Posted on 06/04/2012 6:53:44 AM PDT by marshmallow
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith warned June 4 that Mercy Sister Margaret Farley's 2006 book, "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics," contains "erroneous propositions" on homosexual acts, same-sex marriage, masturbation and remarriage after divorce that could cause confusion and "grave harm to the faithful."
In a notification signed by U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada and approved March 16 by Pope Benedict XVI, the congregation said the book "is not in conformity with the teaching of the church" and "cannot be used as a valid expression of Catholic teaching, either in counseling and formation, or in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue."
Sister Farley, who taught at Yale University Divinity School from 1971 to 2007 and now serves as Gilbert L. Stark professor emerita of Christian ethics, is a past president of both the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Society of Christian Ethics.
The five-page Vatican notification says the congregation first wrote to Sister Farley about its concerns through her superior, the president of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, more than two years ago. Urged to "correct the unacceptable theses contained in her book," Sister Farley sent responses in 2010 and 2011 that "did not adequately clarify the (book's) grave problems," the congregation said.
The congregation cited five specific problem areas in "Just Love," published by Continuum:
-- Masturbation: Sister Farley's view that masturbation "usually does not raise any moral questions at all" and "actually serves relationships rather than hindering them" does not "conform to Catholic teaching ... that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action," the notification said.
-- Homosexual acts: Sister Farley writes in the book that "same-sex relationships and activities can be justified according to the same sexual ethic as heterosexual relationships and activities." But the......
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnews.com ...
You realise those aren’t really very good comparisons, don’t you?
A doctor has experience/knowledge in treating diseases. What kind of experience/knowledge has a celibate had with marriage or sexual difficulties?
you are confusing knowledge and experience.
As one of my counselers told a druggie who taunted her with the same thing: well, I counsel drug addicts and adulterers and gays and wife beaters and schizophenics and delusional people and the depressed.
If I had all those problems, I won’t be able to counsel anyone.
She is not writing about her experience, but about theology, how sexual expression and our sexual identity relates to God.
If she was experienced, she wouldn’t be pretending that there were no problems with premarital sex (40 percent of kids without fathers married to their mom), or the gay mirage (lesbians may be monogamous, but the promiscuity of gay men, especially those who are into the “gay lifestyle” is not just morally dangerous but sad and medically risky).
A doctor has experience/knowledge in treating diseases.
So you are arguing that only a doctor with cancer should treat cancer? Otherwise, they have exactly zero "experience" with that disease. However, they do have knowledge through study and that is very much applicable. And, regarding moral truths, clerics are in the same exact position. After all, for all you know your doctor who has just advised you to get more exercise and eat less fat is immediately going home to veg on the couch and eat gallons of ice cream.
Additionally, while they likely have little to no experience of sexual relationships (this varies as I know priests who are widowers), they do have experience of chastity which is very much relevant to people of all vocations. They also know what it is to sacrifice for love in a relationship, which is what they do everyday. For somebody seeking advice on living a moral Christian life within their marriage there is likely no more relevant or helpful place to turn than one who has both a knowledge base resulting from study, as does a doctor in terms of medicine, as well as a working knowledge of conforming their physical desires to the will of Christ and living chaste lives as clerics do.
Looks like Epstein from Welcome Back, Kotter.
If I felt I needed to do so, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask my priest for such guidance because I’m confident he would advise me based upon the Teachings of the Church not the teachings of man.
No I’m not. If I were, I would have said ...treating cancer, not diseases.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.