True
pro-lifers never had a doubt that the
Holy Father never legitimized condoms
in any circumstances. Now the Vatican
itself has confirmed this.
The
problem had been secular media and those
who wished to weaken or destroy the
Church. As always, the liberal media
twists whatever is said by the Church
hierarchy for its own diabolical ends.
Let there be a lesson here for pro-lifers:
never ever simply believe what you read,
especially coming from secular media
or from the anti-life forces. What is
true is in fact often the opposite of
what they say.
The problem was compounded by dissidents
within the Church. The clerics and theologians
who support contraception were quick
to make their own interpretations. How
pathetically desperate they are! How
utterly out of touch with authentic
Catholic teaching! Let there be another
lesson here for pro-lifers: never every
simply accept what one says because
he is a priest, theologian or even bishop.
Go with what you know (well-informed
mind), or even what your gut (well-formed
conscience) tells you. Challenge what
they say, if need be. Indeed there are
many clerics and religious who are for
contraceptives and condoms. Help educate
them and bring them over to our side.
Push your parish priest to preach about
the culture of life and to openly oppose
the RH bill.
What
a blessing the Holy Father and the Magisterium
are to us and to our Church. Let us
continue to pray for the pope to truly
be Peter the rock.
Vatican
reaffirms, Pope never legitimized condoms
in any circumstances
Hilary
White | Tue Dec 21 12:57 EST | Contraception
ROME,
December 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
– Pope Benedict XVI did not approve
the use of condoms for any reason, whether
to prevent the spread of AIDS or for
contraception in any circumstances,
a new note from the Vatican’s
doctrinal office has said.
In
a statement
issued today, the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, an office the
pope himself headed for 24 years, has
said that following the release of certain
sections of the new interview book “Light
of the World” “a number
of erroneous interpretations have emerged.”
These
have “caused confusion concerning
the position of the Catholic Church
regarding certain questions of sexual
morality.”
“The
idea that anyone could deduce from the
words of Benedict XVI that it is somehow
legitimate, in certain situations, to
use condoms to avoid an unwanted pregnancy
is completely arbitrary and is in no
way justified either by his words or
in his thought,” said the statement.
Instead,
the pope was recommending “humanly
and ethically acceptable ways of behaving
which respect the inseparable connection
between the unitive and procreative
meaning” of natural sex between
spouses.
The
pope told journalist Peter Seewald that
for “some individuals, as perhaps
when a male prostitute uses a condom,
where this can be a first step in the
direction of a moralization, a first
assumption of responsibility, on the
way toward recovering an awareness that
not everything is allowed and that one
cannot do whatever one wants. But it
is not really the way to deal with the
evil of HIV infection. That can really
lie only in a humanization of sexuality.”
The
pope followed the comments, saying that
the Church “does not regard it
as a real or moral solution, but, in
this or that case, there can be nonetheless
in the intention of reducing the risk
of infection, a first step in a movement
toward a different way, a more human
way, of living sexuality.”
The
publication of the comments, out of
context and three days before the full
text was available to the public, touched
off a firestorm, in which media outlets
around the world claimed the pope had
“approved” condom use, and
even that the teaching of the Church
had changed regarding contraception.
The
CDF, however, has clarified, saying
that these comments have been “repeatedly
manipulated” for purposes “entirely
foreign” to the pope’s intention.
“The
words of the Pope – which specifically
concern a gravely disordered type of
human behaviour, namely prostitution
– do not signify a change in Catholic
moral teaching or in the pastoral practice
of the Church.”
“The
Holy Father was talking neither about
conjugal morality nor about the moral
norm concerning contraception,”
the note continues.
The
note also dismisses the suggestion that
the use of a condom by HIV-infected
prostitutes could constitute a “lesser
evil.” This interpretation, it
says, is erroneous since, “An
action which is objectively evil, even
if a lesser evil, can never be licitly
willed.”
The
note summarizes the intention of the
pope’s comments: “The Church
teaches that prostitution is immoral
and should be shunned. However, those
involved in prostitution who are HIV
positive and who seek to diminish the
risk of contagion by the use of a condom
may be taking the first step in respecting
the life of another – even if
the evil of prostitution remains in
all its gravity.”
Read
the complete statement here.
"For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain." (Phil 1:21)