In much of what is reported about the Synod, there is obvious bias. Many commentators would like us to believe that what the Church has proclaimed about the sanctity of human life and marriage/family/sexuality is merely for "conservatives," while alternative teaching is for "liberals." A 20th century Catholic convert provides a striking corrective. After an abortion, agnosticism, Bohemianism, cohabitation outside marriage, and Communist sympathies, she embraced Catholicism and the fullness of its social teaching - recognizing the absolute sanctity of human life and marriage/family/sexuality. She also recognized the philosophy of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood as unequivocably opposed to the awesome truth!
- "....it is to the re-creation of the Catholic family, that microcosm of
society and type of the Mystical Body, that we must look now....there is no diocesan provision whatsoever for
the poor who are trying to observe the teachings of the Church against
birth control....We would suggest that as a first, even though inadequate, step toward
realizing out ideals of family life our Catholic lay-people and clergy
show the sincerity of their conviction by raising their voices in loud
agitation for Catholic provision of such care...." (The Family vs Capitalism, January 1936)
[In our own time, don't we also need to raise our "voices in loud agitation for Catholic provision of such care"? Yet among OBGYNs with privileges in Catholic hospitals in the Archdiocese, there is/are
- a paucity of NFP-only physicians! (This blogger has been unable to identify any OBGYN in the directory of the Mercy Health System of Southeast Pa who is also on One More Soul's list of NFP only OBGYNs. St Mary Medical Center's directory includes one OB/GYN who can be found on the NFP-only list, but 27 others cannot be found. Holy Redeemer's physician directory includes one OB/GYN who can be found on the NFP-only list, but 21 others cannot. )
- privileges for IVF specialists! (Holy Redeemer's directory actually includes 6 physicians (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) from Reproductive Medicine Associates of Philadelphia and Abington Reproductive Medicine, where people can choose from a smorgasbord of morally excluded services.)
- privileges for associates of a practictioner reportedly involved with so-called fetal reduction! (St. Mary's directory includes three perinatologists (i.e., 1, 2, and 3) from Abington Perinatal Associates, where one associate is reported to be involved with fetal "reduction" (See # 1, # 2, and # 3.). )
As per Dr. Jeffrey Mirus, "the consistent approval bestowed on all mainstream Catholic organizations, no matter how far they had strayed from a true Catholic identity, has been the single most frustrating obstacle for those who have struggled to renew the Church." Email Archbishop Chaput.
In the defense of "marriage/family/sexuality," many have prematurely left the battle. Local including Professor Robert George of Princeton, Matthew J. Franck of the Witherspoon Institute, Joshua W. Schulz of De Sales, Colleen Sheehan of Villanova, and Daniel Mark of Villanova are among those, who "call on all federal and state officeholders:
To refuse to accept Obergefell as binding precedent for all but the specific plaintiffs in that case.
To recognize the authority of states to define marriage, and the right of federal and state officeholders to act in accordance with those definitions.
To pledge full and mutual legal and political assistance to anyone who refuses to follow Obergefell for constitutionally protected reasons.
To open forthwith a broad and honest conversation on the means by which Americans may constitutionally resist and overturn the judicial usurpations evident in Obergefell."
While the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church certainly speaks of society's duty to defend the "true nature of marriage and the family" (#458) and "to created an environment conducive to the practice of chastity" (#494), we are failing to demand a defense of marriage and the family - even from those elected officials who identify themselves as fellow Catholics!
As per the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "The First Amendment Defense Act (H.R. 2802, S. 1598) would bar the federal government from discriminating against individuals and organizations based upon their religious beliefs or moral convictions that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. The Act provides broad protections against adverse federal actions directed toward individuals and organizations that act on such beliefs." Representative Fitzpatrick is NOT among the 150 co-sponsors of HR2802; NEITHER Senator Casey NOR Senator Toomey are among the 37 co-sponsors of S1598. The USCCB has an "alert" for contacts to Fitzpatrick, Casey, and Toomey, re: the First Amendment Defense Act: http://cqrcengage.com/catholicbishops/app/make-a-call?0&engagementId=113753
As per the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "The State Marriage Defense Act would require....the federal government to honor the state marriage laws where people are actually living when determining whether they are legally married for purposes of federal rights, benefits, and privileges." Representative Fitzpatrick is NOT among the 37 co-sponsors of HR 824; NEITHER Senator Casey NOR Senator Toomey are among the 14 co-sponsors of S 435. The USCCB has an "alert" for contacts to Fitzpatrick, Casey, and Toomey, re: the State Marriage Defense Act: http://cqrcengage.com/catholicbishops/app/make-a-call?2&engagementId=81348
As per the Family Research Council, the so-called "Equality Act" (S 1858 and HR 3185) "would essentially obliterate gender-specific designations in virtually every realm of public life in America and possibly even many private areas.
"The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference explains that "Changing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious beliefs. In other states, this law has closed Catholic adoption agencies and violated religious liberty....HB 1510/SB 974 exposes even more Pennsylvanians to discrimination based solely on their religious beliefs. Simply put, this legislation is intolerant and prejudiced against people of faith. " From Bucks County, Representatives Steve Santarsiero (D), Tina Davis (D) John Galloway (D), Scott Petri (R) Marguerite Quinn (R), and Kathy Watson (R) are among the 84 co-sponsors of HB 1510. While Galloway identifies as Catholic, the others have studied at Catholic schools (i.e., Santarsiero, MEd, Holy Family; Davis, Bachelors, LaSalle; Petri, JD, Villanova; Quinn, BA, St Joseph's, and Watson (studied at Villanova).). Senator Chuck McIlhinney (R), who identifies as Catholic, is among the 26 co-sponsors of SB 974. As per the Pennsylvania Family Council, "Stand for true tolerance: oppose Senate Bill 974 and House Bill 1510."]
- "....Margaret Sanger has sent her agents around, and
there are birth control clinics at every camp.... Here there is room for personal responsibility,
for the 'Christ’s room' in every house and on every ranch that the early
Father’s talked of, instead of leaving everything to the government,
which in spite of all they have done that is good, still think in terms
of corporation farming and birth control clinics for the rural
proletariat...." (Disgraceful Plight Of Migrant Workers On California Farms, May 1940)
[Email Representative Fitzpatrick, Senator Casey, and Senator Toomey, asking for all federal funding of Margaret Sanger's Planned Parenthood to stop. Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for all state funding of Planned Parenthood to stop.]
- "....birth control and abortion are genocide...." (On Pilgrimage - December 1972)
[No where is this clearer than in the realization that many so-called contraceptives can be abortifacients! And since all but a handful of pharmacies - across the country - sell abortifacients and contraceptives....
St. John the Evangelist and St. Martin of Tours should not be advertising ShopRite, especially as Shop Rite even sells the notorious Plan B abortifacient! Our Lady of Angels (Trenton) should not be advertising Vizzoni's or Episcopo's. Our Lady of Sorrows/St.Anthony (Trenton) should not be advertising Episcopo's. St. Ann (Lawrenceville) should not be advertising McGrath's or Penlar. St. Ephrem and St. Charles Borromeo should not be advertising Riccio's. St. Thomas Aquinas should not be advertising Mat's.
Email local parishes with bulletin advertisements for providers of contraceptives and abortifacients.] - "....I have lost my sister, who had always been my closest friend and
confidante....One difference of opinion between my sister and me came
strongly to my mind a few nights ago as I watched, on television, the
story of Margaret Sanger....After Della’s own marriage,
she had three beautiful children, and, as she explained to me 'We are
true believers in planned parenthood, and only had those to whom we
could give five years of college, or even more for research.' When she
went on to exhort me on another occasion, that I should not urge, as a
catholic, Tamar, my daughter, to have so many children, I got up firmly
and walked out of the house...." (On Pilgrimage - May 1980)
[As per the Pa Pro Life Coalition, "Dismemberment Ban Legislation to be Introduced on Tuesday, October 27, 2015. The Pro-Life Caucus in the Pa. General Assembly will be introducing legislation to ban such abortions in Pa. The Pa. Health Department Annual Abortion Report indicated that approximately 2500 such abortions were committed in our state in 2013....contact your state legislators and urge them to support this life-saving legislation" [From Bucks County, our state legislators can be contacted as follows: cstaats@pahousegop.com; tdavis@pahouse.net; gdigirol@pahousegop.com; Ffarry@pahousegop.com; Jgalloway@pahouse.net; boneill@pahousegop.com; spetri@pahousegop.com; mquinn@pahousegop.com; Ssantarsiero@pahouse.net; kwatson@pahousegop.com; sgreenleaf@pasen.gov; cmcilhinney@pasen.gov; bmensch@pasen.gov; rtomlinson@pasen.gov.]]
- "....Sex is a profound force, having to do with life, the forces
of creation which make man god-like. He shares in the power of the
Creator, and, when sex is treated lightly, as a means of pleasure, I can
only consider that woman is used as a plaything, not as a person....the
act of sex in its right order in the love life of the individual has
been used in Old and New Testament as the symbol of the love between God
and Man. Sexual love in its intensity makes all things new and one sees
the other as God sees him...." (On Pilgrimage - September 1963)
[As per the NY Times, "Rampant sexual abuse of children has long been a problem in Afghanistan, particularly among armed commanders who dominate much of the rural landscape and can bully the population. The practice is called bacha bazi, literally 'boy play,' and American soldiers and Marines have been instructed not to intervene — in some cases, not even when their Afghan allies have abused boys on military bases, according to interviews and court records....The policy of instructing soldiers to ignore child sexual abuse by their Afghan allies is coming under new scrutiny, particularly as it emerges that service members like Captain Quinn have faced discipline, even career ruin, for disobeying it....the Army relieved Captain Quinn of his command and pulled him from Afghanistan....the Army is also trying to forcibly retire Sgt. First Class Charles Martland....'The Army contends that Martland and others should have looked the other way (a contention that I believe is nonsense),' Representative Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who hopes to save Sergeant Martland’s career, wrote...to the Pentagon’s inspector general" (U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Allies, 9/21/15). The Family Research Council has an online petition for the Senate and House Armed Services Committees:
"I, the undersigned, urge you to pressure the Pentagon to clear Sgt. Charles Martland's record on the matter concerning his intervention to protect a young Afghan boy from sexual abuse. I also ask that you investigate the policy concerning the ability of U.S. military personnel to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation."]
- "How presumptuous it is to try to treat of such a subject in a short
article, when great books (like Dietrich von Hildebrand's In Defense of
Purity ) have been written on the subject....the marriage act purged of
impurities is the nearest thing to the beatific vision we can know....To
offer the suffering of celibacy, temporary or permanent, to the Lord is
to make use, in the best possible way, of man's greatest joy...." (Chastity, 12/10/66)
[“The 20th century Doctor of the Church"
In 1929, German philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand first published "Marriage," which constituted the "earliest orthodox presentation of the personalistic approach to matrimony which would find its way into Vatican II's Guadium et Spes, Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae and...the writings of Pope John Paul II....Pope Pius XII called von Hildebrand `the 20th century Doctor of the Church.'" [i]
"Marriage" (1929)
As per von Hildebrand, "there is no greater mystery in the natural order of things than the fact that this closest of all unions procreates a human being with an immortal soul (although the soul, in each case, is a direct creation of God), and that this act brings a new being into existence destined to love God and to adore Him, a new being made after His image."[ii] "How terrible to think of man wanting to destroy this unity which God has established so mysteriously, deeming those united in the highest earthly union of love worthy to take part in His creative power."[iii] "He alone can understand the horror of the sin of promiscuity who has grasped the grandeur and sublimity of bodily union as the full realization of conjugal love, and who realizes that besides the primary end of procreation, the primary meaning of bodily union lies in the fulfillment of conjugal love."[iv] "Jesus has invested marriage with a dignity which represents something quite new....He raised it to the rank of a Sacrament. He made of this sacred bond a specific source of grace. He transformed marriage - already sacred in itself - into something sanctifying."[v]
“Man and Woman: Love and the Meaning of Intimacy” (1966)
As per von Hildebrand, "Although we hear that sex is overemphasized today, this is not correct. Rather, we live in a time in which sexuality is no longer understood in its true nature. People today are generally as blind to its true meaning as are persons who completely lack sensuality....Today's blatant sexuality conceals a pathetic sensual emptiness."[vi] "It was said that Christians are to be recognized by the fact that they love one another. I would add: Christians should also be recognized by the fact that they who have received the festival clothes in Baptism shun any superficial, mediocre approach to the great goods of creation, that they understand more profoundly than others `how admirable are they works, O God.'"[vii] "As long as conception and birth are seen exclusively as mere physiological processes, we cannot understand the impact and seriousness of the making of a new human being."[viii] "Every active intervention on the part of the spouses, which eliminates the possibility of conception through the conjugal act, is incompatible with the holy mystery of the superabundant relation in the incredible gift offered by God.... To make use of natural family planning is not to imply the slightest irreverence or rebellion against God's institution and the wonderful link between the love union and procreation."[ix]
Pope Benedict XVI on Von Hildebrand:
"Dietrich von Hildebrand was exceptional in many ways. His extensive writings on Christian philosophy, spiritual theology, and in defense of the Church's teaching, place him among the great thinkers of the twentieth century. His steadfast and determined opposition to totalitarianism, whether in the form of National Socialism or Marxist Leninism, a conviction that would cost him greatly during his life, illustrates the profound clarity of his moral vision and his willingness to suffer for what he knew was true."[x]
An outspoken opponent of Hitler, von Hildebrand was targeted for assassination and hunted all over Europe. Arriving in New York City in 1940, he taught at Jesuit-run Fordham University until 1960. To a great extent, Von Hildebrand’s brilliant vision of marriage went unnoticed, ignored, and contradicted. By contrast, many twentieth century Catholics did not escape the influence of the so-called Sexual Revolution.
[i] Cf.. [ii] Dietrich von Hildebrand, Marriage, Sophia Institute, 1997, p. 26
[iii] Ibid, p. 28
[iv] Ibid, pp. 30, 31
[v] Ibid, p. 53
[vi] Dietrich von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: Love and the Meaning of Intimacy, Sophia Institute, p. 3
[vii] Ibid, p. 45
[viii] Ibid, p. 61
[ix] Ibid, pp. 68, 69[x] In Alice von Hildebrand, The Soul of a Lion, 2000 foreward]
Let us pray that the Synod Fathers truly appreciate the awesome truth that "the marriage act purged of impurities is the nearest thing to the beatific vision we can know....[and] To offer the suffering of celibacy, temporary or permanent, to the Lord is to make use, in the best possible way, of man's greatest joy."
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