Francis Effect: Cardinal Turkson says don't breed like rabbits in order to save Mother Earth

We will avoid editorializing on whether the Church has "never been against birth control" as this type of statement is simply a symptom of the horrific state of modern religious formation. Prelates and priests preach incorrect ideas, sadly, on a daily basis. They are not infallible -- even on issues of faith and morals.

The primary issue is, once again, that Pope Francis led the way to this thinking, both in the insensitive and simple-minded way he lambasted large Catholic families  (see here) and in his fixation on climate change (see here).

Cue Peter Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Francis' lead on so-called climate issues, on why Catholics should shun accepting God's will in order to save Mother Earth:

From the BBC:

COP21: Cardinal says birth control may offer climate 'solution'

One of the Catholic Church's most senior prelates has said that birth control could "offer a solution" to the impacts of climate change.

Another Papal interview -- another massive mess

Pope Francis, in yet another Papal press scrum aboard his plane back to Rome from Africa, has once again put dogma on the table and has caused even more confusion with the Faithful already either completely confused or completely ignoring the eternal Church teaching on the issue of artificial contraception. 

Some reports are saying he dodged the reporter's question; some say he was unclear. Some are saying flat out he is supporting the use of condoms to stop disease -- which would assume people like the Africans just can't possibly be taught God's ways of preventing sexually transmitted diseases (Cardinal Kasper would agree, we assume). 

Oh, and dear readers, please understand: Francis despises you, and considers your beliefs -- your sensus fidelium -- "idolatrous." But never cease praying for him.

Via Damien Thompson & The Spectator:

Pope Francis backs condoms to stop Aids and declares war on Catholic ‘fundamentalists’

Reader Discussion: Contraception Mandate Silver Lining

While numerous conservative Catholic blogs have rightfully covered the United States Department of Health and Human Services's attack on the Catholic Church by mandating Catholic employers cover contraception and abortion in their healthcare plans or face millions of dollars in fines, there is one aspect to this, a blessing if you will or a silver lining, that hasn't been discussed.

In doing so, the United States Department of Health and Human Services has succeeded in doing what most bishops have refused to do for decades: ensure that all Catholics know that there is indeed a ban on contraception and that it is, in fact, a mortal sin.

While many traditional-minded Catholics assume all contracepting Catholics know it's a mortal sin, the truth is that many don't, but now surely most do with the media saturation that has followed this story. God willing, some will abandon their thwarting of His will, throw away their contraceptives and hit a confessional soon.

God works in mysterious ways, and through the most unlikely people.

What's your take on this issue? Does this attack on the Church actually help her restore dogma once known -- and shared -- by all Catholics? Please weigh in now, and please keep charity in mind at all times.

NOTE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

On the trivilization of sexuality

Regarding certain interpretations of "Light of the World"

Following the publication of the interview-book Light of the World by Benedict XVI, a number of erroneous interpretations have emerged which have caused confusion concerning the position of the Catholic Church regarding certain questions of sexual morality. The thought of the Pope has been repeatedly manipulated for ends and interests which are entirely foreign to the meaning of his words – a meaning which is evident to anyone who reads the entire chapters in which human sexuality is treated. The intention of the Holy Father is clear: to rediscover the beauty of the divine gift of human sexuality and, in this way, to avoid the cheapening of sexuality which is common today.

Some interpretations have presented the words of the Pope as a contradiction of the traditional moral teaching of the Church. This hypothesis has been welcomed by some as a positive change and lamented by others as a cause of concern – as if his statements represented a break with the doctrine concerning contraception and with the Church’s stance in the fight against AIDS. In reality, the words of the Pope – which specifically concern a gravely disordered type of human behaviour, namely prostitution (cf. Light of the World, pp. 117-119) – do not signify a change in Catholic moral teaching or in the pastoral practice of the Church.

As is clear from an attentive reading of the pages in question, the Holy Father was talking neither about conjugal morality nor about the moral norm concerning contraception. This norm belongs to the tradition of the Church and was summarized succinctly by Pope Paul VI in paragraph 14 of his Encyclical Letter Humanae vitae, when he wrote that "also to be excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means." 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. On this issue the Pope proposes instead – and also calls the pastors of the Church to propose more often and more effectively (cf. Light of the World, p. 147) – humanly and ethically acceptable ways of behaving which respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meaning of every conjugal act, through the possible use of natural family planning in view of responsible procreation.

On the pages in question, the Holy Father refers to the completely different case of prostitution, a type of behaviour which Christian morality has always considered gravely immoral (cf. Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, n. 27; Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2355). The response of the entire Christian tradition – and indeed not only of the Christian tradition – to the practice of prostitution can be summed up in the words of St. Paul: "Flee from fornication" (1 Cor 6:18). The practice of prostitution should be shunned, and it is the duty of the agencies of the Church, of civil society and of the State to do all they can to liberate those involved from this practice.

In this regard, it must be noted that the situation created by the spread of AIDS in many areas of the world has made the problem of prostitution even more serious. Those who know themselves to be infected with HIV and who therefore run the risk of infecting others, apart from committing a sin against the sixth commandment are also committing a sin against the fifth commandment – because they are consciously putting the lives of others at risk through behaviour which has repercussions on public health. In this situation, the Holy Father clearly affirms that the provision of condoms does not constitute "the real or moral solution" to the problem of AIDS and also that "the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality" in that it refuses to address the mistaken human behaviour which is the root cause of the spread of the virus. In this context, however, it cannot be denied that anyone who uses a condom in order to diminish the risk posed to another person is intending to reduce the evil connected with his or her immoral activity. In this sense the Holy Father points out that the use of a condom "with the intention of reducing the risk of infection, can be a first step in a movement towards a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality." This affirmation is clearly compatible with the Holy Father’s previous statement that this is "not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection."

Some commentators have interpreted the words of Benedict XVI according to the so-called theory of the "lesser evil". This theory is, however, susceptible to proportionalistic misinterpretation (cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis splendor, n. 75-77). An action which is objectively evil, even if a lesser evil, can never be licitly willed. The Holy Father did not say – as some people have claimed – that prostitution with the use of a condom can be chosen as a lesser evil. 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. This understanding is in full conformity with the moral theological tradition of the Church.

In conclusion, in the battle against AIDS, the Catholic faithful and the agencies of the Catholic Church should be close to those affected, should care for the sick and should encourage all people to live abstinence before and fidelity within marriage. In this regard it is also important to condemn any behaviour which cheapens sexuality because, as the Pope says, such behaviour is the reason why so many people no longer see in sexuality an expression of their love: "This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man’s being" (Light of the World, p. 119).

[Deutsch, English, Español, Français, Italiano, Português]

Msgr. Fellay's 2010 Angelus Press Conference and Fr. Gaudron on "Light of the World"

The conference (more than 2.5 hours in length) that Bishop Fellay gave on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the Society of St. Pius X, during the Angelus Press Conference held October 15-17, 2010, in Kansas City, Missouri, can now be viewed on the website of the U.S. District of the Society of St. Pius X. (A summary can also be found on the linked page.)

The same website has also posted an English translation of the essay Light...and shadows in Light of the World written by Fr. Matthias Gaudron SSPX. This essay had been mentioned in some discussions on the Internet (including those in the Rorate comboxes) as providing a more nuanced view of the Pope's remarks on condoms compared to the official statement from Menzingen.

SSPX weighs in on the condom controversy

DICI has published a statement from the SSPX regarding the controversy over the Pope's remarks on condoms in "Light of the World":

Note on the remarks of Benedict XVI concerning condom use

The statement, unsurprisingly, concludes that the Pope's opinion departs from the teaching of his predecessors and "relativizes" the teaching of Humanae Vitae.

I leave it to the readers of the blog to analyze, and argue over, the statement. However, I think that all orthodox Catholics will agree and join their voices with the following passage in it:

Certainly, a book-length interview cannot be considered an act of the Magisterium [i.e. of the Church’s official teaching authority], a fortiori when it departs from what has been taught in a definitive, unchangeable way. Nonetheless the fact remains that the doctors and pharmacists who courageously refuse to prescribe and deliver condoms and contraceptives out of fidelity to their Catholic faith and morality, and in general all the many families devoted to Tradition, have an urgent and overriding need to hear that the perennial teaching of the Church could not change over time. They all await the firm reminder that the natural law, like human nature upon which it is engraved, is universal.

Castra sunt in Italia contra populum Romanum in Etruriæ faucibus conlocata

Fisichella - Lombardi

Missing him

Yes, there was some good in the Wojtylian years - and one example was the professional and steady manner in which the Holy See Press Office and L'Osservatore Romano were guided under the leadership of Joaquín Navarro-Valls, M.D, and Mario Agnes. After the Recife Affair, and the new rubber controversy - both of which were fed by the Press Office/OR -, one can affirm with certainty that the Lombardi-Vian team (and Fisichella, who, NOT COINCIDENTALLY, was the man responsible for the Recife affair and the main ecclesiastical authority in the press conference of presentation of "Light of the World") have as their main concern and as their "editorial line ... to incite doubt on moral matters", as Christine Vollmer affirmed.

One would never have seen matters of life and death, and of spiritual life and death, treated so lightly in the days of Navarro-Valls and Mario Agnes. It is a pity that the Pope has decided to entrust the public communications of the Holy See to (1) a Liberal Jesuit (prostituto-prostituta, Tweedledum and Tweedledee), (2) an agitprop "journalist" who still misses the post-Conciliar years under the great Montini (too bad he got one thing wrong in Humanae Vitae - not that we can't fix this!), and (3) their friend the pro-abortion-in-some-cases Archbishop-for-the-new-evangelization.

Well, at least they are selling lots of books!

The Rosary: breaking down barriers

In the Philippines, there have been repeated attempts since 1998 to pass the "Reproductive Health Bill" (RH Bill") that, in its various similar incarnations through successive Congresses, has sought to introduce the aggressive promotion of contraception and of liberal sex education as part of State policy, with no real exemptions for Catholic believers and institutions. The bill failed to pass due to the opposition of the Church and -- more importantly -- the opposition of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010), who for all her faults professed to be a devout Catholic. However, the accession of a new President who openly supports the RH Bill, the overwhelming support for it by the media and the new political establishment, the sudden rise of an unusually vicious form of anticlericalism in certain sectors of Filipino society and the general weakness and apathy of the Church in the Philippines mean that the Bill, after 12 years, is nearer than ever before to being passed.

(Those who want to know more about the bill and the Filipino Catholic resistance against it can read my blog on the matter: The Catholic Position on the RH Bill. The text of the bill can be found here. An article that gives an excellent overview of the bill and explores its legal implications can be found here.)

In response to this, the SSPX launched a rosary crusade on October 31, 2010, the Feast of Christ the King. DICI's article on this event, and the promotional video for the rosary crusade, can be found here. The SSPX Rosary Crusade seeks to collect 1 million rosaries between October 31, 2010 and January 16, 2011, third Sunday of January, which is marked in the Philippines as the Feast of the Sto. Nino (the Holy Child).

Amazingly, the SSPX Rosary Crusade has garnered the support of Archbishop Paciano Aniceto (head of the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines) and of Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu. Both of them have appeared in promotional videos for the Rosary Crusade with priests of the SSPX. (Cardinal Vidal video; Abp.Aniceto video). Other videos promoting the Rosary Crusade against the RH Bill can be found in the Youtube site of the SSPX in Metro Manila.

Pray that the Philippines will not fall into the deadly trap of this bill!

Addendum (25/11/10): The Prayer Crusade is all the more necessary now that the Pope's words -- and the even worse interventions of Fr. Lombardi -- are causing immense damage to the pro-life movement in the Philippines. The media and members of Congress and the Presidential Palace itself are using the Pope's statement to aggressively push for condom use and artificial contraception, with little attention being paid to the pro-lifers' attempts at clarifying matters.

"Licht der Welt" - "Light of the World" - "Luce del Mondo"