A US woman has reacted with hurt and shock after her Catholic physician abruptly stopped prescribing contraception for her, citing religion. Leslie Gauthier posted the letter she received from her “ob-gyn” from Jackson, Mississippi, on Facebook. The Catholic doctor stated:” I am sending you this letter to notify you that as a Catholic physician, I Read more
Sharron Cole, president of Parents Centres New Zealand, says Synod bishops lacked understanding in a host of areas affecting Catholic people’s lives. Cole was a New Zealand observer at the 2015 Synod on Families. She is calling on the church to listen “with deep empathy” to lay people and to “re-examine its teaching on marriage and Read more
Sharron Cole, one of the delegates from New Zealand at the Synod on Families, will raise the issue of contraception in her three-minute speech and a written submission. “It has caused enormous angst [and anxiety], and probably the majority of Catholics, in the western world anyway, ignore the church’s teaching on contraception,” said Cole. “Even Read more
A survey by a UK group committed to the reforms of Vatican II has highlighted issues its authors say are strangling the Church. A survey of 342 people, mostly Catholic, earlier this year by A Call To Action describes a widening gap between Church teaching on sexual and family ethics and the opinion and practice Read more
The relator of the synod on the family says it is possible to find radical ways to address difficult pastoral problems and not infringe Church discipline. The Crux website reported Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo saying the synod is a place for an honest discussion over the difficulties families face. The cardinal said that legal and Read more
Pharmacists have asked health authorities to allow the pill to be bought over the counter without prescription. But GPs are warning the pill is not safe for all women, and that medical oversight is still needed. At present, only the emergency morning-after pill can be bought at a pharmacy without a prescription from the patient’s Read more
Last week, a young friend of mine attempted to defend the truth about marriage among a group of peers at a secular university. She presented a meaningful argument about families, social stability, and gender complementarity. None of her classmates refuted her arguments. Instead, they accused her of being a bigot and a homophobe, called her Read more
The Abortion Supervisory Committee, in its annual report released this week, said there was a “sharp decline” in the number of 15-19 years olds having abortions. The committee said this was an encouraging trend. It partially attributed this decline to greater use of contraceptive implants. However, the committee also said anecdotal evidence suggested many women Read more
Pope Francis has said that families that choose not to have children are making a selfish choice. The Pope said this in his general audience at St Peter’s Square on February 11, during which he continued a series of reflections on the various roles in the family. A society that “views children above all as Read more
Talks aimed at reconciling a leading advocate of Church reform with Rome were scheduled to be held in Dublin last week. Fr Tony Flannery, who had been banned from ministry by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was due to meet senior members of the Redemptorist order to which he belongs. Fr Sean Read more