Discussions about ending marital fertility by vasectomy or tubal ligation, even among Catholics, can often be nonchalant as if this procedure is no big deal with no moral implications. Such an attitude is likely the product of a culture … [Read more...]
The Church’s Teaching on Marriage, Part Two
January 27, 2022 by Richard P. Maggi, Esq.
Go to Part I Go to Part III Contribution of Families to Society “The very experience of communion and sharing that should characterize the family’s daily life represents its first and fundamental contribution to society.” FC at 43. “The … [Read more...]
The Preeminence of the Eternal and the Dignity of the Human Person
July 15, 2021 by Rev. Kenneth M. Dos Santos, MIC
Do all men and women have their origin in the One True God? If so, have they been created to be concerned solely with what can be manipulated and obtained during this life, regardless of morality? Has mankind lost an awareness of the … [Read more...]
Breastfeeding Does Space Babies and So Much More
May 7, 2021 by Sheila Kippley
Years ago mothers knew that breastfeeding had an impact on their fertility. Why? Because there was an absence of menstruation with frequent breastfeeding. Then along came bottles and pacifiers, strict schedules, and babysitters, and this … [Read more...]
The Sweetness of the Yoke of Christ
Hope for those struggling to live out the teaching of Humanae Vitae
December 11, 2020 by Paul Fahey
My wife, Kristina, and I were married just weeks after our twenty-second birthdays. We were still in our final year of college, young, naive — and in love. Our Catholic faith was always a central part of our lives and our relationship. We t … [Read more...]
Conjugal Rights: Defined and Applied
September 22, 2020 by Rachel Gehring
Dr. Gregory Popcak recently suggested that a woman ignore the advice of her priest, who claimed that she should have sex with her husband despite his adultery.[1. Gregory Popcak and Rachel Popcak, “Does My Husband Have a Right to Sex?” Fai … [Read more...]
Reclaiming a Lost Voice in Catholic Moral Theology
Who Was Fr. Gommar DePauw?
August 28, 2020 by Fr. Albert Marcello
Many Catholics attached to the traditional rites of the Church are familiar with the brief video “Why the Latin Mass.” Fr. Gommar-Albert DePauw, the speaker, was a priest famous for his celebration of the Tridentine Mass during the pre … [Read more...]
Teaching Humanae Vitae in the “Front Trenches” — Where It Ultimately Counts
January 17, 2019 by John S. Hamlon
Tumult Late July, 1968; large-tiered classroom at a Jesuit university. New Testament scholar Max Zerwick, SJ, is expounding upon the prologue to John’s Gospel, word by word, pericope by pericope. We graduate theology students, 150 s … [Read more...]
The Inseparable Unitive and Procreative Purposes of Marriage — and Appropriate NFP Use
October 29, 2018 by Anne Cherney
In 1946, theologian Fr. Mathias Scheeben’s The Mysteries of Christianity appeared and therein he wrote of married couples, “They can rightfully unite with each other in matrimony only for the end which Christ pursues in His union with the Ch … [Read more...]
Celebrating Humanae Vitae
July 12, 2018 by Richard P. Maggi, Esq.
On April 4, 5, and 6, this year, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput and twenty renowned theologians, lawyers, philosophers, and medical professionals celebrated Blessed Pope Paul VI’s visionary encyclical, Humanae Vitae, proclaimed 50 y … [Read more...]
Humanae Vitae: An Unwelcomed Anniversary in the West
July 12, 2018 by Rev. Basil Cole, OP
Conceptually pastoral weaknesses in expression, not errors, within Humanae Vitae, might have led to its lack of reception on the part of some priests, bishops, and people. For a host of reasons, it did not turn hearts and minds to … [Read more...]
A Reflection on Humanae Vitae
July 12, 2018 by John F. Kippley
Recently I watched a television interview with an eloquent defender of Humanae Vitae, but at its conclusion I was disappointed. To be sure, the speaker made a brilliant consequentialist defense of the encyclical, but this time the emphasis … [Read more...]
Misconceptions About NFP
July 12, 2018 by Anne Cherney
When I heard the election results in 2012, my very first thought was that if Catholics had reacted appropriately to the invention of the pill, instead of the way they did, we would have won this election. It is a subject which has … [Read more...]
Receiving the Gift
A Way of Life Open to Reality
December 30, 2017 by Thomas Gourlay
(This essay was previously presented at the National Billings Ovulation Method Teachers' Weekend.)[1. Presented at the National Billings Ovulation Method Teachers' Weekend. Perth, Western Australia. May 6, 2017.] If the Christmas Season … [Read more...]
Preaching to the Young Casualties of the Sexual Revolution
February 1, 2016 by Neil Kane
For over 40 years, it has been my privilege, challenge, and joy to teach Catholic theology. I began with the somewhat maligned Junior High level (seventh grade in my parish elementary school lingo), and then Catholic high school (Grades … [Read more...]
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