Humanae Vitae

by Mark Shea in The National Catholic Register
Thursday, April 01, 2010   Episcopal Sins Disprove Humanae Vitae

Mark Shea's article teaches and sheds light on a common misconception (or two) about Catholicism. Bolding is my emphasis to better help me find key points. You are, after all, at my Catholic Notebook. In years past this would have been printed out, punched with holes and put into a 3-ring binder. So, you deal with my highlighting . . . . kind of like finding someone's book with underlines and notes in the margain! :-)

Vocabulary Words for the day include:

1. Legalism and Legalistic
2. Tradition (w/ a capital T) v. tradition (w/ a lower case t)
3. Humanae Vitae
4. Ad hominem

Here is Mark Shea's article.

The other day a reader wrote:

It seems crazy to me to believe that God supernaturally protects the church against errors in faith and morals in very narrowly defined cases, but allows an almost unimaginable culture of abuse and corruption. That makes for a very very weird, legalistic conception of God, IMO. 
And the idea that we should defer our opinions on sexual morality to a church whose abuses and corruptions are in precisely that area .... That seems even more crazy. 
The depth and extent of the sex abuse crisis is simply astounding. Not in the percentage of priests who were wicked, but in the way the institution covered it up, attacked the accusers, and enabled the abusers to abuse again. It shows that something is horribly, deeply, disastrously wrong at the core of the RCC. 
And we’re supposed to believe a bunch of tortured moral analysis from those same guys? 
Humanae Vitae would have us believe that there is an important moral distinction between a married couple temporarily delaying conception through NFP and the same couple doing the same thing with some barrier method. It rests on a very weird set of assumptions and arguments. And we’re supposed to accept that from these guys? 
It strains credulity beyond the breaking point.

There seem to me to be several notions blended together here.  Let’s tease them apart.

First, is the (to me, baffling) claim that saying that the Holy Spirit guarantees that we idiot humans do not muck up the content of the gospel is “legalistic”.  I have no reply to that, because I cannot grasp what my reader means.
Legalism is the notion that one can be saved by keeping the law, rather than relying on grace. 
What that has to do with anything here I cannot fathom.

Certainly, as Catholics we do not believe that a Pope who transmits the Tradition accurately is automatically bound for heaven.  They’ve all done that.  They can’t help it: they have been given the charism of infallibility.  But they can still be scoundrels and fail to practice what they preach.  So how this amounts to legalism, I simply don’t know.

Second, there is the notion that the Church’s teaching stands or falls with the faith and morals of the Pope and bishops.
That would be true—if the teaching of the Church was their personal invention and private property.  But, of course, it’s not.
It’s a Tradition: a thing they are handing on from others which they themselves did not invent and can neither add to nor subtract from.  Bishops, including the Pope, are not prophets speaking from some personal revelation or charism of sanctity.  They are merely custodians of the Tradition, regurgitating stuff that the Church has always said.  They may not believe, practice or even understand it fully to do that.

Exhibit A: the first Pope, Peter.  The guy promulgates the Church’s teaching that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ and not by works of the Mosaic law, one of the absolute pillars of the Catholic faith.  In short, he is the guy who tells us that you can’t be saved by legalism.  Next thing you know, he’s chickening out on his own inspired teaching at Antioch and Paul has to chew him out and get him back on track (Galatians 2).  A Judaizer of the first century could have (and some probably did) say,

“It seems crazy to me to believe that God supernaturally protects the church against errors in faith and morals in very narrowly defined cases, but allows the teachers of faith and morals to then ignore their own teaching and avoid eating with Gentiles.”  

Ironically, such an objection would bind us to . . .  legalism since it would “prove” that we shouldn’t listen to an unstable two-faced person like Peter and his weird teaching!

Paul, in contrast, believed that when the Pope and the Church in council taught something, that something remained true even when the Pope wimped out on it later on due to the fact that he was, in the words of Chesterton, a coward, a shuffler and a snob: in a word, a man.  And, of course, we believe the same about bishops who fail to uphold the Church’s teaching.

Humanae Vitae is an expression of the Church’s teaching.  It is not Paul VI’s personal opinion.  It is basically a restatement of the same thing the Church has always said: God is the author of nature and we can cooperate with the nature he has created, but not thwart the nature he has created.  It’s the same logic which says,

“If you are fat, eat less and exercise more, but don’t try to lose weight by re-instituting the Roman vomitorium.”  

The former cooperates with how God made you.  The latter tries to strip mine pleasure while defying what God created the body to do.

In short, grace perfects, not destroys or defies, nature.  This is not something Paul VI invented in 1968, and though every bishop in the world were in a state of mortal sin it would not change that fact one iota.

You won’t get an argument from me about there being something rotten in the Church—just as long as you don’t mean “In those people over there, not me, of course.”

The something rotten in the Church is, precisely, seen whenever any one of us finds an excuse to reject what the Church teaches when it touches on something dear to us.  That’s not something confined to bishops who ignored revelation and the sense God gave a goose to protect pervy priests.  It’s also something we righteous laymen participate in when we use the sins of bishops as an excuse to pretend that some piece of the Tradition we dislike can be safely ignored.

The old-fashioned term for that is ad hominem.  Ad hominem works when the argument rests on the personal sanctity of the person making the argument. 

The used car salesman who says, “Trust me” can be refuted if you produce his rap sheet.
But the math teacher who says that 2 + 2 = 4  is not refuted when you show him to be a drug dealer.

The truth that bishops hand along does not depend on their personal holiness, any more than the truth of our salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ was disproven by Peter’s chickenhearted failure to live by his own preaching at Antioch.

A useful thing to recall on the evening our entire Church remembers Peter’s cringeworthy declaration: “Though everyone else deny you, I will never deny you!”
Paul’s advice is still sound:

“Let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Top 15 Misconceptions About Catholics

A wonderful article from: Online Christian Colleges found through A Catholic Mom in Hawaii.

With nearly one quarter of the U.S. population Catholic, they make up a huge part of society and the largest Christian denomination. Yet with so many, how is it they are so misunderstood and characterized by films, television shows, etc.?
Failing to do the proper research explains a great deal of it. With a simple search on the internet, we were able to find many interesting answers to the top 15 misconceptions about Catholics. They are both from official sources, reporters, academics, and more.

1. Priests Are More Likely to be Pedophiles : The most dangerous of all myths concerning Catholics, this can lead to many negative and unfair consequences. Recently in a book entitled Pedophiles and Priests, an extensive study – and the only one of it kind – took a look at the pedophile statistics of over 2,200 priests. It found that only 0.3% of all Catholic clergy are involved in any pedophilia matter, guilty or not. This number is actually very low and according to Counter Pedophilia Investigative Unit, who reports that children are more likely to be victims of pedophile activity at school with nearly 14% of students estimated to be molested by a member of the school staff. 2. Everything in “The Da Vinci Code” is True : Even author Dan Brown himself doesn’t agree to this. In this free film from Hulu, Mr. Brown admits to writing his novel as a step in his own spiritual journey. As he confesses to being swayed by his extensive research, the experts behind the research weigh in with facts. Simon Cox is the author of “Cracking the Da Vinci Code” and tells more about his work in this documentary. If you don’t have 90 minutes to view it, you can get the real story behind Opus Dei, the villain organization in the novel, from ABC news. 3. Women Are Oppressed in the Catholic Church : Although women are still not eligible to become priests as explained by Pope John Paul II, they were still acknowledged as valued members of the church as far back as 1947. In a Papal Directive from then Pope Pius XII, he expressed his admiration of women “to take part in the battle: you have not sought to do so, but courageously you accept your new duties; not as resigned victims nor merely in a defensive spirit.” Also, in 2004 then Pope John Paul II historically appointed two women theologians to the International Theological Commission and named another as the president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. 4. Catholicism and Science Don’t Mix : It has been theorized that science leads down one path while religion, such as Catholicism, leads down another. However, in the mid 1200’s Saint Thomas Aquinas was preaching just the opposite: that all paths lead to God. In fact, one of his most notable quotes “The truth of our faith becomes a matter of ridicule among the infidels if any Catholic, not gifted with the necessary scientific learning, presents as dogma what scientific scrutiny shows to be false” is listed on Brainy Quote. A modern day professor from Columbia University also gives his take on the subject.
Source : nndb.com
5. Catholics Place Too Much Emphasis on Jesus’ Mother : Believing in the Immaculate Conception – the virgin conception of Christ – is a key factor in Catholic belief. But does that mean that she sits above or even at the same level as the Son or the Father? This article by Bishop Pivarunas details her role in the church and even uses actual scripture to explain why. 6. Catholics are Cannibals : The Eucharist is a sacred part of the Catholic mass and in it, followers are asked to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ. But is it a figure of speech or is there actually flesh and blood involved? In this article from Catholic Answers, two church officials certify that the answer is in keeping with the Catholic faith. The meaning of the scripture quote “”I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” is discussed thoroughly. 7. Catholics Don’t Believe in Dinosaurs : In a popular Catholic forum, the question of the dinosaur comes up. Expert Apologist Michelle Arnold tackles the age-old question in a four part answer, which acknowledges the existence of dinosaurs. It includes universal death, life after death, the opportunity to question one’s own faith, and reassessing one’s own beliefs. 8. No Meat on Fridays : Until 1983 Catholics were required to abstain from eating meat on Friday for the 40 days of Lent and the following Holy Week. However, the rule was changed to “abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays.” Which basically means that instead of foregoing meat on Fridays, Catholics can choose to give up something else. In addition, abstinence and fasting are required on both Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. 9. No Alcohol for Catholics : Although a certain sense of moderation is present, Catholics are actually encouraged to feast, have joyous processions, and an elated thanksgiving for God’s grace. In fact, this priest from Saint Mary Magdalen in Brighton proclaims that champagne is the preferred drink of Catholics.
Source : youngfogeys.com
10. Catholics Worship Saints : Father Jeff explains the myth behind saint worship in this video from YouTube. He explains how prayer is different from worship and how the lives of saints are remarkable. He also uses the more modern comparison of a Prayer Line in his explanation. 11. Purgatory is Another Hell : Catholic belief in purgatory can be confusing and perplexing. More a belief on the afterlife, purgatory is believed to be where sinners go to “purge” themselves of sin before entering heaven. This encyclopedia article from New Advent has more. 12. Catholic Mass is Really Just a Homily : Father Z. is a popular Catholic blogger and priest in Philadelphia. In answering a reader’s question, he discusses the issue of the importance and meaning of the homily in Mass. In short, a homily is a sort of summary by priest or deacon after a reading and before the Procession of Faith. Father Z. explains exactly what it is and why it is important. 13. Catholics Can Confess Anything Away : A belief that confession is just a formality with no real consequence is a myth. In fact, just the act of admitting a sin can be doubly cathartic and reconciliatory. This article tells more on what is expected of a good confession. However, even the the Vatican warns that a confession is not a counseling session. 14. The Pope is Perfect : Even Catholics don’t believe this and state that papal infallibility has its limitations. In an article from Slate, papal infallibility is explained as pertaining to when the pontiff is ruling on a spiritual or moral manner. There is a similar infallibility belief when ecumenical councils are ruling on similar issues. Other than that, the pope and the rest are just as fallible as the anyone. 15. Children Aren’t Allowed at Mass : In another answer from Father Z., he tackles the question of what to do with “wiggle aged” children at Mass. He addresses the positives and negatives of bringing these kids to church, what should be done, and what can be done as an alternative. Over 160 comments were left after the blog entry and tell even more on the subject.

Even if you disagree with any or all of the top 15 misconceptions about Catholics, it is important that you understand them fully so as to know why. Whether writing a paper, dating a Catholic, or just looking to understand the faith more, there is much to know and much damage to undo caused by myths.
There is also loads more to be found on the internet and a good place to start is these Twelve Catholic Myths where Michael Voris tackles even more misconceptions on Catholics.