1983 Sep;11(9):1053-5.
[The Greek Orthodox Church and position regarding birth control]
[Article in French]
Abstract
PIP: The Christian Orthodox Church has 100-150 million baptized members worldwide. Its official position on fertility regulation is little known among nontheologians. The Christian Orthodox Church is resolutely opposed to all attempts to permit induced abortion, and has been since its earliest history. In the 4th century the aborting woman was considered in the same category as a murderer, and the position was reiterated through the centuries in the canons of the Church. However, the common practice of Church members differed greatly from the official position. During the Roman period and the 1st years of the Christian era, abortion and the exposure of newborns were very common. Many of the earlier arguments in favor of abortion that were countered by the Church are still offered. The liberalization of abortion legislation in the US was opposed by American Christian Orthodox Church members. The Church's position on contraception is less well known than its stand on abortion. Several official publications have condemned family planning, regarding it as a form of prostitution within the family and as a sin. The official position of the Greek Orthodox Church was set forth in an encyclical written in 1937, which recommended abstinence as the only legal method of avoiding conception. The position of the Christian Orthodox Church on abortion and contraception is fundamentally identical to that of the Roman Catholic Church. Because the position of the Christian Orthodox Church on birth control, which has been fixed for centuries, has not been officially debated and has not been communicated to the members, it has not fully guided daily life. One might suppose that members of the Christian Orthodox Church are freer of church control of their fertility behavior than are Catholics.
PMID: 12279632 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Compare that to this (bold emphasis added) Wiki entry:
Alternate viewsUntil about 1970, the Eastern Orthodox Church generally opposed the use of contraception. Since that time a "new consensus" was said to have emerged. This new view holds that contraception is acceptable within a Christian marriage if 1), the means of contraception is not abortifacient, 2) it is used with the blessing of one's spiritual father[why?] and 3), children are not completely excluded from the marriage,[43][44][45] which is found in a chapter called "The foundation of chastity", by Germogenos of Shimanovo
I thought the Orthodox criticized Rome for "development of doctrine."
Is this not an example of a development in moral theology, i.e., that which was previously condemned as illicit is now seen as licit?
“I thought the Orthodox criticized Rome for “development of doctrine.” “
Indeed we do. Teachings surrounding contraception in the Orthodox Church, unlike in the Church of Rome, are neither dogmatic nor doctrinal and never have been. To the best of my knowledge, there has never even been a canon against it unless it is a local one. And if such a canon or canons existed, they were disciplinary, not dogmatic. And Doc, disciplinary canons are subject to change, like the Western canons forbidding Christians to avail themselves of the services of Jewish doctors or Eastern ones forbidding Christians to ride in a public conveyance with Jews or pagans.