Catholic Advocates Call On Pope To Lift Church's Ban On Contraceptive Use

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 29 Jul 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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More than 50 Catholic groups in an open letter published Friday in Italy's largest newspaper Corriere della Sera called on Pope Benedict XVI to lift the Roman Catholic Church's ban on contraceptive use, Reuters reports. According to Reuters, the letter was published on the 40th anniversary of the late Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae," which states the church's opposition to contraception.

The letter said the church's anti-contraception policy "has had a catastrophic impact on the poor and powerless around the world, endangering women's lives and leaving millions at risk of HIV." It added that after 40 years, the encyclical continues to be "a source of great conflict and division" in the church. In addition, because many Catholics use contraception, believe it is a moral choice to do so and feel they are not sinning, the policy has been "an utter failure," according to the letter. It also said, "It is clear to us that the Catholic Church cannot move forward until it honestly confronts the paradox of Humanae Vitae." The letter concludes, "Pope Benedict, we call on you to use this anniversary as an opportunity to start the process of healing by being true to the positive aspects of Catholic teachings on sexuality and lifting the ban on contraception to allow Catholics to plan their families safely and in good conscience."

Catholics for Choice, We Are Church and New Ways Ministry were among the groups to sign the letter. Jon O'Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, said, "We thought the establishment in Rome and the Vatican pay close attention to the Italian media and the letter would be seen by the people to whom we want to deliver this message." The Vatican said it likely would issue a statement on the letter on Friday, Reuters reports (Pullella, Reuters, 7/25).

About Half of Catholics in England, Wales Use Contraceptives, Survey Finds

About 50% of practicing Catholics in England and Wales said they use methods of contraception banned by the church, according to a survey released Friday by the weekly Catholic magazine The Tablet, London's Times reports.

The survey -- conducted among 1,500 Catholics from parishes in England and Wales -- found that nearly half had never heard of Humanae Vitae. However, most of the participants did know the church's official stance on contraception, and more than half believed it should be revised. Most of the participants also said that they would not discuss issues of family planning with a priest.

Catherine Pepinster, editor of The Tablet, in a commentary said that the church's stance has damaged its message. "The church has much to teach society about the needs of the developing world and the nature of justice," Pepinster said, adding that with the impact of climate change and the "rapidly escalating" world population, "birth control has been the elephant in the room in discussions" (Gledhill, Times, 7/25).

Opinion Pieces

Two opinion pieces recently responded to the 40th anniversary of the Humanae Vitae. Summaries appear below.

~ Robert McClory, Chicago Tribune: The Humanae Vitae "not only failed to solve the problems inherent in the sexual revolution [in the 1960s], it prevented the church from having any voice in ongoing discussion among reasonable people of faith (or no faith) concerning responses to the revolution," former priest McClory of Northwestern University writes in a Tribune opinion piece. According to McClory, Pope Paul VI was "correct in seeing what strange fruits the revolution would produce, but his cure was as bad or worse than the disease." The church "could have become a respected conversant among national and world bodies seeking credible answers" to the effects of the sexual revolution, McClory writes. However, the church leadership "left the table 40 years ago, painting itself into this corner," he adds (McClory, Chicago Tribune, 7/27).

~ John Allen, New York Times: Predictions made 40 years ago that the Humanae Vitae would "collapse under its own weight" and possibly bring the "monarchical papacy" down "badly underestimated the capacity of the Catholic Church to resist change and to stand its ground," Allen, a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, writes in a Times opinion piece. The encyclical was seen as "so out of sync with the hopes and desires of the Catholic rank and file that it simply could not stand," Allen writes, adding that in "some ways, it didn't." According to Allen, polls show that Catholics, "at least in the West, dissent from the teaching on birth control, often by majorities exceeding 80%." However, "at the official level, Catholicism's commitment to 'Humanae Vitae' is more solid than ever," Allen writes. He adds that supporters of the encyclical "draw assurance" from the declining fertility rates, especially in Europe, where no country has a fertility rate above 2.1. The encyclical's "surprising resilience is a reminder that forecasting the Catholic future in moments of crisis is always a dangerous enterprise," Allen writes, concluding, "Catholicism can and does change, but trying to guess how and when is almost a fool's errand" (Allen, New York Times, 7/27).

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