Could it Be? 90% of US Catholics Support Artificial Contraception. So What?
With so many Catholics using and supporting contraception, should the Church sympathize with their plight?
A 2005 poll by Harris Interactive claims that 90% of Catholics supported the use of birth control and contraceptives. Newer polls reveal similar numbers and trends. Publicly dissenting Catholics claim they are also "good Catholics," that the Church has forced the "no contraception" issue down good Catholics' throats since the sixties, and that Catholic voices in support of contraception must be heard in the debate. What is the truth?
Contra- Ception.... against conception? What else needs to be said?
PrintCatholics for a Free Choice claimed in 1998 that 96% of U.S. Catholic women had used contraceptives at some point in their lives and that 72% of Catholics believed one could be a good Catholic without obeying the Church's teaching on birth control.
More recently, a nationwide poll of 2,242 U.S. adults surveyed online in September 2005 by Harris Interactive, revealed that 90% of Catholics supported the use of birth control and contraceptives.Publicly dissenting Catholics accuse American Bishops and the Pope, who they say "are not the Church," of forcing the issue down good Catholics' throats:
"Having failed to convince Catholics not to use contraception, the bishops now work to keep it out of reach by barring contraceptives at Catholic medical facilities, blocking legislation that would require health insurance coverage for contraceptives and lobbying in the United Nations and U.S. Congress to cut family planning aid for developing countries. Catholic voices must be heard in this debate."
Signs of the Times
Catholic voices have been heard on this type of issue from the beginning of the Church. This dissent in word and deed is, plain and simple, the sin of Satan. No one can be a "good Catholic" and refuse to obey the Church in such matters concerning faith and morals. Jesus said, "He who hears you hears me." "The Church is the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Tim. 3:15).
"The [contraception] issue is far from resolved," they say. Fortunately, this statement is completely false; the only place it is unresolved is in those outside the Church, those with a rebellious will.
Not an invention of an out-of-step hierarchy resolved to force the faithful into "miserable litters" of children - condemnation of abortion and unnatural illicit methods of birth control, as in contraception, is one of the earliest doctrines to be specifically articulated by the Church. It was defended in far more stringent ways than our faithful Bishops defend it now - and that rebellious Catholics decry or ignore.
Straight From the Written Word
Galatians 5:20, Revelation 21:8, and 22:15 all condemn the practice of what is translated "sorcery." Lest we disregard "sorcery" as something we might never engage in, let us remember that the original Greek word is the same as that from which we get the words "medication" and "pharmaceuticals." The New Latin Dictionary translates these references "poisoners" or "poisonous." The gist of the words, however, is in their application.
Not a blanket condemnation of all drugs, the Didache (dated by most patrologists from the first century and probably the oldest written disciplinary document the Church possesses outside the Scriptures) applies "sorcery" to contraception and abortion (2:2), condemning both practices as excommunicable offenses.
Additionally, in obedience to the interpretations they learned from the Apostles, the Fathers and Doctors unanimously applied these Scriptural references to "sorcery," to what is contraceptive and/or abortifacient so that it is a teaching of the Deposit of Faith (see Clement of Alexandria, Justin Martyr, Origen, Ambrose, Jerome, Chrysostom, Augustine, to name a few) and cannot, therefore, be reversed except by act of apostasy:
"The Holy Fathers, 'to whom after the Apostles, the Church owes its growth' - the Holy Fathers we say, are of supreme authority whenever they all interpret in one and the same manner any text of the Bible, as pertaining to the doctrine of faith and morals; for their unanimity clearly evinces that such interpretation has come down from the Apostles as a matter of Catholic Faith" (Providentissimus Deus, Pope Leo XIII).
An Answer to the World
It is a widely documented historical fact that during the infancy of the Church, the pagan world surrounding Christian communities commonly practiced many methods of birth control, ranging from contraceptive and abortifacient drugs, to spells and incantations. It was common Roman practice to use drugs to prevent conception, and if that failed, to use drugs to induce abortion.
Because at the time of the Apostolic Church Christians were infected by common feelings and beliefs on reproductive issues, the first century ...
Rate This Article
1 - 10 of 84 Comments
Leave a Comment
More U.S. News
- Gay youths to be allowed to join Boy Scouts: Controversy rages
- Bridge that collapsed in Washington State was structurally unsound
- 12,000 homes damaged or destroyed in Moore, daunting road to recovery underway
- Eric Garcetti becomes Los Angeles' first Jewish mayor
- Violent Tsarnev friend killed by FBI after blaming Tamerlan for unsolved murders
- Homeless man whose face was eaten away in cannibal attack recovering
- Priests for Life: Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Most Significant Legislative Step Forward
- In the Wake of the Moore Tornado: What Can we Learn from the Disaster?
- US Supreme Court Accepts Religion Case: Will Legislative Prayer Survive Religious Censorship?
Featured News
- Fr. Paul Schenck: Finding Living Faith on Catechetical Sunday
- The Movie Yellow: Incest as 'Normal' and Cassavates's Slides Into the World of Woes
- The Chicago School Teachers Strike Reveals the Need For School Choice
- The Sexual Barbarians and the Dissolution of Culture
- The Happy Priest Challenges Us to Ask: Who is Jesus to Me?
- Michael Coren on Canadian Public Schools: Teachers, leave those kids alone
- We Cannot Ignore Our Consciences: Cardinal Dolan On Religious Liberty
- In the Face of Danger, Successor of Peter Travels to Lebanon as a Messenger of Peace
- Reflections on the Dignity and Vocation of Women: Who or What?
Most Popular
Pope Francis says atheists can do good and go to heaven too! Read More
California teenager invents device that can charge cell phone in 20 seconds - flat Read More
Receiving the Eucharist: I Have Decided to Kneel For Jesus Read More
Culture of Corruption: Why Obama's misuse of Marines is wrong Read More
British soldier hacked to death in brazen attack by Islamic terrorists, stopped by prayerful, courageous women Read More
Daily Readings
Reading 1, Sirach 17:1-15
The Lord fashioned human beings from the earth, to consign them ... Read More
Psalm, Psalms 103:13-14, 15-16, 17-18
As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats ... Read More
Gospel, Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch ... Read More
Saint of the Day
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
May 25: It would be easy to concentrate on the mystical experiences God ... Read More
Latest Videos
Commento al Vangelo del 26 Maggio 2013 a cura di don Domenico Luciani View Video
May 25 - Homily: Ask Mary To Send Her Spouse View Video
May 25 - Homily: Our Lady of Consolation View Video
Reign of Love - 2 Pillars #36 View Video
Rottweiler Puppies in a Easter Basket View Video
Marketplace
Intercession: Moving Mountains by Living Eucharistically Read More
Extensive Collection of Sympathy Gifts starting at $7.95 Read More
Let us pray that our church is restored to its former self in regard to the Magisterium. May our people educate themselves or be educated in the faith.
Let us pray for each other and build up our church as it says in the bible. I love our churches but the church isnt just a building for when our Lord comes. It is all of us. We are church with Peter in Rome.
So if your Catholic out there I invite you to be in the world but not of it.
Trust in God He loves you more than you know.
Renee, thanks for an honest post because there are a big number of Catholics who think and believe like you. The sad and tragic fact is that there are many Bishops and Clergy who covertly think and believe like you. This is precisely why we have so many Abortion, Euthanasia, Gay Marriage, and Divorce Catholics like you. As I encourage you to take JeanCatherine's advice, I also pray that the Bishops and Clergy repent and convert to the Catholic Church. I also pray that God kicks them out of the church and replace them with Holy men and women who will stand up and OVERTLY defend the Holy Sacraments, Our Holy Father the Pope, Our Catholic Traditions, Our Canon Laws, and Our Magisterium.
Renee, your description of a "Catholic" is baffling.... To be "Catholic" means to believe in God, and all that we say in the Creed that we profess every Sunday in the Mass. To "believe" in "the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church," means to adhere to the magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church--that is the teaching of the Pope and the Bishops united with him. This "teaching" is based on the Old and New Testament and the authority Jesus gave to Peter (Mt 16:18ff) and to his successors: to go out and teach all nations (Mt 28:19)....Lest we misunderstand, Jesus made what he "meant" quite clear when He promised to be with them "until the end of time." (The only way "that" could be is that Jesus would be with the successors of Peter and the apostles until the end of time.) This is what "Catholics" believe--on the word of Jesus Himself.... A person is free, indeed, to pick and choose whatever they want to believe... But if it is contrary to what the Catholic Church teaches in matters of faith and morals (as is contraception, for example), one is not living in accord with the will of God explicitly expressed when Jesus gave the authority to teach--in matters of faith and morals.... We who profess to be "Catholic" fool only ourselves when we hold to something different from what the magisterium (the Pope and the Bishops united with him) of the Catholic Church teaches. Let us pray for one another to accept God's Holy Will that we may not be deceived, for "God is not mocked...." (Cf: Gal 6:7ff) "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!...." (Cf: Heb 10:26ff) The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2360 to 2379) explains fecundity and contraception quite clearly. The "teaching" is consistent from biblical times all through the centuries....
Renee
If you get a chance you and your husband read the Catechism of the Catholic church and encyclicals by the Popes regarding marriage and children if possible.
Also if you get a chance go over to Paul VI Institute and check it out.
Also check out Natural Family Planning as well and what they teach and also the Population Research Institute.
You also might want to check out Priests for Life as well.
Also check out The Catholic View for Women for yourself. If you dont agree with this then I have done all I can to help you in our church.
God Bless and may you find peace in the Lord.
Amen. Thank you, Sonja and Catholic Online, for confronting this grave issue! Indeed, thanks and praise be to God for giving you the courage to uphold not what is popular or convenient (even among us, nominal Catholics) but what God has revealed to us through the teaching of the Church!
Lord, have mercy on us for failing to see, acknowledge, or comply with, the implications of Your teaching -- inconvenient as they may seem -- on our lives as well as for failing to recognize that You are the divine founder and eternal leader of the Church. It is our lack of humility that prevents us from conforming to the divine teaching of the Church when contrary to our blurred vision...
All this really means is that there's about 90% of people in america who are Catholic in name only. You can claim all you want that you're a "good person", but not by God's standard, since you openly reject God's standard.
So... what's the issue? There's merely 90% of people who aren't Catholic who are claiming they are.
I am a young married catholic to a catholic man. I guess I would be considered a cafeteria catholic. Not only do we use contraception, but I do not know one singe person in my catholic community who has not used it. My husband and I are not sure if we want children, and I believe that in today's overpopulated world that it is purely our choice.
I also work for the pharma industry in women's health and support birth control and other methods/procedures 100%. I also support gay rights with all my heart. I am also a huge volunteer at my church and involved with many organizations in my church. I live my life as a good christian, but I will make my own decisions and continue to live as a decent person.
My husband and I struggle with leaving the catholic church for these reasons, but we believe that our generation are quickly leaving this religion and we are trying to give it a chance.
I decided long ago that in line with church teaching, I will not use contraceptives and I am grateful that my fiance feels the same way. i had feared that he would not agree with the churh on the point. I wonder what a good catholic woman shoud do when one's husband disagrees with the church on this point (like many 'good' catholics I have seen appear to do). i think that -in line with St Paul's teaching that a husband/wife's body belongs to the other and that married people should abstain from sexual relationship with the consent of each other- one may have no choice where (especially for the wife) where one's spouse disagrees with the church on this point.
MarcAntoine-
The marital act is both unitive and pro-creative. You are approaching it from a pro-creative aspect only when you pose your hypothetical situations. I think that you are fully aware that the Church accepts marriages of elderly couples as well as ones in which one or the other is sterile. God being God can see the future so "be fruitful and multiply" is just as much of a legitimate directive from God now as it was then. The Church also teaches that the couple may postpone a pregnancy or avoid one if there is a serious reason. This includes real legitimate hardship. But it is NFP and not artificial contraception that is to be used. But God always blesses the family that is open to life so if it does occur at what may be a difficult time then the couple who trusts in the Lord will make it through.
I think that the Catholic Church and especially the Parish Priests and their assistants should come out straight and speak about NFP to the faces of Faithfulls. I only knew that the church objects the use of artificial family planning methods from a message extracted from the Pope's Sermon. I personally have never heard any Priest whom i know talking about this issue.