Contraception and abortion: The Nineveh Solution.

Fr. John Hardon, S.J., the well-known theologian in the United States, in a talk just before his recent death, said that the greatest evil in the Church today is contraception and its effect, the general dissent in the Church. The contraceptive mentality is a selfish attitude toward sexuality and married life, and ultimately toward many other things. Monsignor Foy points out its danger to the salvation of Catholics.

Editor

"From man in regard to his fellow-man I will demand an accounting for human life" (God to Noah, Genesis 9:5).

Though his thinking in general is deeply warped, the philosopher Hegel in his Philosophy of History is not far from the truth when he says that human history is one vast slaughterhouse. Despite repeated warnings in God's revelation encapsulated in the command "Thou shalt not kill," the Culture of Death now permeates society as never before. We are not surprised to hear warning after warning from our Holy Father about this transcendent evil. On Feb. 14, 2001, he said:

"The promotion of the culture of life should be the highest priority in our societies ... If the right to life is not defended decisively as a condition for all other rights of the person, all other references to human rights remain deceitful and illusory."

The two principal causes of the Culture of Death are abortion and contraception. Abortion means death to the unborn. Contraception has been described as "creeping death." It is of paramount importance to assess the relationship between these two killers of society and souls to formulate plans and strategies to promote the Culture of Life.

The evaluation of the comparative roles of abortion and contraception in attacking human life is not as simple as might be thought. They are often intertwined in their intent. Abortifacients are often called contraceptives. At first murder seems a more heinous crime than the prevention of life, but there are hidden factors. Despite difficulties, some comparisons can be made which indicate how the whole pro-life movement should move. We consider some of these comparisons.

Abortion as sin

Abortion is a grave or mortal sin against the Fifth Commandment of God: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20. 13). "God alone is the Lord of life from the beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstances claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being" (Donum vitae, 1986, Introduction, n.5). The person murdered through abortion has precisely the same right to life as the abortionist, or the one who cooperates in the abortion, or the politician who legislates the "right" to kill. To speak of one's right over one's body as justification for abortion is sophistry. There is not one body, but two, not one person, but two, with an equal right to life. So the church calls abortion an "unspeakable crime" (Gaudium et spes, n.5 1). Since it is a mortal sin, it carries with it, unless there is repentance, the frightful sanction of eternal death.

Abortion kills the body of the victim and the soul of the killer, but not the soul of the victim. That soul will live forever in God's love, with that degree of happiness which God's love and mercy bestows.

The crime of abortion is nearly always a chain sin. A cluster of persons share the guilt: abortionist, assistants, office staff, hospital management, advertisers, and responsible politicians--and those who remained passive when they should have spoken or acted or prayed.

Contraception as sin

Contraception is also a grave or mortal sin with the sanction of spiritual death. In this the Church's teaching--speaking with Christ's authority--is constant. Pope Pius XI, in the encyclical Casti connnubii of Dec. 31, 1930, declared: "Our mouth proclaims anew: any use 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, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of grave sin."

Numerous papal and episcopal statements underline the gravity of the sin of the contraceptive act. Here I quote only a few episcopal statements from the last century, before some bishops turned away from listening to the voice of Christ to the voice of dissenters:

(a) Contraception is "a vice against nature and a sin crying to Heaven" (Belgian bishops, June 2, 1999).

(b) Contraception is a "serious sin, a very serious sin, with whatever means and whatever way it occurs (German bishops, Aug. 20, 1913).

(c) "The theories and practices which teach or encourage the restriction of birth are as disastrous as they are criminal" (French bishops, May 17, 1919).

(d) "The selfishness which leads to race suicide with or without the pretext of bettering the species is, in God's sight, a detestable thing. It is a crime for which, eventually, the nation must suffer" (Cardinal Gibbons on behalf of the U.S. hierarchy, Sept. 20, 1919).

(e) Contraception "whether within the married state or outside it, is an unnatural vice, sinning against the nature which the Creator bestowed upon us, and therefore grievously displeasing in His sight" (Cardinal Bourne of Westminster, Oct.9, 1930).

(f) "Contraceptive methods were, are, and always will be a sin...; it was reserved to our generation to glorify vice with the name of virtue" (Bishops of India, 1957).

In sum, the Church has never deviated from the teaching that contraception is a grave violation of God's Fifth Commandment.

The sanction for abortion

Excommunication is the ecclesiastical sanction imposed by the Church on abortionists: "A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a Latae sententiae excommunication" (canon 1398, Code of Canon Law). This means that the excommunication is automatic. In the case of latae sententiae excommunications, those also come under the penalty if the crime would not have been committed without them (cf. canon 1319). So abortionists, those taking part in the abortion, and counsellors of the abortion, are also excommunicated.

It is within the authority of the Church to impose the penalty of excommunication on those who are cooperators in abortion in a more remote way; e.g., legislators who introduce, promote, or vote for pro-abortion laws. There is a rising chorus of voices calling for the excommunication of politicians who promote abortion and, therefore, have the blood of innocent children on their hands. Such Catholic politicians are a scandal and disgrace. In Canada we have Jean Chretien and Joe Clark and Allan Rock. The U.S. has Senator Edward Kennedy and former Governor Cuomo. (On this subject see "Should Rock be Excommunicated?" by Fr. Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., Catholic Insight, March 2001.)

The sanction for contraception

In the matter of contraception, even "abortifacient contraception", although there is no specific ecclesiastical penalty, there remains the supreme penalty of the loss of God's grace.

In some places and times there have been particular ecclesiastical penalties for contraception. In Spain in 1936, absolution from the sin of contraception was reserved to the bishop in eight dioceses (cf. Catholic Priests' Association Newsletter, Vol. III and IV, 1972, p.60).

That there is an excommunication attached to abortion and not to contraception does not mean that the former is a greater crime. It means that the good order of the Church as a visible society is more obviously disturbed.

The number of abortions

Who can compute the number of abortions? God alone knows that tragic statistic. One report says that in 1995 there were approximately twenty-six million legal and twenty million illegal abortions performed worldwide (cf. Heritage House '76: Abortion Facts.com). The same source reports that in the U.S. there were 580,760 abortions in 1972 and 1,210,883 in 1995. In Statistics Canada, we read that Canadian women obtained 114,848 abortions in 1997, a 2.9% increase from 111,649 a year earlier. The national abortion rate for every one hundred live births in 1997 was thirty-three. Even worse are the Quebec numbers. We read in the Toronto Globe and Mail of March 13, 2000: "Over the past two decades the number of abortions in Quebec has more than doubled, giving the Canadian province one of the world's highest abortion rates outside of Eastern Europe. The Quebec Bureau of Statistics reported that forty-one abortions were performed for every one hundred live births in 1998."

Reported statistics are only a portion of aborted persons. One must add the lives terminated by abortifacient contraceptives. "Throughout the world, an estimated 250 million abortions are caused by the IUD and pill each year" (Faith and Facts, Emmaus Road Publishing, 1999, p.114). Is it an exaggeration to describe the world as a slaughterhouse?

The number of contraceptive acts

As large as are the numbers of those murdered by abortion, much more numerous are those deprived of human life and spiritual growth by contraception. One must number in these tragic statistics those millions of babies who should have been and are not because of tubal ligations and vasectomies. Adding to the disgrace of this pandemic deprivation of human souls is that, in general, the contraceptive rate among Catholics in Europe and North America is not lower than that of the general population.

The effects of abortion

The primary effect of abortion is the brutal termination of a human life at the time of its greatest potentiality. It is indescribably callous. When a baby is born there is rejoicing. Even the death of one baby brings great sorrow. The headline in the Toronto Star for Feb. 18, 2001, was: "Why did my baby have to die?" Even the stillborn child is the subject of mourning. Yet the aborted child is a pariah: its tiny broken body cast away in a garbage bag shroud or incinerated. We are reminded of the words of St. Augustine in his Confessions, that, in this life, "The more they deserve tears, the less likely will men sorrow for them."

There is a worse death occasioned by abortion: the spiritual death of the participants. All those who participate in the abortion, and that includes those who legalize abortion, suffer this death. The aborted child will live forever in God's love; the abortionists become spiritual corpses.

Abortion kills countries. In Canada, the fertility rate has been below the replacement rate since the mid-seventies. As Fr. Paul Marx wrote in a letter (2000), the whole of Europe is dying except Albania. The average family size in Europe is 1.4 children. Even Ireland is down to 1.9 children per family (Editor: the minimum replacement rate is 2.1.)

Abortion places an especially heavy burden on the conscience of the aborting mother. She knows in her heart that she has murdered her own child. "Could a mother ever forget her own infant, and not take compassion on the child of her womb?" (Isaiah 49:15). It is true of course, that through repentance and God's mercy, there can be complete forgiveness and even a blossoming into a dedication to the pro-life cause. Abortion leaves great gaps in the family, in the Church, and in society. There are missing brothers and sisters, sons and daughters; gaps in productive citizens, gaps in vocations to the priesthood and religious life and the professions. There are great gaps in those who ought to be listening to the Call to Holiness. Abortion leads to euthanasia. Laws permitting euthanasia would not have been possible had they not been preceded by laws allowing abortion.

These and other evils are the effects of abortion

The effects of contraception

The primary effect of contraception is the gross deformity of the marriage act--the act designed by God to people earth and heaven. Contraception transforms the marriage act from an act of love into an act of hate, e, from self-giving to mutual abuse. Although some forms of contraception do not kill, they prevent life and so demonstrate a willingness to put self-gratification before life. Abortion is a single crime. Contraception is usually a habit which tends to harden the heart with the passage of time. Although the conscience may not suffer the trauma that normally accompanies abortion, contraceptive practice more likely sedates the conscience, with all the deadly consequences of the sinful state, including the loss of faith. Contraception leaves all the great gaps listed under abortion, but multiplies them as the attack on life is multiplied.

The encyclical Humanae vitae, under the heading of "Grave consequences of methods of artificial birth control," lists the most notable effects of contraception: "the wide and easy road opened to conjugal infidelity and general lowering of morality"; the lowering of respect for the woman who becomes an "instrument of selfish enjoyment" and no longer a respected and beloved companion; the dangerous weapon placed in the hands of evil authorities (cf.n. 17).

Following in the wake of contraceptive practice is the acceptance of that other sterile deformity of sex called homosexuality. Christians long recognized the relationship between the two. It is interesting to note that Martin Luther saw this in his condemnation of contraception. He said, "This is a most disgraceful sin. t is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes, a Sodomistic sin" (Faith Facts, p. 13). A contracepting society, with sex separated from love and life, leads to a society tolerant of homosexual conduct.

The death chain

Comparing contraception and abortion enables us to see that they are linked in a death chain. Contraception is at the top of the chain. Contraception gives birth to abortion deaths and to the acceptance of sterile sodomy. Abortion gives birth to euthanasia. All of these give birth to the acceptance of a pervasive pornography. When these are widespread, we have the Culture of Death. This Culture of Death gives birth to the death of the family, to the death of society, to the death of the Church, and to the perpetual death of immortal souls.

Father John Hardon, S.J., a truly great theologian, summed up the effects of the contraceptive mentality:

"It has been correctly said that Humanae vitae divides the Catholic Church into two periods of history. The Church will survive only among those who believe that contraception is deadly both to Christianity and the promise of a heavenly reward. Contraception is fatal to the true faith and to eternal life."

Recognition of the death chain leads to many implications. We consider two major ones.

Implications for the pro-life movement

Considering the essential link between contraception and abortion, it follows with inexorable logic that no Pro-life group can truly be such if it does not repudiate contraception. Yet there are groups that propose "safe-sex" through condom use as the solution to abortion; other "pro-life" groups accept members who uphold contraception as an alternative to abortion.

Most pro-life associations recognize that they must combat the contraceptive mentality if they are to succeed. Among these are Human Life International, founded by that great Apostle of Life, Fr. Paul Marx, OSB. Among these also are Priests for Life, now an international movement. A new group in Canada, which strikes at the heart of the problem, is "Catholics Against Contraception". We also are privileged to have in Canada, under the dedicated leadership of Sr. Lucille Durocher, the completely orthodox movement "St. Joseph's Workers for Life and Family." "Pharmacists for Life International" say in their advertising brochure: "Contraception is the achilles heel of the pro-life movement. If we do not take clear steps against contraception, it will destroy the pro-life movement just as assuredly as it destroys the smallest life." The motto of Pharmacists for Life is "No exceptions, no compromises, no apologies."

Also, Campaign Life Coalition, the national public interest organization in Canada, rejects all government-sponsored and public-funded promotion of contraception, including teaching it to public health nurses and other health professionals (National policy, June 27, 2000).

Not to recognize the evil of contraception while fighting abortion is like working to kill the termites on the roof of a house, while the whole structure is being eaten away from within. It is like leaning over a deck to chip away at an iceberg, while the ship is being gutted beneath the waterline.

It is not permissible to soft-pedal contraception in the interests of a so-called pro-life ecumenism. This is not a denominational issue, pertaining to Catholics alone. The prohibition of contraception is founded on divine natural law. Only groups which in their underlying philosophy are anti-contraception, anti-sterilization, and antiabortion have the right to full endorsement.

Immense benefits flow when pro-life groups are in harmony with God's Truth. Here are a few:

(a) They have a right to unqualified support from all, including the Catholic hierarchy.

(b) They can readily network and support one another in organizing protests, demonstrations, conferences, letter-writing campaigns, and other projects.

(c) Their unity in Truth will add immeasurably to their strength and appeals for prayers and financial help.

(d) Their unity of purpose will inspire the formulation of greater projects and methods to help restore the Culture of Life.

Implications for teaching the truth

A second implication from the consideration of the evils of contraception and abortion is the necessity of teaching the truth. Too many voices have been silent, too many voices have distorted the truth given to us by Christ through the Church. Responsibility for teaching the truth about human life rests primarily with our bishops (cf. c. 375, Code of Canon Law). To bishops, Pope Paul VI said in Humanae vitae: "Consider this mission as one of your most urgent responsibilities at the present time" (n. 30).

As we know, Catholic bishops chiefly responsible for teaching Humanae vitae have been the primary factors in its rejection. Following dissenting theologians rather than Christ, about twelve national hierarchies so distorted the teaching of the encyclical as to virtually destroy it. Among the worst offenders were the Canadian bishops by their Winnipeg Statement of September 1968. As night follows the day, Canadian Catholics now live in the dark Culture of Death.

In Canada, as in many other places, we desperately need bishops who will go against those who have subjected the truth to a pseudo-collegiality of moral compromise. We need bishops who will not subordinate the truth to uniformity. We need bishops who speak and do not take refuge in silence on life issues. We need bishops who will sweep their dioceses clean of all errors against Life and Love. We need bishops not afraid to challenge those civil authorities who initiate legislation against the family.

We need bishops who will insist that Catholic hospitals be in conformity with Catholic ethics. We need bishops who will remove from their schools the Fully Alive sex education course which initiates children in grade school into sexual perversion and teaches them the illicit means of contraception. We need bishops ready to suffer criticism and media-abuse and humiliation in defence of human life. We need bishops ready to die for Life. For such bishops we ought to pray. For all bishops we ought to pray and pray.

The Nineveh solution

The situation in many countries is desperate. Extrapolating from the statistics, the typical parish in Canada is dying. Its birth rate is suicidal. Most of the parents of childbearing age are either sterilized or contracepting. The majority of those contracepting who go to Mass receive Holy Communion, an objective sacrilege. The children going to a Catholic school are educated in contraception in grade eight. Few go to Sunday Mass. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life are insufficient to sustain a flourishing, evangelizing Church. It is impossible for the Church to survive where Humanae vitae is not taught and lived.

There is hope

The situation looks hopeless. Humanly speaking, it is hopeless. Yet there is hope.

The book of Jonah gives us a clue. God through Jonah threatened to destroy Nineveh. "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me" (Jonah 1:2). Nineveh repented by prayer and penance and it was spared. A quite marvelous example of the power of prayer is given us in a book called The Shadow of His Wings, the true story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM (Ignatius Press). I suggest that every Catholic would benefit from reading this book. When Fr. Goldmann was a boy, he met a Franciscan missionary from Japan and yearned to go back to Japan with him. He was told that if he said one Hail Mary a day he would one day go as a missionary to Japan. He said that Hail Mary and how he got to Japan is a remarkable, even miraculous, series of events-through countless obstacles, including a sentence of death.

Prayer and penance would save the Church in Canada. That is the Nineveh solution. Every Canadian Catholic saying one Hail Mary a day for Life could do it. We are reminded of the words of Tertullian: "Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God."

Prayer suggestions

Prayer for life can take many forms. Here are a few suggestions.

It would surely be a fruitful prayer if a pro-life oratio imperata (required oration) were added to the Mass, making every Mass a petition for life. We recall that an added oration for peace was ordered by many bishops during World War II. The Prayer of the Faithful at Mass could always include a petition for an end to abortion and contraception. Pro-life prayer cards could be more widely distributed, especially by pro-life groups. The prayer could include a petition for an end to contraception. The daily prayers in every school could include a pro-life petition. Especially pleasing to God would be the prayer of all contemplative religious on behalf of human life.

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is spreading in Canada and in many other countries. This means having extended exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, either part-time or for twenty-four hours a day. It is the intention of the Holy Father that this devotion "be established in all parishes and Christian communities" (International Eucharistic Congress, 1993). More and more pastors are introducing this transforming devotion. All engaged in Eucharistic Adoration could spend more time in remembering the cause of Life.

Every Catholic, in daily prayer, could ask for an end to contraception and abortion. In our prayers, we ought to pray that qualified pro-life leaders would seek election to government. We ought also to pray for the conversion of abortionists and all those associated with abortion "clinics." To his or her prayers every Catholic could add some acts of self-denial and penance.

We live in a new Nineveh. We can choose Life or Death. Is there enough Faith left to choose Life?

Msgr. Vincent Foy is the author of The search or the truth. Did Pope Paul VI approve the Winnipeg Statement? Toronto, Life Ethics Centre, 64 pp. $4.95 (plus postage) contact Catholic Insight [phone]).