The John-Henry Westen Show - May 14, 2019


Episode 9： Is Pope Francis trying to open the door to contraception？


Episode Stats

Length

14 minutes

Words per Minute

150.66965

Word Count

2,250

Sentence Count

90

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

5


Summary

One of the biggest struggles inside the Catholic Church since the 1960s has been the internal war over contraception. Pope Francis has not only reopened that debate, but also said the opposite on the question. But very few have even taken notice.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome to the John Henry Weston Show.
00:00:13.000 I'm the co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSite News.
00:00:18.000 One of the biggest struggles inside the Catholic Church since the 1960s has been the internal war over contraception.
00:00:26.000 If you know your modern church history, you'll remember that a majority of cardinals and bishops who Pope Paul VI asked to look into the question of contraception came back actually with a report suggesting that the church change her teaching and allow for it.
00:00:41.000 There was a minority report as well written by Cardinal Carol Wojtyla, who of course later became Pope John Paul II.
00:00:48.000 He told Pope Paul VI that the church's teaching could not be changed.
00:00:52.000 And we know what happened. We know the encyclical Humana Vitae came out in 1968 and actually resulted in a revolt in the church.
00:01:00.000 Well, it seems that Pope Francis has not only reopened that debate, that bitter debate, but also said the opposite on the question.
00:01:09.000 But very few have even taken notice. And that is the subject of the John Henry Weston Show today.
00:01:15.000 And I'm your host, John Henry Weston, co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSite News.
00:01:19.000 And let's begin, as we always do, with the sign of the cross.
00:01:22.000 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
00:01:27.000 In a March 2014 interview with Corriera de la Serra, Francis said that the question of birth control must be answered not by, quote, changing the doctrine, but by, quote, making pastoral ministry take into account the situations which it is possible for people to do.
00:01:45.000 Speaking of Paul VI Humana Vitae, Pope Francis said, Paul VI himself, at the end, recommended to confessors much mercy and attention to concrete situations, end quote.
00:01:58.000 During a November 2015 press conference on his return flight from Africa, Pope Francis was asked, and I quote,
00:02:05.000 Is it not time for the Church to change its position on the matter, to allow the use of condoms to prevent more infections?
00:02:14.000 In his response, Pope Francis stated, and I quote,
00:02:17.000 Yes, it is one of the methods, the moral of the Church on this point is found here faced with a perplexity, the fifth or the sixth commandment, defend life, or that sexual relations are open to life, end quote.
00:02:33.000 He continued with these quotes,
00:02:35.000 But this isn't the problem, the problem is bigger.
00:02:38.000 A little later he said,
00:02:40.000 This question makes me think the one they asked Jesus.
00:02:43.000 Tell me teacher, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
00:02:46.000 Is it obligatory to heal?
00:02:48.000 The question, is doing this lawful?
00:02:51.000 A little bit later he added to this response,
00:02:54.000 But malnutrition, development of the person, slave labor, the lack of drinking water, these are the problems.
00:03:01.000 Let's not talk about, can one use the type of patch or that for a small wound.
00:03:08.000 The serious wound is social injustice, environmental injustice.
00:03:12.000 A little later he added,
00:03:13.000 I think the trafficking of arms, when these problems are no longer there,
00:03:17.000 I think then we can ask the question, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
00:03:21.000 Because if the trafficking of arms continues, wars are the biggest cause of mortality.
00:03:28.000 And he said, I would say not to think about whether it's lawful or not to heal on the Sabbath.
00:03:34.000 I would say to humanity, make justice.
00:03:36.000 And when all are cured, when there's no more injustice, then we can talk about the Sabbath.
00:03:42.000 There are more recent examples as well.
00:03:46.000 In April 2018, an Argentinian religious sister, acclaimed for her work against trafficking and exploitation of children,
00:03:54.000 said publicly that Pope Francis told her that responsible parenthood requires contraception in some cases.
00:04:01.000 In an interview with the Argentinian radio program, Cronica Annunciada, Carmelite missionary sister, Martha Poloni, said Pope Francis,
00:04:12.000 quote, told me three words, end quote, about the need for responsible parenthood among the poor rural women,
00:04:19.000 quote, condoms, transitory and reversible.
00:04:22.000 Sister Poloni, who is opposed to abortion, said that the Pope told her various forms of contraception could be permissible to prevent poor women from choosing abortion.
00:04:33.000 She included condoms, a diaphragm, and as a last resort, which is what we advise for rural women that we serve,
00:04:41.000 because I have a foundation for the peasantry, tuba ligation, end quote.
00:04:46.000 And she said again, if there is sex education and state responsibility to care for women in poverty,
00:04:52.000 we do not need to decriminalize abortion, because it will not be necessary to have an abortion, end quote.
00:04:59.000 That was the superior of the Carmelite missionaries.
00:05:02.000 The Vatican neither confirmed nor denied the Pope's comments to Sister Poloni.
00:05:08.000 In fact, LifeSite News contacted Vatican spokesman Greg Burke for comment, but received no response.
00:05:14.000 But the most devastating contradiction of the Church's teaching came in 2016, when on his February return flight from Mexico,
00:05:24.000 the Pope was asked by one reporter whether the Church can, I quote,
00:05:28.000 take into consideration the concept of the lesser of two evils, end quote,
00:05:33.000 and he was talking about when it comes to the question of presenting pregnancy or to avoid transmission of the AIDS virus.
00:05:40.000 Well, the Pope opened his answer by categorically condemning abortion as a solution to the Zika virus,
00:05:47.000 but on the question of avoiding pregnancy, he added, and I quote,
00:05:51.000 We are speaking in terms of the conflict between the fifth and the sixth commandment.
00:05:56.000 The great Paul VI, in the difficult situation in Africa, permitted sisters to use contraception for cases of rape, end quote.
00:06:04.000 He said, and I quote again,
00:06:06.000 Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil, end quote.
00:06:10.000 And he said again, quote,
00:06:12.000 In certain cases, as in this one, such as the one I mentioned of blessed Paul VI, it was clear.
00:06:19.000 Now, the Pope's answer in the apparent parallel he drew between the case of the nun's use of contraception
00:06:26.000 and the case of the use of contraception in cases of Zika virus has widely led to the interpretation
00:06:32.000 that the Pope was approving the use of contraception in some cases.
00:06:36.000 In fact, many of the media went to Vatican spokesman Frederico Lombardi for clarification,
00:06:41.000 and on February 19th, he affirmed, in fact, that the Holy Father was indeed speaking of condoms and contraceptives.
00:06:48.000 And he said couples could rightly, and I quote,
00:06:51.000 Avoid pregnancy, end quote, in the wake of the Zika virus scare.
00:06:55.000 Father Lombardi told Vatican Radio that the contraceptive or condom in particular cases of emergency or gravity
00:07:02.000 could be the object of discernment in serious cases of conscience.
00:07:07.000 This is what the Pope said, end quote.
00:07:10.000 According to Father Lombardi, the Pope spoke of, quote,
00:07:13.000 the possibility of taking recourse to contraception or condoms in cases of emergency or special situations.
00:07:20.000 He is not saying that this is a possibility is accepted without discernment.
00:07:25.000 Indeed, he said clearly that it can be considered in cases of special urgency, end quote.
00:07:31.000 As LifeSite writer Matthew Hoffman pointed out, this appears to be an almost perfect contradiction to Paul VI.
00:07:39.000 In fact, Humanae Vitae seemed to perfectly anticipate the arguments made by Pope Francis.
00:07:45.000 Neither is it valid to argue, as a justification for sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive,
00:07:51.000 that a lesser evil is to be preferred to a greater one, end quote.
00:07:56.000 A little bit later on in Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI said,
00:07:59.000 though it is true that sometimes it is lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good,
00:08:08.000 it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it.
00:08:14.000 In other words, to intend directly something which is of its very nature contradicts the moral order,
00:08:21.000 and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual or family or society in general.
00:08:32.000 Although Paul VI recognized the lesser of evils might be tolerated for the sake of avoiding greater evils,
00:08:40.000 he expressly condemned the notion that one could morally defend an act of contraception which he calls intrinsically wrong,
00:08:49.000 by claiming that a lesser evil is to be preferred to a greater one.
00:08:54.000 This appears to be the precise reasoning of Pope Francis.
00:08:59.000 The Holy Bible itself indicates that God hates contraception.
00:09:04.000 As the encyclical Casti Konubi says, God, and I quote,
00:09:08.000 regards with greatest detestation this horrible crime and at times has punished it with death.
00:09:15.000 As St. Augustine notes, and I quote,
00:09:18.000 intercourse, even with one's legitimate wife, is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented.
00:09:26.000 Onan, the son of Judah, did this and the Lord killed him for it.
00:09:32.000 End quote.
00:09:33.000 The rejection of God's command to be fruitful and multiply,
00:09:36.000 the very first command given in the Scriptures to mankind in Genesis 1.28,
00:09:41.000 In our current day, this can be seen as the heart of the attack on marriage and the family.
00:09:47.000 The late Cardinal Kefara revealed at our Rome Life Forum a couple of years ago now
00:09:53.000 that this attack is actually the fulfillment of the prophecy of Our Lady of Fatima about the,
00:10:00.000 and I quote, final battle between our Lord and the reign of Satan.
00:10:03.000 Humanae Vitae warned of many of the consequences of the acceptance of contraception,
00:10:09.000 in ways which make it look like a prophetic document today.
00:10:12.000 The encyclical warned of four resulting trends,
00:10:16.000 a general lowering of moral standards throughout society,
00:10:20.000 a rise in infidelity,
00:10:22.000 a lessening of respect for women by men,
00:10:25.000 and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments.
00:10:30.000 Of course, these things have all happened.
00:10:32.000 A general lowering of moral standards is painfully obvious today.
00:10:36.000 Paul VI warned, and I quote,
00:10:38.000 Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods
00:10:46.000 may forget the reverence due to a woman,
00:10:49.000 and disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium,
00:10:52.000 reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, end quote.
00:10:57.000 Compare that to when the Anglican Church at the Lambeth Conference in 1930 gave a very tentative, shy kind of approval to contraception.
00:11:09.000 When the Anglicans first approved contraception in 1930 at the Lambeth Conference,
00:11:14.000 it was done with words and sentiments actually very similar to the justifications for second marriage without annulment provided in Amoris Laetitia.
00:11:23.000 At the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican leadership didn't just plainly say contraception is now permitted.
00:11:30.000 They actually pointed to hard cases and employed many heart-rending justifications
00:11:35.000 to get what was the first breach against openness to life in the Christian world.
00:11:40.000 And I quote from it,
00:11:42.000 Where there is clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood,
00:11:48.000 the method must be decided on Christian principles, said the Lambeth statement.
00:11:55.000 It continued this way, and I quote,
00:11:57.000 The primary and obvious method is complete abstinence from intercourse as far as may be necessary,
00:12:04.000 in a life of discipline and self-control lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.
00:12:10.000 Nevertheless, in those cases where there is such clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood,
00:12:17.000 and where there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence,
00:12:22.000 the Conference agrees that other methods may be used provided that this is done in the light of the same Christian principles.
00:12:32.000 The Conference records its strong condemnation of the use of any methods of conception and control
00:12:39.000 from motives of selfishness, luxury, or mere convenience. End quote.
00:12:45.000 Wow, doesn't that sound familiar for all those who have read Amoris Laetitia?
00:12:49.000 But nonetheless, despite all of the Christian-sounding justifications presented at the Lambeth Conference,
00:12:56.000 the Catholic Church at the time pronounced its judgment on the Anglican decision in Pope Pius XI's encyclical Casti Canubi.
00:13:07.000 Pope Pius XI lambasted the Lambeth Conference approval of contraception.
00:13:13.000 Even though he didn't name the Anglicans, he made it eminently clear to whom he was referring.
00:13:19.000 In paragraph 56 of Casti Canubi, the Pope described the Lambeth decision as, and I quote,
00:13:25.000 openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian tradition for, and I quote again,
00:13:32.000 another doctrine which constitutes moral ruin.
00:13:36.000 Now, the decision, he said, the Pope said, defiled the chastity of marriage with a, quote again, foul stain.
00:13:44.000 Pope Pius' conclusion on the point bears repeating for all of us to hear,
00:13:50.000 and even more urgently today than it was necessary in his time.
00:13:55.000 He said, and I quote, this is in Casti Canubi again,
00:13:59.000 any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offence against the law of God and of nature,
00:14:12.000 and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of grave sin, end quote.
00:14:20.000 Remember, at LifeSiteNews, we're about caritas in veritate, the love and truth.
00:14:25.000 Do you love Pope Francis enough to pray and fast for him to end the confusion that he has caused?
00:14:31.000 Will you write to him and beg him to end this confusion?
00:14:36.000 For his sake, for the sake of the Church, for the sake of your children and grandchildren, it's the charitable thing to do.
00:14:43.000 Remember to sign up to receive notice of each new episode of the John Henry Weston Show at the links below.
00:14:50.000 And by the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, may God bless you and all your family.