Contraception and the Catholic.

St. Augustine, FL -- Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine, Florida, has written a pastoral letter in which he says, "Pope Gregory the Great reprimanded the bishops of his day for being weak shepherds because they failed to speak up when it was their duty: 'Pastors who lack courage hesitate to proclaim openly what they should, out of human respect. As the voice of truth tells us, such leaders are mercenaries who flee by taking refuge in silence as the wolf appears.'"

He applies this to contraception, "The practice is so widespread that it involves 90% of married couples at some point in their marriage, cutting across all denominational lines. I fear that much of what I have said seems harshly critical of couples using contraceptives. In reality, I am not blaming them for what has occurred during the past four decades. It was not their fault. With rare exceptions, because of our silence, we bishops and priests are to blame" (Journal: A Publication of the Canadian Chapter of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Autumn 2004, pp. 19-22).