Help with clarity…

Do these sound like the comments of a Catholic who has accepted the church’s teaching on NFP and artifical contraception, or not?

What about couples choosing to permanently limit the number of children, as in cases where a woman is advised by her doctor that another pregnancy will cause her serious illness or death. Does the couple have the right to put a human life in jeopardy and leave existing children motherless by risking a pregnancy? Is it risking a pregnancy to stay on NFP for ever? (or until menopause is established, which would include a full year after the last menstrual period, IIRC). That’s a long time for a couple to do without.

NFP is a good technique, but it’s not ideal for all situations. It can take an immense amount of emotional effort and communication to use successfully — with success being defined as both parties happy with the situation. God doesn’t express His love to us on a schedule. If the expression of human love between a man and a woman is just a pale reflection of God’s immense love for us, then perhaps we’re not intended to love each other on a schedule, either.”

“I re-read Humanae Vitae, and I found it so disappointing. I believed every word of it when I first read it — as a virgin before I got married. But now, 20 years down the road, with the experience of marriage and NFP and children and illness and age, I believe it is a deeply flawed document. The ignorance regarding the sexual bond is so deep. Who was advising the Pope? How many married couples did he speak to?

How did the Catholic church get from the healthy sexuality of the Song of Songs to this sterile, joyless view of sex? Do the Gospels speak to the issue at all?

I expect most confessors would take a life-saving (and marriage enhancing)view of this situation. I would advise your sister to use the common sense God gave her.”

“The theology of suffering certainly comes through loud and clear in Humanae Vitae.”

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