…he just doesn’t know it yet:
I am not Catholic – my ancestors were Ulster Scots, and I remain proudly Protestant – but over the years many Catholic readers have been attracted to this blog by my advocacy of a pro-family, pro-life philosophy which owes much to the doctrine expounded in Humanae Vitae. If you have never read it, you certainly should and please note that Humanae Vitae is addressed not merely to Catholics, nor even exclusively to Christians, but “to all men of good will.”
He writes about Pope Paul Vi (the pope of my youth) and Benedict XVI, read this post, it is a very Catholic one
Recall that Paul VI wrote this in 1968, eight years after the first oral contraceptive was made commercially available in the U.S., at the height of the ridiculous hysteria over “The Population Bomb,” and five years before Roe v. Wade.
As Benedict XVI says, Humanae Vitae was “prophetically right,” because Paul VI clearly warned that the embrace of artificial contraception would “open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards.”
Since most protestant denominations gave in on Birth Control more than half a century ago reading this from Stacy brings a grin to my face. It’s like reading an essay from my friend Jim Marley poet and student of Theology (and one of the guest for my Christmas show). Stacy sounds more Catholic than most Catholics, but then again he is starting by linking to the Anchoress which is the best way to find the way to the charity of truth.
The Anchoress tends to hit basic truths well, to wit:
Did Pope Benedict know he was sparking a debate with his responses in Light of the World?
I suspect he did. Benedict is not stupid, and he’s not unsavvy about media; he knows the press is reactionary and slavish to the sensational – that they would grab his answers to Peter Seewald and run with them, and that after their first noise, some of them would actually settle down and seek to understand, while others never would.
Meanwhile, the faithful would be jarred from their torpor, and others–who had been dismissive of all-positions-Catholic–would again be engaged.
Active engagement is always better than passive dismissal.
And the discussion continues:
Paul VI, he said, “was convinced that society robs itself of its greatest hopes when it kills human beings through abortion”.
Benedict XVI said: “How many children are killed who might one day have been geniuses, who could have given humanity something new, who could have given us a new Mozart or some new technical discovery?
“We need to stop and think about the great human capacity that is being destroyed here – even quite apart from the fact that unborn children are human persons whose dignity and right to life we have to respect.”
Humanae Vitae’s main argument, that sexuality separated from fecundity in principle through the contraceptive pill would lead to sexuality becoming arbitrary, remains correct, Pope Benedict said.
I’ve made that argument over and over and was answered with: “How many would have been crack heads?” To which I say this. Who makes more difference 1 great teacher or 30 crack heads? 50 crack heads? 100 crack heads?
The potential of life is limitless, all it takes is faith and effort.
Oh and another of my Christmas Show guests notes something else the rest of the media has missed:
One aspect about this story that is getting no coverage is that we are getting a book like this in the first place. A sitting Pope sitting down with a journalist and not limiting any questions asked. Sure he is comfortable in his long relationship with Peter Seewald, but Seewald is willing to ask the questions other people would be interested in having asked. The Pope being the brilliant theologian that he is does not give pat answers. The Pope is not concerned with public relations and acting as a spin doctors on his answers to reduce any possible misinterpretations. The Pope thinks deeply on subjects and then gives us his answer where he would trust us with the truth. The Pope could have easily answered the questions on condoms by outlining the Church’s teaching on contraception, but instead spoke honestly in addressing possible situations. Some might call this a PR disaster and certainly it is annoying when the press distorts what the Pope says, but they would find something to distort regardless.
Remember the first thanksgiving proclamation was to give thanks to God.
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