Hello again psych50~
What an interesting project you must be working on! :)
I answered a bit of this in your last question, but let's see if I can
delve further.
First, let's tackle birth control. As I stated in an answer to another
of your questions, it isn't that the Catholic Church is opposed to
*all* forms of birth control. It's just that they only condone
"natural" birth control...that is, abstinence (often in the form of
the rhythm or secretion method). However, throughout the history of
the women's movement, feminists have attacked The Church on this
stance. Recently, Madeline Weld stated: "The Vatican, and various
allies...categorize as racism any arguments for limiting population
growth..." ("International Feminist Movement Hijacked by Vatican,"
Things Are Seldom What They Seem,
http://www.population-security.org/24-CH16.html#13 )
According to one website (
http://www.population-security.org/swom-98-02.htm ), the Second
Vatican Council met in the early 1960s to reexamine the Church’s
position on birth control. Pope John XX III had intended to begin that
reexamination, but he died before he could begin the process. His
successor, Pope Paul VI, appointed a Papal Commission on Population
and Birth Control. After two years of study, a 9 to 6 vote was made to
change the Church's stance on birth control. However, the story goes,
Karol Wojtyla (later to become Pope John Paul II) submitted a minority
report to the pope, arguing for maintaining the Church's position on
contraception. It was this argument that impressed the current Pope,
and the Church did not change it's stance on birth control.
Other recent stories tell how The Catholic Church opposed certain
health care facilities and operations because they offered birth
control to women (One example:
http://www.reformation.org/dr_noel_browne.html ).
For a good rundown of the Pope's feelings on birth control, visit:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html
For a papal encyclical by Pope John Paul II about birth control ("Of
Human Life"), see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_humvit.html
Although I can find no direct Papal quotes referring to Margaret
Sanger, it was Archbishop Patrick J. Hayes who had her arrested in
1921, to prevent her from delivering a speech on birth control.
("Political Power of Roman Catholic Bishops," by John M. Swomley,
http://www.population-security.org/swom-92-05.htm ) Because her views
were so opposed to those of Catholics, Sanger clearly saw herself as
an enemy of the Church, and even went so far as to say she'd leave
the U.S. rather than watch a Catholic president (Kennedy) take orders
from the Vatican ( ://www.google.com/search?q=cache:t0kRveg8IJMC:www.nyu.edu/projects/sanger/imaginary.html+%22Margaret+Sanger%22+Vatican&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
)
The Church's opposition to abortion comes from a resolute belief that
all human life, in the image of God Himself, is sacred. As Pope John
Paul II wrote: "The life which God gives man is quite different from
the life of all other living creatures, inasmuch as man...is a
manifestation of God in the world...Man has been given a sublime
dignity, based on the intimate bond which unites him to his Creator:
in man there shines forth a reflection of God himself" ("The Church's
'No' To Abortion," by Fr. Frank Pavon,
http://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/churchsnotoabortion.html ) This
same article points out that "in 'The Gospel of Life' the Pope points
out that we must pay special attention to the abortion tragedy because
it is an attack on the most vulnerable and defenseless persons,
because it is not only allowed but promoted as a 'right,' and because
it occurs within the family, the "sanctuary of life," which should be
the place of greatest love."
The Church believes that life begins at conception. For a good article
on this topic, visit
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/quaestiodeabortu.htm "The
Church's 'No' To Abortion" continues: "Yet some try to say that not
all 'human beings' are 'human persons' with rights. The Pope makes
note of this and asks, 'How could a human individual not be a human
person?' ...abortion challenges God's dominion over the entire process
of human development, and...even when in doubt, the willingness to
kill what is probably human is the willingness to kill what is human."
To read a letter by the Pope specifically addressing Roe vs. Wade, go
to http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/97-12-29roepope.html For
another article about the Pope and Roe vs. Wade, see
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewrec.cfm?RefNum=6760
Although this is slightly off-topic, when doing searches for Roe vs.
Wade and Christianity, I found this article, which you might find
interesting: http://www.family.org/fofmag/sl/a0023858.cfm
For the a papal encyclical on abortion, visit:
http://www.love2learn.net/educreader/encyclicals/johnpaulii/gosplife.htm
In the end, when it comes to the topics of abortion and
contraceptives, the Catholic Church has remained resolute. They have
not wavered in their stance, despite the cries to do so from groups of
women throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
Keywords Used:
feminist Vatican
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=feminist+Vatican&btnG=Google+Search
Vatican oppose "birth control"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Vatican+oppose+%22birth+control%22&btnG=Google+Search
Vatican "Roe vs. Wade"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Vatican+%22Roe+vs.+Wade%22&btnG=Google+Search
"Margaret Sanger" Vatican
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Margaret+Sanger%22+Vatican&btnG=Google+Search
"papal encyclical" birth control
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=&btnG=Google+Search
"papal encyclical" abortion
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22papal+encyclical%22+abortion&btnG=Google+Search |
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