Abortion and Contraception
Is it just me, or do the titles "Dorothy Day and Abortion: A New Conversation Surfaces" (James Martin, SJ, America Magazine, 7/1/11) and "Dorothy Day: ‘We are not going into the subject of birth control at all as a matter of fact'" (Brian Terrell, National Catholic Reporter, 9/30/15) suggest (especially the latter) that Servant of God Dorothy Day was less than enthusiastic about the truth proclaimed by the Church with regard to abortion and contraception? As per Terrell,- "I was...listening to Pope Francis’ address to Congress on Sept. 24, when he singled out and praised Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement....It was disconcerting, but no surprise that a theme picked up
immediately by major media outlets was Day’s disapproval of abortion and
birth control....Far from being ardent,
unflinching and staunch, as it is reported these days, her opposition to
abortion and birth control was quiet and personal. Her positions on
these matters were such that, in her own words, one would need to 'read
between the lines' to find"
- Day After Day, November 1933: "....Mrs. A. with her four children and unemployed husband living on $1.50 a week, is trapped by economic circumstances and everyone is so indifferent that it took three or four afternoons of Mike Gunn’s time to see to it that the Home Relief came to the rescue....Three little pigs are crowded into a too-small cage, the case is brought into court, the judge’s findings in the case being that pigs should not be crowded the way subway riders are. And a family of eight children, mother and father, are crowded in three rooms and the consensus of opinion is that they’re lucky to have that and why don’t they practice birth control anyway...."
- The Family vs Capitalism, January 1936: "....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 if we expect later generations in this country to see Catholicism, instead of Marxism, a vital force in the nation, if we hope to maintain 'the freedom of the children of God' against the diabolic forces of fascism. if we wish our posterity to enjoy the peace which is their heritage from Christ instead of the strife of wars and hatreds between nations and classes...in New York..., there is no diocesan provision whatsoever for the poor who are trying to observe the teachings of the Church against birth control and raise families despite their economic circumstances! 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."
- Disgraceful Plight Of Migrant Workers On California Farms, May 1940: "....I must say that my first view of the government camps made me anything but happy....Margaret Sanger has sent her agents around, and there are birth control clinics at every camp....Here there is room indeed for farming communes, for missions modeled on those the Franciscans started in the beginnings of California. As it is, there is nothing so beautiful that man has made in the entire state as the remains of those very missions which non-Catholic as well as Catholic point out with pride. 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."
- On Pilgrimage - July/August 1962: "....I seldom speak at state universities or non-Catholic colleges without the question of overpopulation, birth control, abortion, and euthanasia coming up. The entire question of man’s control over the life of others, over the life forces within man, is one of the most profound importance today...."
- On Pilgrimage - September 1963: "....It is one thing not to judge others, and it is still another thing to expect men and women to live according to right reason, to seek wisdom and live by it....there has been a pamphlet published in England by the Quakers which is said to condone premarriage sexual intercourse 'if the parties are responsible.' My reaction to this is that of a woman who must think in terms of the family, the need of the child to have both mother and father, who believes strongly that the home is the unit of society. 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...."
- Chastity, 12/10/66: "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...."
- On Pilgrimage - December 1972: "....birth control and abortion are genocide...."
- On Pilgrimage - May 1980: "....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....My sister...went to work for Margaret Sanger, whom she revered as a great pioneer. 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...."
Grave Sin and the Reception of Holy Communion
Father Martin (6/22/17) took exception to Bishop Thomas Paprocki's "Decree Regarding Same Sex 'Marriage' and Related Pastoral Issues" (6/12/17), partially quoting #2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and speaking of "unjust discrimination." While NOT Catholic teaching, Father Martin alluded to a tendency in Catholic life to focus on only certain types of sexual sin, give a "free pass" to others, and fail to fully proclaim "Mariage/Family/Sexuality and God's beautiful plan for human happiness." While saying that "Father Martin gets a lot wrong" about his decree, Bishop Paprocki himself subsequently acknowledged that:-
"Father Martin’s tweets do raise an important point with regard to
other situations of grave sin and the reception of Holy Communion. He is
right that the Church’s teaching does not apply only to people in
same-sex marriages....
-
"Those who have sexual relations outside of a valid marriage, whether
they are heterosexual or homosexual, should not receive Holy Communion
unless they repent, go to confession and amend their lives....
-
"Those who have had an abortion or have assisted in performing or
procuring an abortion should not receive Holy Communion unless they
repent, go to confession and amend their lives.
-
"Those politicians and judges who helped to make same-sex marriage
legal and who aid and abet abortion, for example, by voting for taxpayer
funding for abortion, should not receive Holy Communion unless they
repent, go to confession and amend their lives.
-
"Those who use artificial contraception should not receive Holy
Communion unless they repent, go to confession and amend their lives.
-
"Those who miss Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, unless it
would be impossible due to a grave cause such as serious illness,
should not receive Holy Communion unless they repent, go to confession
and amend their lives.
-
"These are just a few examples, but in fact all those who are
conscious of any grave sin should not receive Holy Communion unless they
repent, go to confession and amend their lives" (7/9/17)
Archbishop Chaput has also noted that "Some of the recent attacks on Martin, sparked by his book Building a Bridge, have been inexcusably ugly....The perceived ambiguities in some of Fr. Martin’s views on sexuality have created much of the apprehension and criticism surrounding his book. There’s nothing vindictive in respectfully but firmly challenging those inadequacies. Doing less would violate both justice and charity" (Archbishop Chaput, 9/21/17)
C.......ism
Especially from a great mind like Princeton University Professor Robert George, it would seem far better to have your writings called ignorant than heretical! With amazingly gracious style, Dr. George recently noted:- "For quite some time, Fr. James Martin, SJ, puzzled me, as he puzzles
many Catholics still. He insists that he does not reject any of the
teachings of the Catholic Church, yet when it comes to the question of
marriage and same-sex sexual partnerships, he talks as if he does.... Does Fr. Martin in fact reject the Church’s teachings on sex and marriage? And if so, why does he insist that he “do[es] not reject the teachings of the Church”? It’s a puzzle. But I think it has a solution....it is Fr. Martin's understanding—his
misunderstanding—of what counts as the Church's teaching that solves the
puzzle his own teaching presents" (Prof Robert George of Princeton U, Fr. James Martin on Marriage, Sexual Morality, and the Church’s
Teachings: A Solution to the Puzzle, 10/5/17).
-
"those of us who speak of the evils of clericalism need to be careful not to undermine the dignity and sanctity of the ordained priesthood and obscure its radical, ontological difference from the baptismal priesthood of the faithful.
-
"Clericalism, however, is not an affirmation of these sacred realities but a caricature. It fosters an ecclesiastical caste system in which clerics comprise the dominant elite, with lay people serving as a passive, inert mass....This upstairs-downstairs way of understanding relationships and roles in the Church extends even to the spiritual life: priests are called to be saints, lay people are called to satisfy the legalistic minimum of Christian life and scrape by into purgatory....
-
"this clericalist way of thinking overlooks the reality and relevance of unique personal vocation – the particular, essentially unrepeatable role in the carrying-out of His redemptive plan to which God calls each baptized person....
-
"In 1932, Msgr. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, wrote:
- We must reject the prejudice that ordinary faithful must limit themselves to helping the clergy in ecclesiastical apostolates. There is no reason why the apostolate of lay people should always be a simple participation in the hierarchical apostolate. They have a duty of doing apostolate, not because they receive a canonical mission, but because they are part of the Church. They carry out this mission through their professions or jobs, with their families, their colleagues, and their friends (quoted in John F. Coverdale's Uncommon Faith, Scepter 2002)
-
"the council taught that the call to lay people to participate in the
mission of the Church does not come to them from bishops and priests; it
comes directly from Christ, by reason of baptism and confirmation....
- "lay apostolate was seen to be something belonging to the laity as a
matter of intrinsic right and duty as baptized members of the Church.
And not only that – God's call to sanctity was understood as being
directed to all, lay women and men just as much as bishops, priests, and
religious....
"it's a bit of a shock to realize that Vatican II, while strongly encouraging lay apostolate, had next to nothing to say about 'lay ministries'....
"the lay ministry boom has been propelled by theologians and lay bureaucrats in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and diocesan chancery offices. It has the support of well-meaning bishops and pastors who apparently believe that letting lay people do some things that only clerics previously could do advances the cause of the laity in the Church" (Russell Shaw, 5/6/08).
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