Contraception & the synod

...This is not a new suggestion in theological circles, but the matter needs to be brought into open public discourse...

...First—and there should be little dispute about this—we are not dealing with church law...

...met to work out some appropriate guidelines...

...this is precisely what has happened...

...An important corollary of this is the need for Catholic reflection to take serious account of judgments by sincere and theologically-educated nonCatholic Christians...

...Fourthly, the recent synod has done nothing to -hange the intrinsic situation of Catholic couples' choice rega ,ing contraception...

...During the past few years, under constant Vatican pressure to endorse and enforce an absolutist acceptance of Humanae Vitae, most hierarchies have not clearly reiterated their earlier explanations but neither have they repudiated them...

...A very tentative agenda for such study might embrace the following questions: What are the elements of doctrinal teaching in the letter, i.e., those that belong distinctively to the pope's episcopal role...

...Important as their authority is, the bishops are not by themselves the church, nor can they (and a fortiori the pope) by themselves speak for the church...

...Being involved in several of these, I was particularly struck by one feature: the focus of theological discussion was not (as one might expect) on the morality of contraceptive behavior...

...Finally, the bishops in their pastoral concern owe it to their fellow-Christians to make clear an important distinction...

...Though the publication of Humanae Vitae is still quite fresh in our memory, it might be worthwhile to recall some features in the period immediately before and after the letter's promulgation...

...What is the degree of faith assent that Catholics owe to each of these doctrinal elements...

...Second, the teaching on contraception in Humanae Vitae is not beyond question...

...However, the hope was quickly dashed as the synod shifted from pastoral concerns to measured defense of papal teaching...

...Catholic theologians must, in a special way, examine to what extent the pope's teaching in this respect is an exercise of his distinctive ministry and authority in the church...

...However, this principle finds many applications beyond the biological: with greater recognition of the love between man and woman as a primary goal of Christian marriage, sexual expression of that love can and should be seen as most importantly life-giving because it deepens the personal life of the two individuals...

...For a brief time after Archbishop Quinn's initial intervention at the synod, describing the widespread disaffection of U.S...

...Because of the impact of "the pill," because Pius XII had injected a key component by agreeing that the goal of family limitation could be acceptable, and because of the ferment surrounding the Council, the decade preceding the encyclical was one of rather intense study and discussion...

...Actually, loving sensitivity to one another as persons probably is the best norm to guide Christian spouses in evaluating any of the aspects of their sexual partnership...

...In all this they owe it to themselves to listen to and learn from the teaching of modern popes, but the final moral judgment is something no one can make for them...

...confessors felt unable to provide adequate advice...

...Yet, the synod (as Toronto's Cardinal Carter was reported to have said) may be a short step forward...

...Definite positions need to be taken on key elements of the question, so that fruitful disagreements can emerge and a shared learning process ensue...

...Moreover, if Christian reflection in a given case leads to a decision to limit the number of children, the couple must be morally sensitive to the most appropriate means...

...However, "artificial'' as applied to means may well find more than a biological dimension—taking marital intercourse as an integrated and highly personal human activity, as making love rather than breeding, previous classifications of "natural" or "artificial" are inadequate and inappropriate...

...A given use of contraception is itself morally right or wrong, independent of anything a pope says...

...Commonweal: 650...

...actually, it needs to be questioned...

...Catholics to Paul VI's encyclical—massive rejection of papal teaching, even by those who continue as "practicing Catholics," and unjustified anguish in millions who feel guilty about' 'disobeying a church law'' even though they judge that they are morally correct in employing contraception—will continue and even be intensified...

...loday, after the recent synod, all of us must enter into a frank exchange of understandings so that the pastoral concerns , so obvious at the synod, can find expression in resolving what is still an intolerable and unnecessary situation in the Catholic church...

...Then, how do these elements enter into the prudential reasoning regarding a decision of contraception...

...Of course, no one (including a pope) can alter the intrinsic nature of theology's proper ministry to the church, which is to be a search for further insight and accuracy in the understanding of Christian faith, rather than high-level indoctrination or simple justification of ecclesiastical statements...

...CERTAIN THINGS NEED TO BE SAID SHARPLY & CANDIDLY Contraception & the synod BERNARD COOKE Now THAT the bishops' synod on the family is finished, where do Roman Catholics stand on the question of contraception...

...At the risk of being too simple, certain things need to be said sharply and candidly, so that they can be discussed'openly and directly...

...Catholics surely must (as the synod mentions) honor what is one of the most basic principles in all sexual morality, the link of sexual activity to the nurture of life...

...Not all the statements coming through official or less than official channels were crystal clear, as a matter of fact, many of them were downright confusing...

...How close does each of them stand to the center of Catholic faith and belief...

...Unless I misread the outcome of those very serious, candid, and often painful sessions, we were concluding that the situation was one of lex dubia, i.e., there was not enough certainty to impose a clear prohibitive obligation on Catholic consciences...

...Despite the pastoral ring of synodal rhetoric, it is really an affront to reflective Catholics who do not agree with an absolutist position on the encyclical to suggest that, though they are obviously wrong, they can be forgiven for not living up to the ideals of church teaching...

...As for practical grass-roots acceptance of the encyclical, Archbishop Quinn's description at the synod applies to much more than the U.S...

...Such is the clear implication of Vatican H's Lumen Gentium...

...And if he so teaches, Catholics must examine carefully the nature and the content and the context of the teaching...

...There is urgency in responding, for some of the reported statements at the end of the synod seem an unmitigated repetition of the "hard line" on acceptance of Humanae Vitae and a disregard for Catholics' ability to form a mature conscience...

...These episcopal statements, while accepting papal teaching authority and indicating the careful hearing all Catholics should give to the pope's teachCommonweal: 648 ing, suggested that Catholics should then proceed responsibly to form a judgment of conscience appropriate to their Christian life situation...

...In the period immediately following the issuance of Humanae Vitae moral theologians muted their criticisms of the encyclical's content...

...Which means that the two catastrophic reactions of U.S...

...In the period preceding the encyclical's publication the kinds of arguments used by Pope Paul VI proved inconclusive to a very large group of the church's most competent moral theologians...

...church...

...for the most part they were content to stress that the encyclical was one of the elements that Catholics had to consider in making their personal moral judgment...

...Precisely what many have already done: as practically and idealistically as possible decide what size family is appropriate for them, how best for all concerned carry out this decision, and then with freedom of spirit get on with the basic task of trying 21 November 1980: 649 to mature as lovers and parents...

...In the question of the morality or immorality of certain sexual activity, papal statements can only be explanation...

...Catholics in the wake of Humanae Vitae, it appeared that the synod might deal creatively and forthrightly with this major pastoral problem...

...These people deserve to hear their bishops defend clearly the right and responsibility and ability of mature Catholics to form their consciences regarding their own married life...

...Often with episcopal encouragement, sometimes by episcopal invitation, groups of theologians (sometimes complemented by medical professionals and couples active in movements like C.F.M...

...Regarding contraception, Catholics are not in a position of moral judgment essentially different from other humans, except for their obligation to learn from the church's guidance...

...but their primary responsibility is to their people...

...Practically, what should Catholic couples now do...

...However, now may be the time to examine carefully and in depth the encyclical's moral reflection, to assess the intrinsic accuracy of its reasoning, and to see how much of it really pertains to the proper role of papal teaching...

...can see some nuances, but the general public perception is that the hard-line Vatican position triumphed in the end...

...At the end of the synod, Pope John Paul himself again mentioned the role of theologians, but there was an important shift in their indicated role: they were to help explain why the conclusions already arrived at in papal teaching were true...

...Perhaps one skilled in reading between the lines of ecclesiastical pronouncements BERNARD COOKE teaches in the religious studies department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts...

...for one thing, the U.S...

...Then came the encyclical, despite worry by many (including not a few highly-placed prelates) that its appearance would be a disaster...

...Despite Cardinal Felici's claims, these issues are not settled, doctrinally or pastorally...

...He is the author of Ministry to Word and Sacraments: History and Theology (Fortress...

...And since such a reasoning process includes other and/non-doctrinal understandings, what is the grounding for the position taken by the encyclical on these points...

...The pope can, of course, teach that "artificial" contraception is never morally acceptable...

...rather, it was on the question of papal authority—one wondered what the discussion might be if there were not previous papal statements to defend or explain...

...There is, therefore, a need to broaden—certainly with accurate analysis and respect for the deepest traditions of the church—the scope of the term magisterium...

...These arguments do not become more probative by being included in a papal letter...

...bishops have invited careful discussion with theologians, many of whom they know do not agree with an absolutist approach to Humanae Vitae...

...Even if they do really agree with the teaching contained in Humanae Vitae and wish to voice that agreement, that does not necessarily mean that they see the pope's position as the only correct Catholic judgment of conscience in all cases...

...Catholics were increasingly uncertain in their conscience...

...In the matter of contraception, where one is dealing with a pragmatic decision conditioned in each instance by many factors, it would seem that a number of voices need to be heard—and each voice has its own specific authority...

...Vatican II, in the section on marriage in Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the Modern World) seemed on the verge of handling the issue, but the pope intervened to reserve the matter to himself...

...But two things were clear: on important issues such as contraception and divorce there is genuine and growing episcopal concern, and there is no definitive clarity...

...And Paul VI admitted in the encyclical that his view ran counter to that of the majority in his own specially appointed study commission...

...the encyclical is not a disciplinary decree...

...The importance of this episcopal reaction lies in the fact that all legitimate papal teaching stands, not above or apart from the episcopal college, but within the episcopate's witness to the Gospel...

...So, theologians must responsibly accept the invitation, at the same time that they recognize that other non-episcopal voices need to be invited into the discussion...

...The episcopal reaction across the world, though hard for most in the church to interpret, was and still is of immense theological importance: quite a number of national hierarchies, subtly but unmistakably, interpreted the papal position as less than absolute...

...As bishops they have responsibilities to their fellow-bishops, especially to the bishop of Rome...

...This raises, thirdly, the underlying issue of teaching authority in the church...