Recently, an article titled ‘'The Responsible use of Contraception'' (Feb. 13) was posted in the Viewpoint claiming the Church's teaching on contraception should be "reassessed" to fit better with the modern view of contraception. The author of this article states "members of the Notre Dame community can do both the Church and the country a service by engaging in humble and honest self-examination."
In an act of extreme hubris, this author, a faculty member, had the audacity to claim to have knowledge that supersedes 2,000 years of church teaching and to suggest the Church should rethink its teaching based on the whims of a generation. This is precisely the reason why the Church should stick to its guns.
The Church has been around for over 2,000 years and is one of the oldest organizations in the world. Throughout that time, the Church has never been known to waver on its teaching, which is the exact reason it has survived this long. Jesus commissioned the Church to be a lasting beacon, a pillar of truth for the world and you can't be that by bending to the will of society. The Church is not a part of society, it's above it; from the moment Jesus gave the keys of the Church to Peter, he gave the Church the authority to make decisions that have moral implications.
Jesus himself went against many societal values in his day, therefore to think that his Church should be limited by any constraints of a government or a group of people is simply ridiculous. The Church, in the Catechism, states: "(2370) Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality" (158). These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible is intrinsically evil (159)," and I support it fully.
Furthermore, I am proud to be a part of a Church that doesn't bend in response to unfounded criticism but remains the beacon that lights the way to heaven, just as Jesus left it.
Josh Schultz
freshman
St. Edwards Hall
Feb. 14
