For the faithful it (birth control) is a sad and agonizing issue, for there is a cleavage between the official teaching of the Church and the contrary practice in most families. — Former Patriarch Maximos IV Saigh of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church quoted in What Happened at Vatican II, by John W. O’Malley. Recalling that Thursday was Read more
While pondering last week’s sapphire anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) and the continuing controversy over the so-called “birth control encyclical” throughout both Church and society, I came across a striking passage in an essay by Polish Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz, written shortly before his death in 2004. “Increasingly the institution Read more
The day after Stephanie Blessing learned she had been conceived with the assistance of a sperm donor and that the man she knew and loved as her father for 32 years was not her father, she went into shock. She remembers sitting in her rocking chair, staring into space. It was so bad, her husband Read more
The Catholic Church has had little trouble finding its way onto the front pages of Australian newspapers in recent weeks and months, though it’s usually been — not unlike many other Western countries — to report on something related to the sexual abuse of minors. With two state inquiries and a national Royal Commission all Read more
An Invercargill youth worker says children as young as 11 are having sex in Invercargill, which has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in New Zealand. She wanted to get the message out that children in the city were having sex and many parents did not know it was happening. “I want to stimulate Read more
Technology has enabled the proliferation of pornography, making it so pervasive that it has become the main sex educator for many young people. This is a profound problem because it gives a distorted view of sexuality and human relations, predominantly involves violence against women and encourages hazardous practices. It is causing young people confusion and Read more
On a cold winter night in 1994, in the grip of a decades-long addiction to porn and illicit sex, I began my typical ritual of acting out sexually. I sat in a familiar parking lot of a XXX bookstore, unusually troubled by the routine I was about to perform even though I had carried it Read more
I heard about a kid who used to burn palm crosses whenever sex sauntered across his mind. He was a normal adolescent but confused about one of the most powerful drivers in his life. He ‘s not alone in that confusion. Whether you’re a princess, bishop, rubbish collector, nun, teacher, bus conductor, judge, or prime Read more
Marriage really matters. Thank God we are talking about it. As Professor Patrick Parkinson said in these pages last week, marriage is ”by far the most stable, safe and nurturing relationship in which to raise children”. However, fewer people are choosing marriage as a way of relating to someone of the opposite sex and fewer Read more
An obsession with sex and divorce is running rampant through British society, the Bishop of London said on Saturday, urging Britons to use the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations as a chance to reflect and change their ways. Taking stock of the changes in Britain since Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952, Richard Chartres said Read more