Could the Roman Catholic Church be ready to reconsider its prohibition of the use of contraception? The fact that prominent Catholic conservatives have felt the need to speak out against such a possibility gives some grounds for thinking that, within the Church itself, and under the protection of Pope Francis, a movement for change is Read more
Nine out of ten Catholics in France firmly believe the Church needs to change its attitude towards sexual morality, according to the findings of poll last month that was co-sponsored by La Croix. Many moral theologians in the country agree with that assessment. One of them said that re-formulating Church teaching on human sexuality is Read more
Sexual abuse is rooted in abuse of power, which is very often the first step. While abuse of power can take many forms, many abusers rely on the excessive and, let’s say it, clericalist use of secrecy. For decades many Church bodies, including the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, have repeatedly called for Read more
It was July 29, 1968. The world seemed to be in turmoil. The Paris student riots had happened a month before. I was an army chaplain at Puckapunyal preparing conscripts for Vietnam and, at the same time, an undergraduate at Melbourne University where the Vietnam War was taboo. Those two worlds were a universe apart. Read more
Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae was publicly released on Monday, July 29, 1968. It reiterated the condemnation of artificial contraception for spouses. Many in the Catholic world had been hoping for a change in the papal teaching based on the newer approaches of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and the call to change the Read more
Artificial contraception and the Catholic church’s ban on it is the subject of a statement challenging the church’s ruling. Ireland’s former president, Mary McAleese, is among more than 100 international Catholic academics who have signed a ‘Scholars’ Statement’ challenging the church’s stance. Prepared by independent think tank the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research, it will Read more
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has revealed that while he agreed with the conclusion Pope Paul VI drew in his encyclical letter (Humanae Vitae) on artificial contraception, he struggled with the reasoning Pope Paul used to arrive at his conclusion. “In the situation I was then in, and in the context of theological thinking in which Read more