On issues of the Liturgy — what public Christian worship should look like — Catholics often find themselves lined up, more or less, with the “mainline” Protestant churches. We use a Lectionary, have structured worship, a liturgical cycle (with Advent, Lent, and the like), and so forth. On these issues, we tend to disagree with… Continue reading How Did Evangelicals End Up on the Wrong End of the Contraception Debate?
Tag: birth control
From Concubine to Spouse
Joe posted earlier about Archbishop Sheehan’s letter regarding pastoral care for cohabitating couples. It caught my attention as I’ve been engaged in a discussion over at American Papist about that very topic. I commend Archbishop Sheehan for providing such clarity to his people and clergy. It’s not an easy topic to discuss. As a still… Continue reading From Concubine to Spouse
A Blessing from the East: Russian Orthodoxy’s Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev
An Eastern Orthodox reader of Mark Shea’s blog asked: Have you ever heard of Met. Hilarion Alfeyev? He’s the No. 2 figure in the Russian Orthodox Church, the church’s chief diplomat. He’s only 44 years old. Super-brilliant guy, and startlingly open to the West. I heard him speak this past weekend in NYC, and let… Continue reading A Blessing from the East: Russian Orthodoxy’s Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev
The Vatican Settles the Condom Debate
The Congregation for Doctrine and Faith, Pope Benedict’s old stomping grounds as Cardinal, has issued a statement clarifying the obvious: the pope’s comments, contrary to the media reports, never suggested a change in the Church’s position, nor is there going to be one. From the English press release: Following the publication of the interview-book Light… Continue reading The Vatican Settles the Condom Debate
Dorothy Day and Obamacare
Servant of God Dorothy Day is a fascinating woman, and a saint for the modern world. Prior to her conversion, she was an outspoken Communist sympathizer who’d had two common-law marriages and an abortion. Yet after the birth of her daughter, she began to take Catholicism seriously, and was Baptized and received into the Church… Continue reading Dorothy Day and Obamacare
Refreshing Clarity from the New USCCB President
Archbishop Dolan of New York, the newly elected USCCB president, had this to say on the pope’s recent remarks (and alleged remarks) on condoms: “The Pope didn’t say, ‘Oh good, you should use a condom,’ ” Archbishop Dolan said, referring to a controversial comment the pope made in a book that is being released worldwide… Continue reading Refreshing Clarity from the New USCCB President
Pope Benedict and Condoms
The biggest story this past weekend was what people are claiming Pope Benedict said about condoms. The media has badly perverted his comments, so let me post what he actually said, before taking a look it means that the “Pope reverses thousands of years of Church teachings,” as the Daily Mail originally reported. I. The Comments… Continue reading Pope Benedict and Condoms
A Utilitarian Argument for Catholic Sexual Ethics
Mary Catelli writes in response to my last post, One would also need omniscience to be a true utilitarian. How can you know what the results of your actions are? I have heard of people who justify sexual escapades on the grounds that no one got hurt — and when asked how they knew that,… Continue reading A Utilitarian Argument for Catholic Sexual Ethics
Brief But Important
Maggie Gallagher argued at National Review Online’s The Corner that the Pill led to abortion, because it made the idea that we could and should separate sex from reproduction seem sane. My only qualm is that it’s not really “reproduction,” but birth, which folks were worried about. An “accidental pregnancy” which can be “taken care… Continue reading Brief But Important
Unwritten Tradition, Birth Control & Abortion
I’ve got a final tomorrow, so this post will be short and sweet. Actually, it’s a modified version of a comment I left on Roderick’s blog. He was skeptical about what we Catholics call “unwritten Tradition,” so I tried to respond with a concrete example of why the (admittedly confusing) term means: The short answer… Continue reading Unwritten Tradition, Birth Control & Abortion