(I've recently produced a slide presentation for engaged couples who are planning to marry in the Catholic Church. It's entitled, "Catholic Church Teachings on Sexuality, " available at Scribd. )
Who said, "Persons who use contraception will never learn the value of self-restraint.. [it] will sap the vitality of both men and women, perhaps more of men than women. It is unmanly to refuse battle with the devil?" Was it a priest? A Pope? Actually, it was neither a priest or Pope. In fact it's someone who wasn't even Catholic.
Still, it's the Catholic Church that's known for teaching that contraceptives are "intrinsically evil" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2370). Most people, however, don't have the foggiest notion why the Catholic Church prohibits contraception for married couples.
As a Catholic, I remember protesting against this church teaching in my 20s, thinking it must be because the Catholic Church is led by a male hierarchy that's celibate. "What do they know?" I thought. "They don't understand." I left the Catholic Church, partly because of Her teaching regarding contraceptives.
You can well imagine my terrible awakening when I returned to the Catholic Church in my 30s, and read Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae, an encyclical on the regulation of birth: "It is also to feared that the man, growing used to the employment of anti-conception practices, may finally lose respect for the woman and no longer caring for her physical and psychological equilibrium, may come to the point of considering her a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected and beloved companion."
When I read his words, I realized that the Catholic Church cares deeply for women and I had been so badly mistaken in my young adult years. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! (My friends, especially my non-Catholic friends giggle when I use this well-loved Catholic expression for accepting fault. It's wonderful to admit fault simply, "My own fault, my own fault, my most grievous fault." It's easy, quick, and so cleansing.)
In my middle 30s, I discovered the wisdom of Catholic Church teachings on sexuality. My husband and I converted from contraception to the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, a method of natural family planning. I had hoped to keep this conversion secret from family and friends because it was a very counter-cultural thing to do. It was as if my husband and I were a freak of nature, or so I thought of ourselves back then. Everyone I knew practiced contraception except for my husband and me. But God had other plans. Soon women were asking me how they could learn about natural family planning for them and their husbands. Because there were no teachers where we lived, and with my husband's blessing, I took classes to become a practitioner of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. That was nearly 10 years ago.
I've recently produced a slide presentation for engaged couples who are planning to marry in the Catholic Church. It's entitled, "Catholic Church Teachings on Sexuality, " available at Scribd. You may place the slide presentation next to the accompanying text document on your computer.
So, who was the person who said that those who practice contraception will never use self-restraint? It's Mohandas Gandhi, the beloved Hindhu leader. The Catholic Church teachings on sexuality isn't just for Catholics. It's for everybody who desire the best for the themselves, their spouses, marriages and families.
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