The Happy Priest: Contraception and the Culture of Death

Legalized abortion in America could end tomorrow if the Catholic Church took a clear, uncompromising and united stand against abortion.  But, it can only take a full and firm stand in favor of the unborn,  if  the Church also affirms in practice, and not only in words, that contraception is intrinsically evil. 

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - Most people are appalled by the continuous slaughter of innocent children through the horrible scourge of abortion.  Abortion is a manifestation of an anti-child, contraceptive mentality that has gripped most Americans.  Contraception is the gateway to the culture of death. 

The massive loss of innocent human life that took place on September 11 shocked the nation.  This loss of innocent human life was tragic.  Nevertheless, another tragedy with even greater consequences continues on a daily basis. More than 52,704,727 children have been intentionally killed through procured abortion since January 22, 1973. 

Should we be surprised at the seemingly endless accounts of murders, bombings and wars throughout the world that fill the media each day?  If we can kill inside of the womb, what is to keep us from killing outside of the womb?

There have been more babies killed by abortion since Roe v Wade than people killed in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and both Iraq wars combined.   An average of 150 convicted murderers, proven guilty, are killed by the death penalty in Texas every year. 90,000 innocent babies are killed in Texas every year by abortion.

Since 1973 there have been over 50 million abortions in the U.S. alone. Consider the estimated populations of some of our major U.S. cities: New York - 8,143,197; Los Angeles - 3,844,829; Chicago - 2,842,518; and Houston - 2,016,582.  Are we not destroying our work force and the base for Social Security?

Very few are paying attention to what Pope Benedict XVI told the College of Cardinals in an end of the year speech with these dramatic words:  "For all its new hopes and possibilities, our world is at the same time troubled by the sense that moral consensus is collapsing, consensus without which juridical and political structures cannot function. Consequently the forces mobilized for the defense of such structures seem doomed to failure" (December 20, 2010). 

As horrendous as abortion is, it is really only a symptom of a much greater problem.

In their 2001 revision of the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities "A Campaign in Support of Life", the United States Catholic Bishops speak of the connection between abortion and contraception when they write: "It is noteworthy that as acceptance and use of contraception have increased in our society, so have acceptance and use of abortion. Couples who unintentionally conceive a child while using contraception are far more likely to resort to abortion than others. Tragically, our society has fallen into a mentality that views children as a burden and invites many to consider abortion as a 'backup' to contraceptive failure. This is most obvious in efforts to promote as 'emergency contraception' drugs that really act as early abortifacients."

As I wrote in my book "Man to Man: a Real Priest speaks to Real Men about Marriage, Sexuality and Family Life," prior to 1930 every Christian denomination agreed in their opposition to contraception.  Today, the Catholic Church stands alone.   However, even though the Catholic Church affirms that contraception is intrinsically evil, the majority of Catholics in America completely rejects and ignores the Church's teaching on procreation. 

Why does the Catholic Church affirm that artificial birth control is intrinsically evil?  The reason is founded on this principle: every marital act must keep together "the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act " (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 12). 

This fundamental principle contained in Humanae Vitae is true because the nature of sexual intercourse, which is both life-giving (pro-creative) and love-giving (unitive), reflects the plan of God for marriage.  A man and a woman must not intervene to separate their fertility from their bodily union.  To do so is to disrupt the plan of God for marriage, sexuality and married love.   Therefore, the Church's teaching is not only affirmed by Divine law, but by natural law as well.

Sexual pleasure within marriage becomes unnatural, and even harmful to the spouses, when it is used in a way that deliberately excludes the basic purpose of sex, which is procreation.  God's gift of sex must not be abused by frustrating its natural end-procreation.
 
However, this does not mean that married couples only have sexual intercourse when they want to conceive a child.  Mutual love or the good of the spouses, one of the three purposes of marriage, indicates that sex is good, sex is holy and that the sexual union between the spouses enhances, in a very deep way, the intimate love between husband and wife.  Nevertheless, we must keep in mind that the three purposes of marriage: the good of the spouses, the procreation of children and the education of children, are equal and form one single entity.  The first purpose of marriage is not superior to the other two. 

The Catholic Church continues to affirm that every conjugal act must be open to the transmission of life.  The Catholic Church continues to affirm that all forms of  contraception are intrinsically evil.  However, the Catholic Church does teach that there is a moral or ethical way to regulate births. The moral way to regulate the procreation of children is through the use of Natural Family Planning.
   
Humanae Vitae explains this clearly with these words:  "If therefore there are well-grounded reasons for spacing births, arising from the physical or psychological condition of husband or wife, or from external circumstances, the Church teaches that married people may then take advantage of the natural cycles immanent in the reproductive system and engage in marital intercourse only during those times that are infertile, thus controlling birth in a way which does not in the least offend the moral principles which we have just explained" (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 16).

We all know that the world is sexually out of control.  The wide acceptance and use of contraception have caused the present day chaos.  Pope Paul VI said that it would happen when he wrote, "Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings-and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation-need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law.

Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection" (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 17).

Abortion in America could end tomorrow if the Catholic Church took a militant and united stand against abortion.  But, it can only take a militant and firm stand in favor of the unborn, if  the Church were to affirm in practice, and not only in words, that contraception is intrinsically evil. 

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Father James Farfaglia, the Happy Priest, is the pastor of Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas and is a member of the Board of Directors of Human Life International.  You can visit him on the web at www.donotbediscouraged.com.  There you can find his books, homilies, articles and blog posts.  You can click here for the audio podcast of this Sunday homily.  Father's email address is fjficthus@gmail.com. 

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