26. Counsellors may meet others who, accepting the teaching of the Holy Father, find that because of particular circumstances they are involved in what seems to them a clear conflict of duties, e.g., the reconciling of conjugal love and responsible parenthood with the education of children already born or with the health of the mother. In accord with the accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given directives, they may be safely assure that, whoever honestly chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience.
RELATED POSTING Amoris Laetitia Will Bolster Canadian Bishops’ False And Deadly Appeal To Conscience
Here's a sample of the thinking behind the Winnipeg Statement which was said to be "an honest pastoral attempt" to "maintain unity in the Canadian Church."
Supporters contend that the Canadian Bishops were merely trying to defend those who had not matured sufficiently in their faith, and that they were simply upholding the established doctrine expressed in Dignitatis humanae, the Vatican II Declaration on Religious Freedom. They argue that it was this document which compelled the bishops "to support the need for personal freedom when dealing with the Church's rejection of artificial contraception... [and to insist] that married couples could only form their consciences in an atmosphere free of coercion." [Source]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CANADIAN BISHOPS' STATEMENT ON THE ENCYCLICAL "HUMANAE VITAE''
Plenary Assembly, St. Boniface-Winnipeg
Roman Catholic Bishops of Canada
September 27, 1968
September 27, 1968
1. Pope Paul VI in his recent encyclical "On Human
Life" has spoken on a profound human problem as is clearly evidenced
by the immediate and universal reaction to his message. It is evident that
he has written out of concern and love, and in a spirit of service to all
mankind. Conscious of the current controversy and deep differences of opinion
as to how to harmonize married love and the responsible transmission of
life, we, the Canadian bishops, offer our help to the priests and Catholic
people believing it to be their pastoral duty.
I - Solidarity with
the Pope
2. We are in accord with the teaching of the Holy Father
concerning the dignity of married life, and the necessity of a truly Christian
relationship between conjugal love and responsible parenthood. We share the
pastoral concern which has led him to offer counsel and direction in an area
which, while controverted, could hardly be more important to human happiness.
3. By divine commission clarification of these difficult
problems of morality is required from the teaching authority of the Church (1).
The Canadian Bishops will endeavor to discharge their obligation to the best of
their ability. In this pursuit we are acting consistently with our recent
submissions to the federal government on contraception, divorce and abortion,
nor is there anything in those submissions which does not harmonize with the
encyclical.
II - Solidarity with
the Faithful
4. In the same spirit of solidarity we declare ourselves one
with the People of God in the difficulties they experience in understanding,
making their own, and living this teaching.
5. In accord with the teaching of the Second Vatican
Council, the recent encyclical(2) recognizes the nobility of
conjugal love which is "uniquely expressed and perfected through the
marital act" (3). Many married people experience a truly
agonizing difficulty in reconciling the need to express conjugal love with the
responsible transmission of human life. (4)
6. This difficulty is recognized in deep sympathy and is
shared by bishops and priests as counselors and confessors in their service of
the faithful. We know that we are unable to provide easy answers to this
difficult problem made more acute by the great variety of solutions proposed in
an open society.
7. A clearer understanding of these problems and progress
toward their solution will result from a common effort in dialogue, research
and study on the part of all, laity, priests and bishops, guided by faith and
sustained by grace. To this undertaking the Canadian bishops pledge themselves.
III - Christian
Conscience and Divine Law
8. Of recent years many have entertained doubts about the
validity of arguments proposed to forbid any positive intervention which would
prevent the transmission of human life. As a result there have arisen opinions
and practices contrary to traditional moral theology. Because of this many had
been expecting official confirmation of their views. This helps to explain the
negative reaction the encyclical received in many quarters. Many Catholics face
a grave problem of conscience.
9. Christian theology regarding conscience has its roots in
the teaching of St. Paul (5). This has been echoed in our day by
Vatican II: "Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of man.
There he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in his depths." (6)
"On his part man acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through
the mediation of conscience. In all his activity a man is bound to follow his
conscience faithfully, in order that he may come to God for whom he was
created" (7). The dignity of man consists precisely in his
ability to achieve his fulfillment in God through the exercise of a knowing and
free choice.
10. However this does not exempt a man from the
responsibility of forming his conscience according to truly Christian values
and principles. This implies a spirit of openness to the teaching of the church
which is an essential aspect of the Christian's baptismal vocation. It likewise
implies sound personal motivation free from selfishness and undue external
pressure which are incompatible with the spirit of Christ. Nor will he succeed
in this difficult task without the help of God. Man is prone to sin and evil
and unless he humbly asks and gratefully receives the grace of God this basic
freedom will inevitably lead to abuse.
IV - Teaching Office
of the Church
11. Belief in the Church which is the prolongation of Christ
in the world, belief in the Incarnation, demands a cheerful readiness to hear
that Church to whose first apostles Christ said: "He who hears you hears
me" (8). True freedom of conscience does not consist, then, in
the freedom to do as one likes, but rather to do as a responsible conscience
directs.
12. Vatican Council II applies this concept forcefully.
Christians "Therefore must always be governed according to a conscience
dutifully conformed to the divine law itself and should be submissive
towards the Church's teaching office which authentically interprets that law in
the light of the gospel. That divine law reveals and protects the integral
meaning of conjugal love and impels it towards truly human fulfillment." (9).
13. Today, the Holy Father has spoken on the question of
morally acceptable means to harmonize conjugal love and responsible parenthood.
Christians must examine in all honesty their reaction to what he has said.
14. The Church is competent to hand on the truth contained
in the revealed word of God and to interpret its meaning. But its role is not
limited to this function. In his pilgrimage to salvation, man achieves final
happiness by all his human conduct and his whole moral life. Since the
Church is man's guide in this pilgrimage, she is called upon to exercise her
role as teacher, even in those matters which do not demand the absolute assent
of faith.
15. Of this sort of teaching Vatican II wrote: "This
religious submission of will and of mind must be shown in a special way to the
authentic teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking
ex cathedra. That is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme teaching
service is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely
adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will" (10).
16. It follows that those who have been commissioned by the
Church to teach in her name will recognize their responsibility to refrain from
public opposition to the encyclical; to do otherwise would compound confusion
and be a source of scandal to God's people. However, this must not be
interpreted as a restriction on the legitimate and recognized freedom of
theologians to pursue loyally and conscientiously their research with a view to
greater depth and clarity in the teaching of the Church.
17. It is a fact that a certain number of Catholics,
although admittedly subject to the teaching of the encyclical, find it either
extremely difficult or even impossible to make their own all elements of this
doctrine. In particular, the argumentation and rational foundation of the
encyclical, which are only briefly indicated, have failed in some cases to
win the assent of men of science, or indeed of some men of culture and
education who share in the contemporary empirical and scientific mode of
thought. We must appreciate the difficulty experienced by contemporary man in
understanding and appropriating some of the points of this encyclical, and we
must make every effort to learn from the insights of Catholic scientists and
intellectuals, who are of undoubted loyalty to Christian truth, to the Church
and to the authority of the Holy See. Since they are not denying any point of
divine and Catholic faith nor rejecting the teaching authority of the Church,
these Catholics should not be considered or consider themselves, shut off from
the body of the faithful. But they should remember that their good faith will
be dependent on a sincere self-examination to determine the true motives
and grounds for such suspension of assent and on continued effort to understand
and deepen their knowledge of the teaching of the Church.
18. The difficulties of this situation have been felt by the
priests of the Church, and by many others. We have been requested to
provide guidelines to assist them. This we will endeavor to accomplish in a
subsequent document. We are conscious that continuing dialogue, study and
reflection will be required by all members of the Church in order to meet as
best we can the complexities and exigencies of the problem.
19. We point out that the particular norms which we may
offer will prove of little value unless they are placed in the context of man's
human and Christian vocation and all of the values of Christian marriage. This
formation of conscience and this education in true love will be achieved only
by a well balanced pastoral insistence upon the primary importance of love
which is human, total, faithful and exclusive as well as generously faithful (11).
V - Preliminary
Pastoral Guidance
20. For the moment, in conformity with traditional Christian
morality, we request priests and all who may be called to guide or counsel the
consciences of others to give their attention to the following considerations.
21. The pastoral directives given by Pope Paul VI in the
encyclical are inspired by a positive sacramental approach. The Eucharist is
always the great expression of Christian love and union. Married couples will
always find in this celebration a meeting place with the Lord which will never
fail to strengthen their own mutual love. With regard to the sacrament of
penance the spirit is one of encouragement both for penitents and confessor and
avoids both extremes of laxity and rigorism.
22. The encyclical suggests an attitude towards the
sacrament of penance which is at once less juridical, more pastoral and more
respectful of persons. There is real concern for their growth, however slow at
times, and for the hope of the future.
23. Confession should never be envisaged under the cloud of
agonizing fear or severity. It should be an exercise in confidence and respect
of consciences. Paul VI invited married couples to "....have recourse with
humble perseverance to the mere; of God, which is poured forth in the Sacrament
of Penance' (12). Confession is a meeting between a sincere
conscience and Christ Our Lord who was "indeed intransigent with evil, but
merciful towards individuals" (13)
24. Such is the general atmosphere in which the confessor
and counsellor must work. We complete the concept with a few more particular
applications.
25. In the situation we described earlier in this statement
(par. 17) the confessor or counsellor must show sympathetic understanding
and reverence for the sincere good faith of those who fall in their effort to
accept some point of the encyclical.
26. Counsellors may meet others who, accepting the teaching
of the Holy Father, find that because of particular circumstances they are
involved in what seems to them a clear conflict of duties, e.g., the
reconciling of conjugal love and responsible parenthood with the education of
children already born or with the health of the mother. In accord with the
accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely
but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given
directives, they may be safely assure that, whoever honestly chooses that course
which seems right to him does so in good conscience.
27. Good pastoral practice for other and perhaps more
difficult cases will be developed in continuing communication among bishops,
priests and laity, and in particular in the document we have promised to
prepare. In the meantime we earnestly solicit the help of medical scientists
and biologists in their research into human fertility. While it would be an
illusion to hope for the solution of all human problems through scientific
technology, such research can bring effective help to the alleviation and
solution of problems of conscience in this area.
VI - Invitation to
Social Pastoral Action
28. The whole world is conscious of the growing
preoccupation with the social impact of all men's thoughts, words and actions.
Sexuality in all its aspects is obviously an area of the greatest human and
social impact. The norms and values which govern this so vital human concern
merit the attention and cooperation of all. Our world evolves at a frightening
rate, creating at once a vivid sense of unity and a set of conflicting
forces which could destroy us.
29. This concern will be fruitful only if it leads all of us
to recognize our true human worth in the possession of our inner powers by
which we are distinctively ourselves with the full recognition of our
complementary sexual differences on the physical, the psychological and the
spiritual plane. Only in this manner will we achieve marriages that are truly
unions of love in the service of life.
30. To this end there must be brought into play all the
positive forces of the family, the school, the state, the Church. No one may
stand aloof, nor are there really national boundaries in a matter of such
universal application. With this in mind we call on all members of the Church
to realize on every level from the very youngest to the various
possibilities of adult education.
31. Without wishing to specify in detail we single out for
special mention a few aspects which may have richer possibilities. We place first
the dialogue and cooperation, which have been so encouraging, among all members
of the Church and, through the ecumenical movement with other Churches.
32. We note with deep satisfaction the spread and strength
of so many activities calculated to prepare for marriage or to deepen the
appreciation of married persons of this sublime state. For example, marriage
preparation courses, family apostolates, discussion groups, etc.
33. Educators, too, are to be commended for their growing
attention to the question. Everywhere the problem of sex education and family
life is being studied. And this education is happily being deepened by
scientific research and diffused through the creative use of mass media.
Nothing less than this mobilization of all human forces will suffice to meet
the challenge of divisive and destructive forces which begin deep in the
willful selfishness of man and inhibit the true expression of his love. We
pledge ourselves to the pastoral priority of encouraging and promoting these
programs whenever and wherever possible.
34. We conclude by asking all to pray fervently that the
Holy Spirit will continue to guide his Church through all darkness and
suffering. We, the People of God, cannot escape this hour of crisis but there
is no reason to believe that it will create division and despair. The unity of
the Church does not consist in a bland conformity in all ideas, but rather in a
union of faith and heart, in submission to God's will and a humble but honest
and ongoing search for the truth. That unity of love and faith is founded in
Christ and as long as we are true to Him nothing can separate us. We stand in
union with the Bishop of Rome the successor of Peter, the sign and contributing
cause of our unity with Christ and with one another. But this very union
postulates such a love of the Church that we can do no less than to place all
of our love and all of our intelligence at its service. If this sometimes means
that in our desire to make the Church more intelligible and more beautiful we
must, as pilgrims do, falter in the way or differ as to the way, no one should
conclude that our common faith is lost or our loving purpose blunted. The great
Cardinal Newman once wrote: "Lead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom." We believe that the Kindly Light will lead us to a greater understanding of the
ways of God and the love of man.
FOOTNOTES
(1) On Human Life, n. 4 & 18
(2) On Human Life, n. 8
(3) The Church Today, n. 49
(4) The Church Today, n. 51
(5) Rom. 14:23 and I Cor. 10
(6) The Church Today, n. 16
(7) On Religious Freedom, n. 3; the Church Today, nn. 16, 17
(8) Luke 10:16 (9) Const. on the Church, n. 50
(10) Constitution on the Church, n. 25
(11) On Human Life, n. 9
(12) On Human Life, n. 25
(13) On Human Life, n. 29
(2) On Human Life, n. 8
(3) The Church Today, n. 49
(4) The Church Today, n. 51
(5) Rom. 14:23 and I Cor. 10
(6) The Church Today, n. 16
(7) On Religious Freedom, n. 3; the Church Today, nn. 16, 17
(8) Luke 10:16 (9) Const. on the Church, n. 50
(10) Constitution on the Church, n. 25
(11) On Human Life, n. 9
(12) On Human Life, n. 25
(13) On Human Life, n. 29
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