Confratenity of Catholic Clergy defends Humanae Vitae on its 40th anniversary

Stories relating to Humanae Vitae (explicitly and implicitly, or tangentially) have been increasing lately in anticipation of its 40th anniversary on July 25th. Notably among these is the outrageous decision of "Catholics for Choice" to publish an open letter to Pope Benedict criticizing the church's constant teaching against artificial contraception.

I'm happy to see, therefore, that the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy (who generously invited me to their convocation in Baltimore last week) is jumping into the breach:

The leader of "Catholics" for Choice argued that in some countries where Catholic institutions exercise great power, people "are dying as a result of the ban" on contraceptives. His statement presumably referred to the argument that AIDS is spread by the lack of access to condoms.

However, the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, a group of 600 orthodox Catholic priests and deacons, meeting in Baltimore last week, strongly endorsed the Church's teaching. Referring to the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, in which Pope Paul VI reinforced the traditional teaching, the Confraternity approved a statement asking "all its brother clergy to teach, explain, and defend this timely encyclical."

"While sometimes a difficult teaching to embrace and maintain, it is nevertheless the only means to uphold the natural law and to safeguard the sanctity of the human person, marriage, and the family as well as civilization itself," the Confraternity proclaimed. The group pointed out that in the 40 years since Pope Paul issued the encyclical, the steadily growing public acceptance of contraception has been associated with epidemics of sexual promiscuity, deviancy, venereal disease, divorce, illegitimacy, and other problems including sharp increases in breast cancer and uterine cancer. (CWNews)

LifeNews has more on the story. You can also read more on the Catholic and Christian newswires.

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