In August, the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research, based in the United Kingdom, published a report in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of “Humanae Vitae,” the papal encyclical that upheld the ban on the use of contraceptives. The statement, signed by more than 150 Catholic scholars, argues, “The choice to use contraceptives for either family planning or prophylactic purposes can be a responsible and ethical decision and even, at times, an ethical imperative.” On Sept. 20, another group of theologians released their own statement, signed by more than 500 scholars, which was presented at a press event at The Catholic University of America. It argues that those who are pushing for the church to lift its ban on artificial contraception have failed to take into account findings from the past five decades that show contraception harms women and destabilizes relationships. “The widespread use of contraception,” it continues, “appears to have contributed greatly to the increase of sex outside of marriage, to an increase of unwed pregnancies, abortion, single parenthood, cohabitation, divorce, poverty, the exploitation of women, to declining marriage rates as well as to declining population growth in many parts of the world.”
Clashing Theologians
The latest from america
The lie that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute persisted for centuries. A new play reclaims her story.
"Magdalene: I am the utterance of my name" is advocating for setting the record straight on one of Christianity’s most vital disciples.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley struggle to resist the temptation to “type” each other as they learn about the Enneagram from Liz Orr, author of “The Unfiltered Enneagram: A Witty and Wise Guide to Self-Compassion.”
Keeping President Biden on the ballot is like telling voters: “Trust us. Don’t believe your eyes and ears.”
Many watching last night’s debate wondered if this was the end for Joe Biden. But I could not help but wonder if this was the end of presidential debates.
- Humanae Vitae is an unenforceable edict about a good doctrine
- Ordinatio Sacerdotalis is an enforceable edict about a bad doctrine
- As edicts, both are contaminated with patriarchal gender ideology
When are we going to recognize the conflation of patriarchal gender ideology (and the patriarchal priesthood we inherited from the Old Law) and our sacramental theology under the New Law?