological reason not to lift the ban,” which is why Catholics started using contraceptives in large numbers which have increased year by year.

A committee of 60 bishops doesn’t count as a concensus of the magesterium, and therefore is not binding. Even so, I’d like ot have a look at the document which contains the quote you reference above.

Humanae Vitae was rejected by the people of God, they agreed with the bishops’ conclusion. There is nothing infallible about HV. The doctrine of infallibility has been invoked so seldom since 1870 that it might as well not exist. Some theologians have called the decision of Catholic people to reject the ban on birth control as the single greatest blow to papal authority. Everybody in Italy uses birth control. It has the lowest birth rate in the world. If the pope cannot even persuade Italians, why should there be any surprise that the rest of church cannot be persuaded either. Those of you who think birth control is wrong are a very small minority of Catholics.

Wow. The Church isn’t a democracy (and thank God it isn’t!) These aren’t arguments at all, but just an appeal to popularity. I pray that you will actually read, reflect, and pray on the beauty of our sexuality, and how the use of contraception desecrates that beautiful gift.

Heaven help us if we decide that popular consensus should dictate doctrine. I suppose that next you will say that we shouldn’t believe in the real presence of the Eucharist since by some polls fewer than 50% of Catholics believe in it?

I don’t know why you few can’t follow the massive majority of the church.

Because I follow the Church Christ founded and the Magesterium He put in charge, not the majority. Jesus didn’t say to the apostles “Go forth, then, and make disciples of all nations, and remember that if there is ever a dispute, majority rules!” Rather, he said “Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven.” In this case, the “massive majority” is massively in error.

 

[Newbie2]

If you have the time, I would encourage you to listen to Janet Smith’s “Contraception, Why Not” talk. It dispels some myths and teaches the true consequences society has experienced as a result of contraception.

Dispels some common “misconceptions” then?

 

[Vezelay]

Ninety-six percent of Catholics use the same contraceptives as the rest of the population according to the US bishops (US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore November 2006). Church leaders may still find that birth control is immoral but it isn’t so bad since the bishops at that same conference affirmed that using birth control is no reason to refrain from receiving communion. I dare say the huge percentage of the 96% of us do indeed receive communion and do not feel that contraception is immoral or at least not a mortal sin since it is okay to receive communion according to the bishops themselves. (And most have been receiving communion since the '60’s - primacy of conscience rules).
Birth control education and access to contraceptives is clearly the best way to eliminate abortion. (Murdering doctors is clearly the worst way.) Abortions were decreasing enormously throughout Africa during the '90’s when the US funded clinics and agencies providing education and contraceptives. When the Bush administration banned funding for any agency performing abortions, the funding was no longer there for birth control education and contraceptives either. The result was that the number of abortions and STDs (including AIDs) rose astronomically. There is a case where the attempt to ban abortion actually resulted in increasing the number of abortions.
The reason so many Catholics have abortions is that they have avoided contraception, believing that it was wrong. Those Catholics who do not find contraception wrong do not have abortions. Don’t forget the so-called natural family planning method is a form of birth control. There is nothing very natural about taking one’s temperature every morning in bed. If it is okay to control births by the NFM, why is it not okay to control births through the normal methods? Dr Rock, who was one of the pioneers in developing the pill, was Catholic and was crushed when the church did not recognize his effort to provide a good catholic way to plan parenthood. Fortunately, the bishops entrusted to study the issue, agreed with him as did/do the huge majority of the people of the church, regardless of what their leaders have said. You small 4% of Catholics can continue to condemn birth control all you want but you can’t change the facts of life. Catholics use all methods of birth control. period.

 

[Priscilla_Ann]

Ninety-six percent of Catholics use the same contraceptives as the rest of the population according to the US bishops (US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore November 2006). Church leaders may still find that birth control is immoral but it isn’t so bad since the bishops at that same conference affirmed that using birth control is no reason to refrain from receiving communion. I dare say the huge percentage of the 96% of us do indeed receive communion and do not feel that contraception is immoral or at least not a mortal sin since it is okay to receive communion according to the bishops themselves. (And most have been receiving communion since the '60’s - primacy of conscience rules).
Birth control education and access to contraceptives is clearly the best way to eliminate abortion. (Murdering doctors is clearly the worst way.) Abortions were decreasing enormously throughout Africa during the '90’s when the US funded clinics and agencies providing education and contraceptives. When the Bush administration banned funding for any agency performing abortions, the funding was no longer there for birth control education and contraceptives either. The result was that the number of abortions and STDs (including AIDs) rose astronomically. There is a case where the attempt to ban abortion actually resulted in increasing the number of abortions.
The reason so many Catholics have abortions is that they have avoided contraception, believing that it was wrong. Those Catholics who do not find contraception wrong do not have abortions. Don’t forget the so-called natural family planning method is a form of birth control. There is nothing very natural about taking one’s temperature every morning in bed. If it is okay to control births by the NFM, why is it not okay to control births through the normal methods? Dr Rock, who was one of the pioneers in developing the pill, was Catholic and was crushed when the church did not recognize his effort to provide a good catholic way to plan parenthood. Fortunately, the bishops entrusted to study the issue, agreed with him as did/do the huge majority of the people of the church, regardless of what their leaders have said. You small 4% of Catholics can continue to condemn birth control all you want but you can’t change the facts of life. Catholics use all methods of birth control. period.

I came upon this thread very late, but your posts are excellent. Thanks for being the refreshing voice of honesty and common sense. You are absolutely correct about natural family planning. There is “nothing very natural” about it. I don’t know of anyone (outside these forums) who has been able to use it successfully. The 4% of Catholics who actually use it are obviously morally superior to the rest of us. Just ask them!

 

[Newbie2]

Ninety-six percent of Catholics use the same contraceptives as the rest of the population according to the US bishops (US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore November 2006). Church leaders may still find that birth control is immoral but it isn’t so bad since the bishops at that same conference affirmed that using birth control is no reason to refrain from receiving communion. I dare say the huge percentage of the 96% of us do indeed receive communion and do not feel that contraception is immoral or at least not a mortal sin since it is okay to receive communion according to the bishops themselves. (And most have been receiving communion since the '60’s - primacy of conscience rules).
Birth control education and access to contraceptives is clearly the best way to eliminate abortion. (Murdering doctors is clearly the worst way.) Abortions were decreasing enormously throughout Africa during the '90’s when the US funded clinics and agencies providing education and contraceptives. When the Bush administration banned funding for any agency performing abortions, the funding was no longer there for birth control education and contraceptives either. The result was that the number of abortions and STDs (including AIDs) rose astronomically. There is a case where the attempt to ban abortion actually resulted in increasing the number of abortions.
The reason so many Catholics have abortions is that they have avoided contraception, believing that it was wrong. Those Catholics who do not find contraception wrong do not have abortions. Don’t forget the so-called natural family planning method is a form of birth control. There is nothing very natural about taking one’s temperature every morning in bed. If it is okay to control births by the NFM, why is it not okay to control births through the normal methods? Dr Rock, who was one of the pioneers in developing the pill, was Catholic and was crushed when the church did not recognize his effort to provide a good catholic way to plan parenthood. Fortunately, the bishops entrusted to study the issue, agreed with him as did/do the huge majority of the people of the church, regardless of what their leaders have said. You small 4% of Catholics can continue to condemn birth control all you want but you can’t change the facts of life. Catholics use all methods of birth control. period.

I think this is a non sequitur as well as a blanket statement.

Of course it stands to reason that if any forn of birth control (excluding abortion) is effective, abortion is a moot point.

However, theologically speaking, the “best” way of avoiding unplanned pregnancies is 100% effective…it’s called abstinance, especially during the fertile periods.

 

[Vezelay]

I think this is a non sequitur as well as a blanket statement.

Of course it stands to reason that if any forn of birth control (excluding abortion) is effective, abortion is a moot point.

However, theologically speaking, the “best” way of avoiding unplanned pregnancies is 100% effective…it’s called abstinance, especially during the fertile periods.

I don’t know where you find the non sequitur. It stands to reason that those Catholics who use contraceptives are not going to face unwanted pregnancies and, therefore, are not going to seek abortions. Those Catholics who do not use contraceptives are the ones who find themselves pregnant and who, in far too many cases, seek abortions.

Your second point simply affirms what I have said. Abortion is a moot point when pregnancy has been avoided which is why contraceptives are recommended. Birth control education, including the recommendation to refrain from sexual relations until marriage, and access to contraceptives are the key ways to eliminate the need for abortion. By the way, I know of nobody who considers abortion a method of birth control. It is the recourse for those whose birth control methods have failed or have not been used.

Abstinence is spelled with an “e.” It is poor word usage for many. Smacks too much of food and drink as in “fast and abstinence.” Holding off having sexual relations until marriage or refraining from pre-marital sex constitute better terminology. For married people, not having sexual relations is hardly a good thing and figuring out the fertile periods gets one into that horrible morning temperature taking ordeal. All of which explains why so very few Catholics use it. Normal married Catholics use contraception. Some people like to complain that the 96% of Catholics who use birth control are, somehow, in error. But the bishops have said they need not refrain from receiving communion so they can’t be too much in error. Numbers do matter. Look at the numbers in Ireland and Belgium where the church has collapsed. The millions of people who have turned their back against the church because of the criminal activity of so many priests and bishops certainly matter. We are losing Catholics day in and day out. You are not helping anything by your attitude of condemnation of the vast majority of the people of God. We are the church. The church is not a bunch of old men, it is the people of faith. You can hardly cast off with your sneer 96% of Catholics.

 

[ironband]

Vezelay,

You have not yet provided the references I asked for, and are making the same arguments over and over.

Look, I understand how upsetting this is - you are clearly very passionate about the issue. I do not view myself as “morally superior,” because we are all sinners, and we all look for ways to justify our sin (read pretty much any thread on a moral issue on here and you will find Catholic dissenters with Church teaching, whether the topic be birth control, abortion, Homosexuality/Same Sex Marriage, Cohabitation, Stem cell research, etc.) Moreover, less than ten years ago I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly.

After my wife and I had two children, we figured our family was complete. My wife had been on the pill, but it didn’t seem right that she should be using those drugs for the rest of her fertile life (We had used them before marriage and after the birth of our first child) since messing with her hormones just seemed like a bad idea. I started looking into getting a vasectomy as a couple of my friends (one of them Catholic) had done. I had the appointment set up and everything, had the prelim appointment, the doctor went over all the info with me…etc. I knew what the Church taught, and I was prepared to go against it, until my Father-in-law, who had one due to my Mother-in-law’s very difficult third pregnancy at the behest of her doctor (another pregancy could kill her, they were told), asked to meet with me. Without going into great detail, let’s just say that he regretted his decision very much. He asked me to think and pray long and hard about it before I went through with it, and I did.

I did. And in my prayer I believe I was lead to search out why the Church taught what it did. And when I did, I found myself wrestling with that decision…I was uneasy about it and soon came to the conclusion that I couldn’t go through with it. My wife heard me out, and then did some research on NFP. I cancelled my appointment and we invested in a fertility computer (Ladycomp), and we started practicing periodic abstinence.

To make a long story a little shorter, it took some getting used to, but we grew into it.

And, happily, when we later decided we were being called to have our third child, we were able to conceive without any difficulty.

And, also happily, I can say that my level of intimacy with my wife and our satisfaction with our love life is through the roof. Sometimes it is hard to wait, but knowing that we respect one another enough not to do anything to ourselves as well as the act itself not to do anything to it makes it all the more beautiful when we renew our vows in this way. I am able to see where she is in her cycle by looking at the charts, and so I know where her body is at a given time, and can be there for her in different ways accoding to her needs.

It seems that most people who put down NFP have either never tried it, or only tried it for a short time, or did so out of bitterness “because the Church said so” without educating themselves on the good things that come out of it. No chemicals in the mom’s body (which can be abortifacient) messing with her cycle. No surgical alteration of the body which can lead to issues down the road. No barrier between the man and woman when they come together. Periodic abstinence, which teaches temperance, respect, and self control. These are good things!

I can only speak for myself in this regard, but I have found that making the move to NFP and beginning to follow the Church’s teachings on this and many other things has made a big difference in my own life, in my relationship with my wife, in how I view myself as a father and a man.

I can only pray that the Holy Spirit will open your heart to the wisdom of the Church so that you might share in the joy which I have found.

 

[budgie2]

Um…yes, there are medical reasons to use hormonal treatments i.e. in some cases “the pill”.

In general, you are correct that it’s overprescribed for simply helping to regulate irregular cycles.

Keeping periods regular is a euphemism for making sure you don’t miss a period due to pregnancy. An irregular period is an euphemism for “I’m late because I’m pregnant” for some women. For a couple of hundred of years pro-choice people have camouflaged abortifacient birth control as “menstrual regulators”, according to John Riddle’s Eve’s Herbs A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West, Pg 201 which is available on Amazon.

It is natural for a woman’s periods to fluctuate between 23 and 35 days. Menstrual irregularity can be caused by absence of ovulation but taking the pill could then make you permanently infertile.

 

[Vezelay]

Vezelay,

You have not yet provided the references I asked for, and are making the same arguments over and over.

Look, I understand how upsetting this is - you are clearly very passionate about the issue. I do not view myself as “morally superior,” because we are all sinners, and we all look for ways to justify our sin (read pretty much any thread on a moral issue on here and you will find Catholic dissenters with Church teaching, whether the topic be birth control, abortion, Homosexuality/Same Sex Marriage, Cohabitation, Stem cell research, etc.) Moreover, less than ten years ago I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly.

After my wife and I had two children, we figured our family was complete. My wife had been on the pill, but it didn’t seem right that she should be using those drugs for the rest of her fertile life (We had used them before marriage and after the birth of our first child) since messing with her hormones just seemed like a bad idea. I started looking into getting a vasectomy as a couple of my friends (one of them Catholic) had done. I had the appointment set up and everything, had the prelim appointment, the doctor went over all the info with me…etc. I knew what the Church taught, and I was prepared to go against it, until my Father-in-law, who had one due to my Mother-in-law’s very difficult third pregnancy at the behest of her doctor (another pregancy could kill her, they were told), asked to meet with me. Without going into great detail, let’s just say that he regretted his decision very much. He asked me to think and pray long and hard about it before I went through with it, and I did.

I did. And in my prayer I believe I was lead to search out why the Church taught what it did. And when I did, I found myself wrestling with that decision…I was uneasy about it and soon came to the conclusion that I couldn’t go through with it. My wife heard me out, and then did some research on NFP. I cancelled my appointment and we invested in a fertility computer (Ladycomp), and we started practicing periodic abstinence.

To make a long story a little shorter, it took some getting used to, but we grew into it.

And, happily, when we later decided we were being called to have our third child, we were able to conceive without any difficulty.

And, also happily, I can say that my level of intimacy with my wife and our satisfaction with our love life is through the roof. Sometimes it is hard to wait, but knowing that we respect one another enough not to do anything to ourselves as well as the act itself not to do anything to it makes it all the more beautiful when we renew our vows in this way. I am able to see where she is in her cycle by looking at the charts, and so I know where her body is at a given time, and can be there for her in different ways accoding to her needs.

It seems that most people who put down NFP have either never tried it, or only tried it for a short time, or did so out of bitterness “because the Church said so” without educating themselves on the good things that come out of it. No chemicals in the mom’s body (which can be abortifacient) messing with her cycle. No surgical alteration of the body which can lead to issues down the road. No barrier between the man and woman when they come together. Periodic abstinence, which teaches temperance, respect, and self control. These are good things!

I can only speak for myself in this regard, but I have found that making the move to NFP and beginning to follow the Church’s teachings on this and many other things has made a big difference in my own life, in my relationship with my wife, in how I view myself as a father and a man.

I can only pray that the Holy Spirit will open your heart to the wisdom of the Church so that you might share in the joy which I have found.

I just googled “US Bishops tackle contraception and communion” and the very first article reports that the bishops “explained” the church’s teaching on birth control and “encouraged” or was it “recommended” the natural method. They then went on to vote not to include contraceptive use as a reason to refrain from receiving communion. The vote was 148 to 75. That article didn’t mention the bishops’ study of contraceptive use so I googled “Percentage of US Catholics who use contraceptives” and the second article from the Boston Globe references the bishops’ report that 96% of us use contraceptives. I don’t know how you missed this back in 2006. These are the references. What more do you need? It’s nice that you have had good success with the so called natural method. That’s great for you but the rest of us are not you. And the overwhelming majority of us have chosen a different path and the bishops recognize this and they say that what we are doing is no reason not to present for the Eucharist, which we knew all along because that is what we have been doing. I’m not upset over this issue. I am just surprised by some of the silly comments that I have recently read… and perplexed since I don’t know any Catholics who don’t feel the same way as we do. Again, and maybe you find it boring for me to repeat it, but we are the church. Without the 96% of us, you are a very small group. Stop with all the nasty things you say about us normal happy faithful people. And get a life.

 

[jilly4ski]

I just googled “US Bishops tackle contraception and communion” and the very first article reports that the bishops “explained” the church’s teaching on birth control and “encouraged” or was it “recommended” the natural method. They then went on to vote not to include contraceptive use as a reason to refrain from receiving communion. The vote was 148 to 75. That article didn’t mention the bishops’ study of contraceptive use so I googled “Percentage of US Catholics who use contraceptives” and the second article from the Boston Globe references the bishops’ report that 96% of us use contraceptives. I don’t know how you missed this back in 2006. These are the references. What more do you need? It’s nice that you have had good success with the so called natural method. That’s great for you but the rest of us are not you. And the overwhelming majority of us have chosen a different path and the bishops recognize this and they say that what we are doing is no reason not to present for the Eucharist, which we knew all along because that is what we have been doing. I’m not upset over this issue. I am just surprised by some of the silly comments that I have recently read… and perplexed since I don’t know any Catholics who don’t feel the same way as we do. Again, and maybe you find it boring for me to repeat it, but we are the church. Without the 96% of us, you are a very small group. Stop with all the nasty things you say about us normal happy faithful people. And get a life.

Since when are the US bishops the magisterium of the Church? And since when do the bishops decide what is and is not a sin? Contraception has been defined by the Church. (emphasis mine).

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. 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:

and

CCC 2399 Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).

Please explain how one can be involved in an intrinsic evil and still receive communion without first receiving reconciliation?

CCC 1385 “For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

This is the teaching of the Church not some stuff you can pull of the internet. Also as others have pointed out, you are misinterpreting the Bishops. They did not say that people who use contraception can receive communion, just that they were not going to single it out and put it in their pamphlet, since they were not going to list any other sins as impediments to communion.

 

[Abu]

Priscilla Ann
I don’t know of anyone (outside these forums) who has been able to use it [NBR] successfully.

Perceptive readers will notice the frightfully naïve, misinformed mere prejudices so often expressed.
With the populations of the West dying off, the aged versus producing population problem is already staring these countries in the face – with Islamic minorities burgeoning.

Yet we have the blind leading the blind. This DB provides a great opportunity to enlighten the disinformed.

Facing Reality on Natural Birth Regulation
Implementation of NFP Question on July-19-2003 [EWTN]:
Answer by Fr. Richard Hogan - NFP Outreach on July-19-2003:
It might of use to note that Mother Theresa and her missionaries of Charity have had remarkable success in teaching uneducated and illiterate families the methods of Natural Family Planning in Calcutta. While there is much work to be done in this area, it would not be fair to assume that the Church is doing NOTHING in terms of trying to combat the evils of contraception and abortion in Third World Nations. The war against Life is rampant enough in our developed countries! Perhaps when more “privileged” Catholics stop contracepting in their marriages, it will be easier to find funding and teachers for the purpose of educating poor families in Third World Nations about NFP.

Charlotte Hays, Solving The Puzzle Of Natural Family Planning
Crisis, P14 – 26, The Morley Institute, Inc., Washington, D.C., December 2001

Wilson’s Family of the Americas Foundation now teaches NFP in more than 100 countries, including China. “God would not be so cruel that unless you can read you can’t follow natural family planning,” she insists. “Why make it so complicated?” Wilson’s bold decision to dispense with the thermometer and rely solely on observations of mucus was followed by the Billings in Australia several years later.

NFP families, whether Couple to Couple or Billings followers, report an astonishingly low divorce rate — one informal study puts it at 1.3 percent, as compared with about 50 percent in society at large. Even accounting for the high level of dedication of the NFP group studied, experts estimate that the divorce rate for NFP couples does not go above 4 percent. Wilson’s Family of the Americas has a study that shows a 2 percent divorce rate. Advocates say that NFP promotes communication between husband and wife because both must be involved. Husbands are encouraged to help with the charting.

Wilson claims an effectiveness rate of 99 percent among “the poorest of the poor” in Guatemala. “There’s no excuse anymore to pretend that only those with strong religious convictions can follow natural family planning,” she writes.

Unlike the rhythm method, the Billings method does not depend on a stable menstrual cycle. Numerous independent trials have confirmed the 99 percent success rate of the Billings Method, including a recent study following thousands of women for more than a year. If any further proof is needed, the method has been regularly used up to date by over 2,686,400 fertile couples in China for avoiding pregnancy with an overall success rate of approximately 99 percent.

Meet a giant in the Catholic World of Justice, Love and Peace:
Mrs Mercedes Arzú Wilson is founder and President of Family of the Americas Foundation since 1977.
She has received three Honorary Doctor Degrees and numerous awards for her work in the pro-life/family movement, most recently from Franciscan University at Steubenville. (Doctor of Humane Letters 2006)
In 1994, she was appointed as a founding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life by His Holiness, John Paul II, and continues to defend life from the moment of conception until its natural end.
omsoul.com/catalog/wilson-mercedes-arzu-m0102.html

 

[Abu]

Vezelay
we are the church

No, arrogant one – it is Christ’s Church – and His Magisterium. “He who hears you hears Me” (Lk 10:16).
“Christians must adhere to the pope not because he is infallible; but since they must, on divine command, adhere to the pope, he has to be infallible." (Fr Stanley Jaki, The Keys of the Kingdom, Franciscan Herald Press, 1986, p 170).

It is always arrogance – pride, the Original Sin that warps the will and clouds the reason. The only remedy is humility and repentance. No wonder so many fall by the wayside – prey to the father of lies.

 

[Newbie2]

I don’t know where you find the non sequitur. It stands to reason that those Catholics who use contraceptives are not going to face unwanted pregnancies and, therefore, are not going to seek abortions. **Those Catholics who do not use contraceptives are the ones who find themselves pregnant and who, in far too many cases, seek abortions. **

That’s where I find the non sequitur;

What does “in far too many cases” mean? If you mean one single abortion is far too many, then I’d agree.

Your second point simply affirms what I have said. Abortion is a moot point when pregnancy has been avoided which is why contraceptives are recommended.

Yes, we agree there.

Birth control education, including the recommendation to refrain from sexual relations until marriage, and access to contraceptives are the key ways to eliminate the need for abortion. By the way, I know of nobody who considers abortion a method of birth control. It is the recourse for those whose birth control methods have failed or have not been used.

Many do.

Abstinence is spelled with an “e.” It is poor word usage for many. Smacks too much of food and drink as in “fast and abstinence.”

My bad. Sometimes i donte spel wele

Holding off having sexual relations until marriage or refraining from pre-marital sex constitute better terminology.** For married people, not having sexual relations is hardly a good thing **

Beg to differ here, unless you mean permanently for no good reason.

and figuring out the fertile periods gets one into that horrible morning temperature taking ordeal. All of which explains why so very few Catholics use it. Normal married Catholics use contraception. Some people like to complain that the 96% of Catholics who use birth control are, somehow, in error. But the bishops have said they need not refrain from receiving communion so they can’t be too much in error. Numbers do matter. Look at the numbers in Ireland and Belgium where the church has collapsed. The millions of people who have turned their back against the church because of the criminal activity of so many priests and bishops certainly matter. We are losing Catholics day in and day out. **You are not helping anything by your attitude of condemnation **of the vast majority of the people of God. We are the church. The church is not a bunch of old men, it is the people of faith. You can hardly cast off with your sneer 96% of Catholics.

Condemnation? Sneer? Where’d you come up with that?

Keeping periods regular is a euphemism for making sure you don’t miss a period due to pregnancy. **An irregular period is an euphemism for “I’m late because I’m pregnant” for some women. ** For a couple of hundred of years pro-choice people have camouflaged abortifacient birth control as “menstrual regulators”, according to John Riddle’s Eve’s Herbs A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West, Pg 201 which is available on Amazon.

It is natural for a woman’s periods to fluctuate between 23 and 35 days. Menstrual irregularity can be caused by absence of ovulation but taking the pill could then make you permanently infertile.

Yeah, for some, I agree. Other women can have truly irregular cycles, which can be difficult to manage logistically e.g. bleeding in the “middle” of a cycle. Some can be helped by hormonal therapy.

 

[Corki]

Since Vezelay can’t or won’t give us the reference for his statement that the Bishops don’t think using Contraception is reason to refrain from Communion, I did the look-up for him. The article he spoke of is here

post-gazette.com/pg/06319/738380-84.stm

and includes the following section

Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., said that the drafters did not include contraception **because it was not intended to be a comprehensive list of sins **and there was a concern that this “particularly difficult pastoral problem” would distract from everything else in the document. Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, auxiliary of San Diego, argued that not mentioning it would draw even more attention.

“If we are silent on this issue, perhaps people won’t go so far as to say we are winking at it, but at least we would easily create the **misperception that this is not an issue involving grave matter.” **“Grave matter,” along with informed reflection and willful intent, constitutes mortal sin.

It’s grave matter and would be mortally sinful if committed with intent and consent. All mortal sins make one indisposed for Communion.

The CNS story from the time gives another perspective

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0606495.htm

the document says that a Catholic who “knowingly and obstinately” rejects “the defined doctrines of the church” or repudiates “definitive teaching on moral issues” would not be in communion with the church and therefore should not receive Communion.