[BenKenobi]

You aren’t an Ex-Catholic? Sorry, that question was directed at the Ex-Catholics who are familiar with the Church teachings on contraception.

The Church teaches that all forms of contraception (barrier, hormonal), are banned.

The rationale behind this is that the Catholic Church teaches that the unitive and procreative parts of sex are supposed to be joined together. What this means is that when you have sex you must be open to conception.

[presently no screen name]

Smvoice can stand in for me and ask a question or respond anytime.

Smvoice has brought more to the RF of what catholicsm teaches than do catholics. Call it unbias.

[smvoice]

No. I am not an ex-Catholic. I am reading something that seems to suggest that the RCC hasn't always held the stance on abortion that she does today. Seems she has changed her mind often through the years.

"Moreover, unlike the Bible, written tradition and official dogma of the Church have frequently changed, even propounding contradictory ideas on such important topics as abortion. Most Catholics are not aware that the infallible Church and popes have changed their minds several times on this topic-unthinkable from today's perspective.

From the fifth century onward, Aristotle's view that the embryo goes through stages from vegetable to animal to spiritual was accepted. Only in the final stage was it human. Thus Gregory VI (1045-6) said, "He is not a murderer who brings about abortion before the soul is in the body." Gregory XIII (1572-85) said it was NOT homicide to kill an embryo of less than 40 days since it wasn't yet human. His successor, Sixtus V, who rewrote the Bible, disagreed. His Bull of 1588 made all abortion for any reason homicide and cause for excommunication. His successor, Gregory XIV, REVERSED that decree. In 1621 the Vatican issued ANOTHER pastoral directive PERMITTING abortion up to 40 days. As late as the eighteenth century the Church's greatest moral theologian, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, still DENIED that the soul was infused at conception and ALLOWED FOR FLEXIBILITY, especially when the mother's life was in danger. Finally, in 1869, Pius IX declared that any destruction of any embryo was an abortion and merited excommunication- a view that remains to this day." - Dave Hunt, "A Woman Rides the Beast." Appendix F, pp. 519-520.

So much for the unchanging and infallible Church.

Does the Catholic Church have any holdings in pharmaceutical companies that produce anything based on contraception? Think carefully about that.