Background: The following entry was posted to the IslandCatholic blog on September 1, 2005.
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When is the last time you heard a homily,
sermon, or statement from a Christian leader that we should be having more
babies? The Pope was only reminding
Catholics of age old unchangeable Catholic teaching. (Catechism of the Catholic
Church #2366-2372)
It’s pretty hard for Christians to preach
that message if they approve of and practice contraception. Yet it’s also true
that the vast majority of Christians (disobedient Catholics are included) in
North America do in fact approve of and practice contraception.
Ever since our predominantly Christian
society in the early 1900’s began to shun the truth, as reiterated this week by
the Pope, and embrace the contraceptive mentality, Christians have set
themselves against God’s will and plan for mankind by disassociating the
‘unitive’ (pleasurable, intimate) aspect from the procreative (making babies)
aspect of the sexual act. Out of this has sprung up the ‘new’ morality leading
to rampant divorce and family breakdown, abortion, and yes, even homosexuality.
Read more here
and here [link unavailable].
Add to those evils the resulting alarming
trends in declining population in Western societies and you’ve got a formula
for societal collapse in the works, now unfolding before our very eyes. See one
of my previous [link unavailable] posts.
I find it very sad and awful that in our
own archdiocese of St. John’s, Newfoundland, a tremendous amount of effort has
been put into the preparation of a document entitled A
Challenge To Change. This report was commissioned due to very serious
problems being faced by the Archdiocese because of shrinking population and
shortage of priests.
A whole host of comments, suggestions and
speculation was offered as to the causes and cures for this crisis, the major
solution advanced being the clustering of parishes. The report clearly
acknowledges that Newfoundland, a province where a high percentage of the
population is Catholic, has the lowest birthrate in Canada. The report
concludes with a summary of the “responses” and “other comments” offered by
parties involved in the process, the very last comment stating in an eerie,
prophetic sense, the following: “At best this is a stop-gag measure. With
one new priest every 3-5 years the end is in sight. We need to be preparing for
a non-clerical church.”
What’s the most surprising, even shocking,
and obvious omission in this report? Nowhere does it even mention that Catholic
failure to follow Church teaching regarding the evil of contraception is an
inevitable cause of low birthrates and dwindling populations. And can there be any doubt that an apathetic
and disobedient community of Catholics (as evidenced by this attitude) fails to
inspire young men to the priesthood?
The Church is dying, and rather than allow
the fresh breath of the Holy Spirit to speak new life by means of the Truth
given to the Church, we prefer to discuss how we should dress the dead body and
make final preparations for the funeral.
Will the bishops and priests of the
Catholic Church repent of their past failures to call the people of God to
authentic Christian and Catholic living and resolve to communicate strongly to
their flock the recent message of Benedict XVI? God help them to do just that.
Good news! Here’s one bishop who is taking
the crisis very seriously.
posted to islandcatholic September 1 2005
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