The church's teaching
Connors, Russell B. Jr.
CONTRACEPTION & COMMUNION THE CHURCH'S TEACHING BISHOP FLAVIN HAS IT WRONG Bishop Glennon Flavin of Lincoln, Nebraska, has written a pastoral letter to Catholic couples of his diocese warning...
...many think it needs revision or expansion...
...Not every pastoral letter of the bishops' conference or of individual bishops needs to do both equally...
...second, such concrete applications, which need to be demonstrated, do not claim the same degree of certainty as general principles like "do good and avoid evil" (Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, Q. 94, A. 4...
...The U.S...
...I acknowledge that some could argue that Bishop Flavin's categorization of contraception (and physicians' cooperation) as sinful could be taken to mean "material sin," rather than "formal sin...
...Finally, magisterial documents subsequent to Humanae vitae invoke those important distinctions...
...It is particularly in regard to questions of morality that Bishop Flavin's argument misses the mark...
...If the bishop were trying to shed light on the relationship between the teaching in Humanae vitae and the lives of Catholic people (an effort I would applaud) he would have done well to discuss the role of conscience...
...In my view, the use of the word "sin" in these two very different senses is confusing and has not served pastoral life well...
...In my judgment, Bishop Flavin's letter has misrepresented—in truth, distorted—Catholic teaching on this issue...
...Currently, however, it is part of the church's moral and pastoral tradition...
...They do so in order to have their hearts moved by gospel values and their minds informed by the Spirit-filled teachings of the pastors of the church so that they can make reasonable and loving moral judgments and decisions...
...Paul's only reference to sin was the oft-attended-to conditional clause: "And if sin should still keep its hold over them, let them not be discouraged, but rather have recourse with humble perseverance to the mercy of God, which is poured forth in the sacrament of penance" (par...
...Teaching on the matter of artificial contraception, whether supportive or critical, should be based on a clear understanding of what the official teaching actually is...
...Mary Seminary, Wickliffe, Ohio...
...In the pope's thought is it possible that the use of contraception may be sinful...
...those are categories more in keeping with Humanae vitae itself...
...Second, the pastoral letter says that the use of contraceptives is a "sinful practice" and reception of Communion without prior Commonweal 13 March 1992: 7 reception of the sacrament of penance is sacrilegious...
...He has a doctoral degree in moral theology from the Pontifical Lateran University-Academia Alfonsiana...
...it is wrong because God himself, through the revelation of his son, our Lord Jesus Christ, has declared it to be wrong...
...Nevertheless, if Bishop Flavin intended to use the word "sin" in the sense of "material sin," it would have helped immensely if he had acknowledged that use of the term and explained its meaning...
...Further, he knew that to claim ultimate certainty or authority (by invoking infallibility) would be out of keeping with the concrete and complex nature of the issue at hand...
...Thus, Paul VI knew that in articulating a natural-law norm about contraception he needed to show that it was "deeply reasonable...
...His silence about the important role of conscience formation and decision making on moral questions suggests that the Catholic moral life is simply a matter of obedience to norms and rules...
...Likewise the cooperation of physicians is gravely sinful and an impediment to participation in the Eucharist...
...the church—through the pope—teaches that artificial contraception is intrinsically evil...
...He gave the same warning to physicians who make birth control available to such couples (Origins, November 7, 1991...
...In Humanae vitae, Paul VI made a judgment about what is and is not in keeping with the "objective moral order" (par...
...In fact, Catholic moral teaching is meant to serve the process of conscience formation, not replace it...
...when those elements are diminished or removed, so too is one's personal culpability or sinfulness...
...therefore, it is the revelation of God that contraception is wrong...
...On the popular level, even the Baltimore catechism taught that in order for something to be sinful the act itself must be wrong, but there must also be sufficient knowledge and freedom in the performance of the act...
...Rev...
...Catholic bishops' pastoral letter immediately following Humanae vitae, "Human Life in Our Day," made the same point (pars...
...Whatever one wishes to make of this line of thought, it must be said that is does not represent traditional Catholic teaching...
...To be fair, the bishop does use the terms, "immoral," "intrinsically evil," and "wrong" quite often in describing contraception...
...As a teacher of Catholic moral theology, I have been mandated, among other things, to explore and explain our theological tradition...
...This is what conscience formation is about...
...Bishop Flavin's letter could have served the first of those purposes had he elaborated at least briefly on the relationship of Catholic moral teachings to conscience...
...Though I acknowledge this interpretation as a possibility, it seems a highly implausible one in that the bishop describes as sacrilegious those who use contraception or cooperate in making it available and still receive Communion...
...That is why Humanae vitae is addressed to all people of good will, in the hope that they would be "capable of seizing the deeply reasonable and human character of this fundamental principle" (par...
...Regarding specific questions of morality, the "deeply reasonable" character of the church's moral teachings should be made manifest, along with clear and honest acknowledgment of the sources of that teaching...
...This misrepresents Catholic tradition and entails a deviation from current Catholic moral teaching...
...In recent pastoral letters, the U.S...
...For example, in regard to birth regulation, Paul VI insisted that the objective immorality of contraception is based first and foremost on the natural law, its reasonableness thereby being accessible to all...
...Instead of his convoluted appeal to authority, Bishop Flavin might have been more effective had he addressed the reason for the norm itself and thereby helped couples and physicians to grasp the "deeply reasonable" character of the teaching...
...First, contrary to Bishop Flavin's approach, Catholic teachings, particularly moral teachings, do not all derive from the same source, nor do they claim the same degree of authority...
...This language does not appear in contemporary Catholic moral teachings...
...In the words of Vatican II's Decree on Religious Liberty, the Catholic faithful are to "diligently attend to" the teachings of the church (par...
...CONTRACEPTION & COMMUNION THE CHURCH'S TEACHING BISHOP FLAVIN HAS IT WRONG Bishop Glennon Flavin of Lincoln, Nebraska, has written a pastoral letter to Catholic couples of his diocese warning those who use artificial contraception that this involves them in a sinful practice and that they "may not receive Holy Communion without committing sacrilege...
...If these are the responsibilities of "the faithful," the responsibilities of bishops, as pastoral teachers, are just as serious...
...Russell B. Connors, a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland, teaches moral theology at St...
...His teaching is not consistent with Humanae vitae, and deviates from long-standing Catholic moral and pastoral tradition...
...Put simply, pastoral letters on topics like contraception do well to be marked by a blend of clarity and compassion...
...My third reflection concerns a matter about which the letter is silent: conscience...
...Paul VI's effort in the encyclical expresses two long-standing Catholic convictions: first, although God may be said to be the author of nature, it is often not obvious what the detailed applications of the natural law should be...
...8-10...
...Those familiar with Catholic moral tradition know why Paul VI did not—could not—declare contraception unambiguously sinful...
...The pope set forth this teaching in the hope that couples might see its reasonableness and be able to have their minds, wills, and lives informed accordingly...
...Bishop Flavin's letter disregards it—inappropriately...
...It is far more than this...
...Commonweal 13 March 1992: 9...
...Such is not the case...
...Thus the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's "Declaration on Sexual Ethics" (1975) describes the difference between an action being objectively wrong or intrinsically disordered and a person's subjective degree of culpability (pars...
...RUSSELL B. CONNORS, JR...
...However, when he states that those using contraceptives commit a sacrilege when they receive Communion, when he urges them to discontinue the "sinful practice" that is contraception, and when he calls physicians' cooperation "gravely sinful," he is making judgments about the consciences and hearts of Catholic people that are unwarranted and unjust...
...The traditional manuals of moral theology, for example, insisted that not only the moral object of the act, but the motive and circumstances must be considered in determining the moral nature of a concrete human act (Noldin, Theologiae moralis, V. I, p. 76...
...Did Paul assert its sinfulness unequivocally in all cases...
...This distinction, found in the traditional manuals of moral theology (Noldin, Theologiae moralis, V. I, p. 290) as well as some catechisms, allows for the possibility that a person may do something that is "only materially sinful" in that it is wrong, but done without knowledge or freedom and thereby not "formally sinful," i.e., wrong and culpable because done with knowledge and freedom...
...41 & 45...
...That conclusion entails a judgment about personal culpability, that is, formal sin, and not simply material sin...
...The bishop's argument is as follows: Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, came to redeem us and to reveal how we should live...
...This theology of revelation eliminates any distinctions regarding degrees of authority in Catholic teachings, excludes even the possibility of legitimate theological dissent, and suggests that the statements "Jesus is the Son of God," and "the use of artificial means of birth regulation is intrinsically dishonest" are both based on God's revelation, claim the same degree of authority, and are equally central to Catholic faith...
...Jesus founded the church, headed by Peter, the church continues to make God's revelation known to us...
...12), and is therefore "intrinsically dishonest" (par...
...Discussions continue regarding the adequacy of this objective/ subjective distinction...
...Catholic bishops have acknowledged that Catholic moral teaching has two purposes: to help Catholics form their consciences, and to contribute to public discourse on moral issues that affect the human community...
...In the bishop's words, "Artificial contraception is wrong, not because the church says it is wrong (it was wrong before Christ established the church...
...when the pope teaches in matters of faith and morals, the church teaches, and thereby Christ teaches...
...In regard to these qualities, Bishop Flavin's letter misses the mark...
...In an effort to clarify some theological and pastoral issues the letter either misrepresents or ignores, I would like to offer the following reflections...
...Because contraception separates the procreative from the unitive meaning of sexual intercourse, he argued, it violates the "intimate structure" of the act (par...
...Theological and pastoral discourse about Catholic 8: 13 March 1992 Commonweal teaching on contraception, already troubling for many, demands all the clarity and compassion that marks the best of the Catholic tradition...
Vol. 119 • March 1992 • No. 5
