Vatican Condemns Contraception, Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage

Breaking News.ie ^ | 6/6/06

[areafiftyone]

The Vatican today issued a sweeping condemnation of contraception, abortion, in-vitro fertilisation and same-sex marriage, declaring that the traditional family has never been so threatened as in today’s world.

The document was issued by the Pontifical Council for the Family, whose head, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, is a strong opponent of the use of condoms under any circumstances.

However, the document did not mention an ongoing debate within the Vatican on whether the Roman Catholic Church could permit condoms to battle Aids when one partner in a marriage had the virus.

It reaffirmed the famous 1968 encyclical “Humanae Vitae” that stated the Vatican’s opposition to contraception.

Since then, it said, couples “have been limiting themselves to one, or maximum two children”.

“Never before in history has human procreation, and therefore the family, which is its natural place, been so threatened as in today’s culture,” said the 57-page document.

[Pyro7480]

What does contraception and in-vitro fertilization have to do with biology, other than using artificial means to stifle/enhance it?

[BritExPatInFla]

And both my Mom and Dad were virgins when married in 1950. I was until 34 years old. It can be done. It just takes some creativity.

Just don't get too 'Creative', the church has thought of that, as well. Evidently, the natural act of 'touching' oneself is still a disorder in that little neighborhood inside of Rome :


Excerpt from: PERSONA HUMANA
IX
The traditional Catholic doctrine that masturbation constitutes a grave moral disorder is often called into doubt or expressly denied today. It is said that psychology and sociology show that it is a normal phenomenon of sexual development, especially among the young. It is stated that there is real and serious fault only in the measure that the subject deliberately indulges in solitary pleasure closed in on self ("ipsation"), because in this case the act would indeed be radically opposed to the loving communion between persons of different sex which some hold is what is principally sought in the use of the sexual faculty.
This opinion is contradictory to the teaching and pastoral practice of the Catholic Church. Whatever the force of certain arguments of a biological and philosophical nature, which have sometimes been used by theologians, in fact both the Magisterium of the Church - in the course of a constant tradition - and the moral sense of the faithful have declared without hesitation that masturbation is an intrinsically and seriously disordered act.[19] The main reason is that, whatever the motive for acting this way, the deliberate use of the sexual faculty outside normal conjugal relations essentially contradicts the finality of the faculty. For it lacks the sexual relationship called for by the moral order, namely the relationship which realizes "the full sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love."[20] All deliberate exercise of sexuality must be reserved to this regular relationship. Even if it cannot be proved that Scripture condemns this sin by name, the tradition of the Church has rightly understood it to be condemned in the New Testament when the latter speaks of "impurity," "unchasteness" and other vices contrary to chastity and continence.
Sociological surveys are able to show the frequency of this disorder according to the places, populations or circumstances studied. In this way facts are discovered, but facts do not constitute a criterion for judging the moral value of human acts.[21] The frequency of the phenomenon in question is certainly to be linked with man's innate weakness following original sin; but it is also to be linked with the loss of a sense of God, with the corruption of morals engendered by the commercialization of vice, with the unrestrained licentiousness of so many public entertainments and publications, as well as with the neglect of modesty, which is the guardian of chastity.
On the subject of masturbation modern psychology provides much valid and useful information for formulating a more equitable judgment on moral responsibility and for orienting pastoral action. Psychology helps one to see how the immaturity of adolescence (which can sometimes persist after that age), psychological imbalance or habit can influence behavior, diminishing the deliberate character of the act and bringing about a situation whereby subjectively there may not always be serious fault. But in general, the absence of serious responsibility must not be presumed; this would be to misunderstand people's moral capacity.
In the pastoral ministry, in order to form an adequate judgment in concrete cases, the habitual behavior of people will be considered in its totality, not only with regard to the individual's practice of charity and of justice but also with regard to the individual's care in observing the particular precepts of chastity. In particular, one will have to examine whether the individual is using the necessary means, both natural and supernatural, which Christian asceticism from its long experience recommends for overcoming the passions and progressing in virtue.

[stuartcr]

Maybe they're just piling them up, and using them as mattresses...

[Pyro7480]

Evidently, the natural act of 'touching' oneself is still a disorder in that little neighborhood inside of Rome

Thank God they haven't sold out, like almost everyone else has.

[Miss Marple]

Petronski, you have it a little bit wrong. The condom can stop sperm, it is the HIV virus which is smaller than the microscopic holes in the condom material. So while a condom will in most cases prevent pregnancy, one is rolling the dice when using it to prevent AIDS.

[HamiltonJay]

Hahah.. that reminds me of the Cosby routine...

"I married a Catholic... she ever tells me know I'll just take her to the Pope. HAHAHA the Pope says you have too"...

[Petronski]

Since I agree with your post, and I was trying to post the same thing, I'm not sure where I am wrong.

[stuartcr]

Simple fix...all we need to do, is make society change!!

[stuartcr]

I had always heard, that homosexuality is a choice??

[Romulus]

At least they're no longer beheading astronomers.

Name one.

If the time ever comes that you're interested in the truth, know that Nicolas Copernicus, who developed the heliocentric model of the solar system was a Catholic priest (who was never persecuted), and that it was protestant mobs in 18th-century England who resisted the reforms of the Gregorian calendar, 200 years after the Pope -- advised by Jesuits -- brought the calendar back into alignment with the heavens.

[HamiltonJay]

Yes, its a mental disorder where you choose to yield to sadistic and narcisistic urges like any beast of the field instead of behaving like a human being.

[Petronski]

At least they're no longer beheading astronomers.

I join the others in asking you to name one.

[stuartcr]

So, is it a mental disorder first, then a choice to yield or is it a choice first?

[takbodan]

Uganda has embraced the use of abstinence education and has lowered the AIDS rate to below 10%. Compare that to South Africa which is flooded with condoms and AIDS is out of control.

Uganda may be on its way to wiping out AIDS by using the Biblical values of chastity and fidelity, a new Harvard University study finds. According to the study, abstinence education has shown significant effectiveness in reducing AIDS in Uganda.

When the program started in the late 1980s, the number of pregnant women infected with HIV was 21.2 percent. By 2001, the number was 6.2 percent. The Harvard study also reported Ugandan adults are not having as much risky sex: of women 15 and older, those reporting many sexual partners dropped from 18.4 percent in 1989 to 2.5 percent in 2000.

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0074.html

[little jeremiah]

I agree 100% with the Pope.

If people don't want to get diseases or get pregnant, there is one method that works each and every time it's tried. And as human beings (not animals in rut), we have enough free will to make decisions about our actions - hmm, should I take my clothes off and get in bed with this person, or should I not?

That's a choice. We can all choose to say "yes" or "no". Depending on a condom is a good way to get a disease that may kill you or create a baby no one is prepared to raise.

It's actually good for people to have some strength of character and not be ruled by their lower passions. And funny thing - the more the lower passions rule, the more miserable a person is; the more the inner man* rules the lower passions, the happier and more peaceful. Funny, that.

*For the feminists reading this, "inner man" is a gender neutral term.

[HamiltonJay]

DSM IV declared it a psychological disorder. No research ever disproved this, it was removed from the DSM under political pressure not scientific study.

[little jeremiah]

I know a great many men (and women) who either are faithfully married or unmarried and continent.

You do the human race a disservice if you think everyone is an animal who can't control his organ of generation.

[ArrogantBustard]

ROFL!!!!!!!!

Now I have to clean the coffee off my monitor ...

[steve86]

I agree. No problem with control here. Temptation, at times, but no follow through. Same with several friends of mine (they all seem to be traditional Christians -- big surprise).

[little jeremiah]

Every sexual act is a choice, aside from being a rape/molestation victim.

Same sex attraction may not be a choice (although some homosexuals do admit they chose the "gay" life), but every act of sex is a choice. And since there are many organizations that help people overcome same sex attraction, there is the option of becoming cured.