News Briefs

Detroit, Mich., Jul 25, 2018 / 12:16 pm (CNA).- Fifty years after Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, the landmark encyclical reaffirming Church teaching against contraception, many Catholics still don’t really understand the document and what it teaches.

“The woeful fact is that pathetically few have ever read Humanae Vitae or ever heard a homily or defense of it,” said Dr. Janet Smith, a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

However, she told CNA, “[t]here is encouraging evidence that when they do, they find it persuasive.”

Smith, who is also a consulter to the Pontifical Council on the Family, has written and spoken extensively on the Church’s teaching in Humanae Vitae.

A quarter-century ago, for the 25th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, she released “Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader” in the hopes of helping people see the wisdom in Catholic teaching.

For the 50th anniversary, Smith is releasing an update of essays, entitled, “Why Humanae Vitae is Still Right.”

“Much has happened in the last 25 years, including the tremendous influence of the Theology of the Body on our understanding Humanae Vitae, and the scientific evidence of the detrimental effects of contraception on women’s health and male/female relationships. While the first volume remains relevant, an update of essays was needed,” she explained.

In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI warned of serious social consequences that would follow if the widespread use of contraceptives became accepted.

Smith said that 50 years have shown the “prophetic power” of Humanae Vitae to be “abundantly substantiated,” with clear connections between widespread contraceptive use and the rise in unwed pregnancy, abortion, divorce, pornography, same-sex unions and transgenderism.  

“When the baby-making power of sexual intercourse is no longer considered a defining feature of sexual intercourse, virtually all sorts of sexual relationships are permissible, providing, I suppose, that they are consensual,” she said.

One common misunderstanding of Humanae Vitae, Smith said, that “it is based upon an outmoded notion of natural law that gives undue weight to simple biology.”

“The fact is that the literally infinitely greater value of human sexual intercourse is the foundation of the Church’s teaching,” she said, emphasizing that human sexuality has a dual purpose: “the facilitating of a lifelong, faithful committed relationship and the participating in God’s creation of new immortal souls – hence the necessity for human sexual relationships to be rooted in marriage, open to new life.”

Another common misconception, she said, is that Catholics may follow their consciences, even against Church teaching, whereas the Church actually says that “freedom to follow one’s conscience is based on the requirement that individuals form their consciences in accord with Church teaching.”

“I believe that few faithful Catholics [who] prayerfully read Humanae Vitae and seek out further instruction should doubts arise would not find the teaching true to God’s plan for sexuality.”

Most Catholics today fail to follow Humanae Vitae, Smith acknowledged. But rather than finding this figure discouraging, she sees hope in a study finding that Church teaching on sexuality is accepted by 37 percent of Catholic women between the ages of 18 and 34 who attend Mass weekly and go to Confession at least once a year.

“In a Church where the teaching is rarely presented and a culture that mocks the Church’s teaching, such compliance is astonishing,” she said. 

And there are other encouraging signs that the Church is working to better reach people with the message of Humanae Vitae, Smith said, such as recent efforts by the U.S. bishops to teach about the issue and encourage priests to do so as well.   

In addition, she said, diocesan family life offices and young seminarians and priests have the training and desire to teach and promote Natural Family Planning, through which a couple uses a woman’s natural fertile and infertile periods to pursue responsible parenthood. Unlike contraception, this method is accepted by the Church because it cooperates with human fertility rather than trying to stifle it.

Smith also noted marriage preparation programs that address cohabitation and contraception, as well as new teaching materials inspired by Theology of the Body, websites with resources and testimonies that are widely accessible, and an increase in faithful Catholic colleges and universities.

“My count indicates there are about 40 conferences being held that feature support of Humanae Vitae in the U.S., not to mention the webinars and likely hundreds of supportive pieces being published in print and online journals and blogs,” she added.

“More of all of this needs to be done, but a tremendous start has been made.”
 
 

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Washington D.C., Jul 25, 2018 / 10:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The US bishops have drawn attention to the continual relevance of Humanae vitae, Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical on the regulation of birth, to mark the 50th anniversary of its promulgation.

In Humanae vitae Bl. Paul VI “reaffirmed the beautiful truth that a husband and wife are called to give themselves completely to each other,” stated Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the US bishops’ conference. “Marriage reflects the love of God, which is faithful, generous, and life-giving. Through their vocation, spouses cooperate with God by being open to new human life.”

“Blessed Paul VI, who bore the criticism of Humanae Vitae with charity and patience, courageously affirmed that when we love as God designed, we experience true freedom and joy. He has also been proven correct in his warnings about the consequences of ignoring the true meaning of married love.”

“On this anniversary, I encourage all to read and prayerfully reflect upon this Encyclical, and be open to the gift of its timeless truths,” Cardinal DiNardo wrote.

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington wrote that “The wisdom of ‘Humanae Vitae’ still rings true in our time and reminds us that marriage lived according to God’s plan brings happiness and fruitfulness to the couple and their relationship.”

“Since the time it was published, the warnings contained within ‘Humanae Vitae’ have been realized to a devastating and tragic degree as the negative societal consequences and disregard of the life-giving and love-giving aspects of marriage continue.”

The columns were released throughout this month to prepare for Humanae vitae’s 50th anniversary on July 25. Written by Bl. Paul VI, the encyclical is noted for its teaching against the use of contraception and for healthy sexuality.

Besides the Bishop of Arlington, numerous American bishops wrote on the encyclical, including Bishop Robert Cunningham of Syracuse, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, Bishop Nelson Perez of Cleveland, and Bishop James Conley of Lincoln.

The bishops wrote on Humanae vitae’s explanation of the ends of the marital act, confirming that conjugal love is both unitive and procreative. They also commented on the document’s history, accurate predictions, and its promotion of self-gift.  

Bishop Cunningham evaluated the historical context in which Humanae vitae was received. Written in 1968, the encyclical was released at the time of the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, he said.

“Our country was divided by a war many miles away and at home by conflicts, often violent, surrounding racial tensions,” he said. “In the midst of this national turmoil, our Church also experienced unrest with the publication of Humanae Vitae.”

It was written “to reaffirm the teaching of the Catholic Church on married love, responsible parenthood, and the continued rejection of unnatural forms of birth control and abortion,” noted Bishop Cunningham.

Bishop Conley and Bishop Perez both emphasized the prophetic nature of Humanae vitae, which predicted the destructive effects birth control would have on marriages and society.

The Nebraskan bishop pointed to a decrease in birth rates in the last 30 years, noting the rapid decline is not expected to slow down for at least another 10 years. This, he said, will have effects on future economies, labor forces, and societies.

“This means that the American population will get older in the decades to come – that 40 years from now, senior citizens will make up 25% of the entire US population. Declining fertility rates mean labor shortages, shrinking tax bases, and insolvent social safety nets.”

Bishop Conley also wrote on how contraception conditions men and women to be against each other by denying the connection between sex and children.

“Contraception pits couples into a kind of unknowing war with themselves: they seek to discover one another, and themselves, in the mutual exchange and intimate embrace of sexuality, while, at the very same time, seeking to deny an essential component of their actual identity.”

Bishop Perez said Humanae vitae is “best known for its defense of the ancient teaching of the Church that the procreative dimension is an essential and inseparable element of the marital act,” and affirming the unitive and procreative ends as “two essential and related dimensions of conjugal love.”

“This teaching, which ran counter to changes being made in virtually every other Christian denomination of the time, can rightly be regarded as the most controversial teaching of ‘Humanae Vitae.’ While controversial, it has been extremely influential in subsequent development of Church teaching, from topics as diverse as sterilization, in-vitro fertilization, abortion and surrogacy, along with the Church’s teaching on same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria.”

“The negative reaction to ‘Humanae Vitae’ was predicted by Blessed Pope Paul himself,” he said, noting that the encyclical anticipated “broken marriages, further demeaning and objectification of women and a trivialization of sex.”

“What is unfortunate is that the almost exclusive attention given to this ‘negative’ aspect of the encyclical has resulted in a failure to appreciate the ‘positive’ element of the pope’s teaching.”

Bishop Sartain said it is important to heed Humanae vitae’s prophetic words on the consumerization of sex in secular culture: “Humanae vitae remains to this day the prophetic words of a shepherd. In a world that can easily abide on the surface of things, Blessed Paul VI teaches us to look deeply into human life, our origin, our fulfilment, and our destiny.”

“In a world that prizes expediency and consumerism … Blessed Paul VI challenges us to cherish the gift of human life. In a world whose religion is science and that gives blind adherence to the principle that ‘what is possible is therefore good,’ Blessed Paul VI reminds us that at the core of a truly fulfilled human life is the act of opening our minds and hearts to the wisdom of God, who created the world and all that is in it, and who knows and loves us more than we can fathom.”

“In a culture where the human body and human life itself are exploited for entertainment and shameful profit, Blessed Paul VI begs us not to forget that the human body has beautiful, God-given worth and wisdom all its own, wisdom that is to be plumbed for its richness and lived with humility and joy,” Bishop Sartain reflected.

Cardinal Wuerl noted that the 50th anniversary of Humanae vitae impresses on the Church “the need for both clarity in our teaching and accompaniment in our effort to achieve reception of the teaching as part of the Church’s healing and saving mission.”

“In this modern age when sexual activity is often seen as recreational and without consequence, the message of Humanae Vitae is a sign of contradiction to the world and is challenging for some. But … it goes back to our basic understanding of the dignity and role of human beings, male and female, complementary and equal, in God’s plan.”

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Washington D.C., Jul 25, 2018 / 05:00 am (CNA).- During the early cultural battles over birth control in 1920s America, social thinker Monsignor John A. Ryan brought a unique perspective to the debate: he argued that contraception hurt solidarity and o… […]

Columbus, Ohio, Jul 24, 2018 / 06:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Ohio Catholic Conference on Friday welcomed the state governor’s decision to grant reprieve and commutation to two men who were to have been executed.

“The Catholic Conference of Ohio commends Governor Kasich for his leadership, courage, and pursuit of justice in commuting the death sentence of Raymond Tibbetts, as well as granting a reprieve for Cleveland Jackson,” the organization stated July 20.

“Each case presented strong evidence that corrective actions were needed by the Governor. Thank you, Governor Kasich.”

“The Catholic Church believes that the death penalty is an unnecessary and systemically flawed form of punishment,” wrote the Ohio Catholic Conference. “We seek mercy for those on death row because we believe that spiritual conversion is possible and that all life – even that of the worst offender – has value and dignity.”

Earlier on Friday, Kasich had commuted the death sentence of Raymond Tibbetts to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Tibbetts would have been executed Oct. 17.

Tibbetts was convicted for the 1997 murders of Judith Crawford, his wife, and Fred Hicks, their landlord.

The commutation was granted “as a result of fundamental flaws in sentencing phase of his trial,” the governor’s office announced, noting that “the defense’s failure to present sufficient mitigating evidence, coupled with an inaccurate description of Tibbetts’s childhood by the prosecution, essentially prevented the jury from making an informed decision about whether Tibbetts deserved the death penalty.”

Jurors were not told that Tibbetts had suffered abuse as a child in the foster care system, and one of the jurors has said he would have voted for life without parole instead of the death penalty had this been disclosed.

“The system failed to provide me with the information I needed to make an accurate and fair determination,” Ross Geiger wrote in an opinion piece earlier this year.

Kasich also chose to grant a reprieve to delay until May 29, 2019 the execution of Cleveland Jackson, which had been scheduled to take place Sept. 13. The delay will “allow his newly appointed legal counsel sufficient time to review the case and properly prepare for his clemency hearing before the Parole Board.”

“Jackson’s previous court-appointed counsel withdrew their representation just four months prior to his initially scheduled execution after admitting that they failed to do any work to prepare his clemency application over the course of the previous four years,” according to Kasich’s office.

Jackson was convicted for the 2002 murders of  Leneshia Williams, 17, and Jayla Grant, 3.

Kasich, a Republican, rejected calls for clemency in 2016 in the case of Ronald Phillips. Phillips was executed in July 2017, having been convicted of the 1993 rape and murder of three-year-old Sheila Marie Evans, his girlfriend’s daughter.

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Washington D.C., Jul 24, 2018 / 05:08 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is reported to have lived alongside a Maryland house of formation for members of a religious order whose founder has faced Vatican charges of sexual misconduct.

St. John Baptist de la Salle is located in Chillum, Md., adjacent to Washington, D.C. The parish is staffed by the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE), and the property serves as the headquarters of the community’s Province of the Immaculate Conception.

The Institute of the Incarnate Word was founded in 1984 in Argentina by Fr. Carlos Miguel Buela. In 2016, the Vatican affirmed the veracity of allegations that Buela engaged in sexual improprieties with adult seminarians of his community.

Buela, who retired in 2010, was forbidden by the Vatican from contact with members of the IVE, and from appearing in public.

In addition to the church building, the Maryland property includes two additional buildings, one of which is Ven. Fulton Sheen Seminary. The seminary forms men aspiring to be priests of the IVE, and opened in 1998. According to its website, the seminary currently houses 41 men in formation.

The third building, perhaps where the cardinal stayed, was not visible in a Google Street View Image dated July 2009, but had been constructed by May 2012.

Sources told CNA that Cardinal McCarrick lived with the IVE community at St. John Baptist de la Salle during his retirement, after residing for a period at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of the Archdiocese of Washington.

One source close to the Archdiocese of Washington told CNA that the cardinal had for a time an IVE brother in formation living in his residence, which was on the parish property but separate from the house of formation.

An additional source also told CNA that McCarrick had young priest and seminarian assistants while living with the IVE, but did not comment on whether any seminarian resided with the cardinal.

An Archdiocese of Washington spokesperson did not confirm those reports. The spokesperson told CNA that Cardinal McCarrick “made his own living arrangements for his retirement,” as well as his own arrangements for secretarial assistance.

“I can’t comment on how long he was at the John Baptist de la Salle property,” the spokesperson added.

Cardinal McCarrick is reportedly close to the IVE, often conferring ordination for the Immaculate Conception province, doing so as late as May 28.

Directories from the Archdiocese of Washington demonstrate that Fr. Andrew Whiting, IVE, served as priest secretary to Cardinal McCarrick from at least 2014 through 2017. Whiting was ordained a deacon by McCarrick in 2013, and a priest in 2014.

The 2018 directory lists Br. Andy Kemtz, IVE, as secretary to the cardinal, and gives St. John Baptist de la Salle as his residence.

Cardinal McCarrick has been the subject of several accusations of child sexual abuse and sexual misconduct involving seminarians and priests in recent months.

He was suspended from exercising his ministry in June following an investigation into a charge of sexual abuse, and last week he was accused of the sexual abuse of a minor.

McCarrick was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, and then served there as an auxiliary bishop.

He was bishop of two New Jersey dioceses before he was appointed Archbishop of Washington in 2000, where he served until his retirement in 2006.

In 2005 and 2007, two men received settlements from New Jersey dioceses over their abuse at the hands of McCarrick, who abused them while they were seminarians and priests.

The Institute of the Incarnate Word could not be reached for comment.

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