How the Catholic Church Dropped the Ball
July 18th, 2008 | by Matthew Smith |The religion report this week celebrated 40 years since Pope Paul VI published Humanae Vitae in which he famously banned the pill. The show aired a number of interviews with various experts and commentators including Stephen Crittenden’s (the host) Mum.
My summary of the story is that the Pope felt the need to make a statement on the pill following the Anglican Church’s tentative acceptance of it in the 30s which had originally sparked a knee jerk “no no no” reaction from the Catholic Church. The Pope arranged an uncharacteristically democratic panel which included (gasp) women to advise him. The group had reached a consensus that the rhythm method of contraception may as well just be called parenthood and that matters of contraception should be left to the individuals conscience but in a bizarre back-flip, the Pope under pressure from conservative forces within the church published his encyclical without even letting the reference group know what was in it.
The result was devastating for a church that was already losing touch with society and came as a heartbreaking blow for those who had received so much hope from the outcomes of Vatican II only a few years earlier.
The outcome for the Pope was that the office lost its credibility as a moral guide. You could argue that the church had been losing relevance since the reformation / enlightenment but it wasn’t until the sixties that lack of faith was replaced with open hostility to the church and its presumed moral authority.
It’s interesting to see the forces of conservatism and liberalism at work in this institution. During the reformation, there was a counter reformation which expressed itself in the council of Trent, with Vatican II perhaps we will see a kind of counter Vatican II as well and maybe it started as early as 1968.
3 Responses to “How the Catholic Church Dropped the Ball”
By Mhari on Jul 19, 2008 | Reply
“The outcome for the Pope was that the office lost its credibility as a moral guide.”
Or else the outcome was that the Catholic Church is the only Christian group that has maintained credibility in this area. I am one of the thousands of young Catholics who understand the beauty and truth of this teaching, and are celebrating with the Holy Father in Sydney right now.
The teaching of the Church on this matter is not countering the second Vatican Council, which was never a schism from the Church in the same way as the reformation was. There is nothing in the Council which should have led people to believe that the Church would (or could) drop Her moral values, and begin to determine truth by a majority vote.
God bless you.
By Matthew Smith on Jul 19, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for your comment Mhari, I realise this post is a bit inflammatory and that I didn’t write anything about the growing movement of supporters of the teaching as prophetic. I suppose you could still say that the teaching was a great shock to many (not that I was there mind you) and perhaps the Pope could have seen that it would upset people. On the other hand, is the aim of the Catholic Church just to fill pews?
I’ve also become aware of a growing secular movement embracing “natural” contraception (i.e. the rhythm method) as part of an environmental / organic lifestyle so perhaps this teaching will become less controversial with time.
Personally I believe that the Pope and Church Doctrine should not be absolute laws of morality but should provide spiritual insight and commentary in order to help Christians decide according to their conscience. I.e. I believe morality is situational, not absolute.
By Matthew Smith on Jul 19, 2008 | Reply
Another thought: I think the reason why this might be seen as going against the spirit of Vatican II was that Vatican II seemed to emphasise the immanent God who is among the people where as Humanae Vitae seemed to hearken back to the externalised God who passes down the orders from above.