Jobs Simply - My fellow Catholics: how would you react if the Pope said it was okay to use birth control pills?

My fellow Catholics: how would you react if the Pope said it was okay to use birth control pills?

Suppose that Pope Benedict were to announce that Humane Vitae (the document that says birth control is a sin) was incorrect and the church was in error when they released it; just as the church had been in error when they said the world was flat, that evolution was false, and that unbaptized babies go to limbo. I know it's highly unlikely that this will happen, but just hypothetically, how would you react? Catholics only, please. If you're going to say, "I'm not a Catholic but I wanted to put my two cents in..." you will not be selected for best answer. Adam: The Pope (the current one as well as others) has, in fact, said the church had been in error before as in the examples I mentioned above, so it could happen again. sparki777: No, the Pill does not cause abortions. It simply prevents ovulation from happening in the first place. No ovulation=no fertilized egg=no pregnancy=no abortion. The Pill is no more an abortifacent than condoms are. Aleria: "If this ever did happen...it would not be an infallible statement and I believe that majority of the Catholic Church would object." Considering that the majority of practicing Catholics do not agree with the church's current teachings on birth control, I have to disagree. Also, papal infallibility was not used on Humanae Vitae, which means it could very well be false. sparki777: Pregnancy doesn't begin until the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus. So although you may be correct, it's not an abortion because the woman was never pregnant to begin with. Also, I really don't appreciate you accusing me of lying when I state what I believe to be true. Still, as of right now, it looks like you're getting best answer since you're the only one who answered the question I asked, which is "how would you react," not "how would most Catholics react" or "do you think this would ever happen."

Public Comments

Methodist... dont need them...no more eggs and I never cared what he thinks.....LOL im not worried about more BAs...
There are very few catholics that I know who actually care what the pope says on this subject. Unless they are very fundamentalist I don't see christians of any flavor refrain from extramarital sex or from using birth control. The majority are not, and the majority of christians appear to be cultural christians. The cultural catholics only listen to the pope when it suits them. I actually know quite a number of people who claim that religion is important to them but neither let religion nor morals come into the way of lust.
This is kind of like saying, "How would you react if Simon Cowell said William Hung is actually the best singer?" It's completely opposed to (current) Catholic ideologies. Of course, as you mentioned, it could very well be overturned at some point in the future. However, an extremely small percentage of Catholics actually care about and respect what the Pope has to say regarding sexual relations anyway, so most people would probably react by thinking, "I guess my sex is sanctioned by the Pope now."
itake care of your partner or yourself, there might have side effect or disease. remember neither harm nor hurt involve. God bliss!
What's wrong with birth control, anyway?
Catholics are in a cult. They worship Mary and other dead people, they pray to dead people, they think they eat the real body and blood of Jesus on a pagan sacrifice call the Mass, where a pagan priest thinks he has the power to call God down out of heaven and stuff him in a piece of bread. If you know a Catholic, please pray for them, and get them some help from a real Christian who knows the Bible.
a pope saying that the church is in error?? not going to happen
This will never happen because the pill is an abortifacient. You can check with all the pill manufacturers, and they all cite multiple ways of the pill working such as by preventing the release of an egg. ALL of them say one way the pill works is by thickening the uterine lining and preventing a fertilized egg from implanting. A fertilized egg is a human zygote, and that human being dies because he/she cannot implant, which is a form of abortion. So the Pope will never condone use of the pill. Even if, for some strange reason, Catholics were allowed to use the pill, I would not because of my family history of heart disease, strokes and blood clots. Taking any sort of hormonal birth control would shorten my life dramatically -- it has been known to kill women who have these traits in their families, although Planned Parenthood and the pharmaceutical companies hush it up. NO WOMAN who has a family history of heart disease, embolism or stroke should take ANY form of hormonal birth control unless she wants to die young. As for your other examples: It wasn't just the Catholics who thought the world was flat -- EVERYBODY thought so. When scientific research (much of which was sponsored by the Catholic Church), the Church accepted the facts. Evolution -- science proves that there is micro-evolution, so no thinking person can deny that it exists on that level. And because that exits, the Church says it's possible that God used macro-evolution to create the world, but we don't know for sure one way or another. Limbo is a different case entirely. The theory of limbo was developed as a way to possibly explain what is unknowable. It was never all that good of a theory, so it never became doctrine, and it was never taught to be the unwavering truth. It was set aside as bad theology. EDITED TO ADD: Wild Sage, if you don't believe me, go read what the PILL MANUFACTURERS say themselves. Here, I'll help you out. Here is the URL for Yaz: http://www.yaz-us.com/consumer/about_yaz/how_yaz_works.jsp Here's a DIRECT QUOTE from the Yaz site: "Birth control pills work in 3 ways: Birth control pills "trick" the body into thinking it is pregnant. This prevents the release of an egg (ovulation). Without an egg to be fertilized, you can't become pregnant The cervical mucus is thickened, making it hard for sperm to travel toward the egg and fertilize it, in case an egg is released The lining of the uterus (endometrium) is altered in a way that reduces the likelihood of implantation of the egg." Well, looky there in black and white! The pill prevents implantation of an egg -- of course, only a FERTILIZED egg will implant and that means it's not an egg any more at all but a human zygote. If you want to live in an alternate reality, that's your choice. but when I post a FACT, it would be nice for you to admit it is a FACT rather than spout lies and mislead everybody who reads this thread.
If that was the case, we would have a lot less to worry about and need less forgiveness come Judgement Day. However, it's not and we have to accept what is in the Bible and not live by the rules that suit us, even though in today's society it is very difficult to live by the Bible. On a separate note, I think the world would be a better place if people could accept the religion a person belongs to. Just look at some of the answers here!
There are a few problems with this. Our teaching on birth control is not a discipline, it is a doctrine. 1. The Church did not teach that unbaptized babies go to Limbo. The Church stated that they did not know what happened to unbaptized babies and this is something that *some* theologians and priests taught, not it was not something the Catholic Church taught. 2. The Church does continue to teach that Darwin's theory of evolution (that we were created by chance genes) is false. The Church does say that we could have been created through a process of evolution in which God is the Creator, but we do not know. If you wish to believe God created the world by banging 2 rocks together, go ahead. If you wish to believe that God created the world by drawing a circle in the sky, you can. 3. Again, it was never a doctrine of the Church that the world was flat. Everyone during that time believed so, but actually the first person (Copernicus) to propose that the world was possibly round was actually funded by the Catholic Church. The difference is that he taught it was possible, Galileo decided it was factual without evidence, that was the problem there. Our teaching on birth control though is Doctrine, not discipline. Because the Holy Spirit protects the Church and makes it so the Pope cannot make an infallible statement against the Church, Pope Benedict would not be able to announce such a thing. As it is, Humane Vitae was written in response to the work of that pope's predecessor. They were actually trying to prove that birth control *could* be used and is not against God, instead they were proven wrong and Humane Vitae came about. If this ever did happen...it would not be an infallible statement and I believe that majority of the Catholic Church would object. Those who understand and have read the Bible and many other works about why would not be able to stand by such a statement. The Church can only speak the Truth, it doesn't matter if it's what we want to hear or not. For the Pope to say something that is contrary to the Church's teachings (in an infallible statement) is impossible because of the protection given to Christ's Church by the Holy Spirit. ------------------------------- Added: You do not know how the Pill works, it seems. Yes, it's *supposed* to stop ovulation, but in the clinical tests shown, to stop ovulation from occuring would mean that the dosage would have to be higher and it would actually kill women. In the first tests run with the Pill, over 60 women died. They have lowered the dosage so much to keep deaths from occuring that it does not stop ovulation--it's why so many women get pregnant on the Pill. Even they admit it is an abortificiant. You can read it right in the pamplet you receive with your pills. What does this mean? It means that after conception occurs, the embryo cannot implant because the uterus has become unstable, causing the body to *abort* the embryo. Thus, it does not *always* stop ovulation. The rate of ovulation is still about 27 to 35% of the time, even if you take the Pill every single day. The rate of implanted embryos is about 4% or less of the time. You may not conceive each ovulation, but many people don't even know they have conceived a child because the pills they are taking are abortificiants. Don't believe me? Check it out. These people don't think it's a baby, but they still admit it happens. http://www.pfli.org/faq_oc.html ------------------------------------------ Added: That's why I said the majority of the Catholic Church. Not, those who claim they are Catholic. Just because a person says they are Catholic in name, does not mean they are actually practicing Catholics. The majority of the Church would object. Also, I didn't state that Humanae Vitae was infallible, I said I teaching on birth control is a DOCTRINE, meaning that it is an infallible teaching of the Church. Humanae Vitae backs up what has been taught always by the Church since the very first day. Humanae Vitae is authoritative, but not an infallible document. The teaching on birth control and contraceptives, though, is an infallible teaching.
The Catholic church could not reverse something like that because it is not merely a belief, but a doctrine. There is a difference between the church commenting on Evolution, which is NOT a doctrine, unbaptized babies which was never even a belief, let alone a doctrine, AND Humane Vitae which is a doctrine, I believe, based on the bible, divine revelation and the teachings of the Christian forefathers from the 1st thru 4th centuries. So the 3 things you mention are not at all the same... in my understanding. There are SOME things which are NOT core beliefs which can be changed, like Priests being celibate or the Mass being in Latin, verses the local language. There are OTHER core beliefs which can NEVER be changed. 2 reasons why core beliefs can't be changed. 1) They represent TRUTH from God, and truth does not change 2) Jesus gave his promise to Peter, that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Lies come from the Devil, NOT from God, therefore, the Church can not teach lies when it comes to its core doctrines unless either Satan prevails, in which case Jesus was lieing. OR the Catholic church was NEVER the church which Jesus spoke of when he gave his assurance to Peter. While I am not a Canon Lawyer, I DO believe that Humane Vitae is a doctrine, not merely a practice or a tradition. But I could be wrong. If it is a doctrine of the faith, then NO Pope can change it. PERIOD. If it is not, then it can be changed without it being an "error" per-se, merely changing the interpretation of a tradition OR changing a mere practice, not a core doctrine. BUT, regardless... Hypothetically..... IF that were to happen... Nothing prevents me from continuing to not use birth control. Nothing forces me to change my practices. That teaching does not violate my conscience, because I can still adhere to a more stringent practice if I so choose to. Relaxing that teaching or practice, doesn't change what many Catholics have been doing regardless. HOWEVER, I think changing Humanae Vitae DOES weaken the Church's Pro-Life stance. ONE of the arguments I hear Pro-Choicers make is that it is inconsistent to allow birth control and yet be against abortion. Even some pro-choicers see the link between birth control and abortion, and they see them as related if not the same. Therefore Christians who say abortion is wrong yet contraception is OK, cause an inconsistency which some pro-choicers exploit. SO, Humanae-Vitae is PART of the Church's over all argument against abortion, it is the FOUNDATION which its other arguments are based on. __________________________________ ::EDIT:: you said: <<Also, papal infallibility was not used on Humanae Vitae, which means it could very well be false.>> Again, I have to take issue with the lack of precision in regards to your terminology or understanding of Catholicism. No offense..but: Not every teaching has to be infallibly stated - Infallible statements are ONLY done to settle a matter or grave importance within the faith which affects Christianity as a whole and is causing division within the faith. Anotherwards, infallible or "ex-cathedra" (from the "chair" as in the Chair of St. Peter) are very rare and are only made to settle disputes so that Catholicism stays WHOLE and doesn't fracture. THIS is the whole reason why Jesus appointed Peter in the first place, so there is SOMEONE to keep us all on the same page. Therefore hardly anything is infallibly stated.. only if there is a need. This does NOT mean that everything is potentially false. Jesus's resurrection, the doctrine of "saved by grace" neither are infallibly stated because there is no need. No dispute ripping apart Christianity. The belief in Heaven, also not infallibly stated. Only when there is a NEED is an infallible statement issued.. and luckily MOST things don't require one. Again, this does not mean that everything that is not stated ex-cathedra is up for grabs or potentially wrong. But I can see how you might think that. _______________________________________ God Bless "Aleria" and "Misty" for their perspectives. I love how they state things. Their clarity is sometimes startling. Misty is ABSOLUTELY right.. the reason Humane Vitae was instituted was to clarify what had ALWAYS been believed. It truly is, woven into the fabric of the faith. Tearing it out, would damage the entire foundation.
If the Church, Pope, were to suddenly decide that birth control was okay to use, I'm sure many Catholics would be ecstatic and never wonder if the Church had finally made an error. The problem with questions like this, is that since it will never happen for so many reasons, and the Church teaching on birth control is so right and perfect, it is difficult to hypothesize such a monumental error. If the Pope were to reverse the decision, and teaching of Humane Vitae it would be more than just permission to use birth control. It would undermine the Church teaching on the sanctity of life, on the purpose of marriage and family, of the gift of celibacy, and the fruitfulness of virginity and purity. It would undermine her teaching on sexuality as sacred, and therefore change our understanding of Christ's total self-sacrificing love for his bride, the Church. The teaching on birth control is not just about pills and condoms, it is one part of the fabric of the Christian faith as given us by the Apostles. It is intricately woven into our understanding of God, and his relationship to us. In defense of Aleria's post, she is correct. Those things the Church erred on were never doctrine or infallible teachings. The Catholic Church is a theocracy, not a democracy. What the majority of "so-called" Catholics think or want has no bearing on the truth. But the majority of the true Catholic Church would definitely object to such an erroneous change. The main purpose of marriage and sexuality is life and this is the divine order as created by God. We have no authority to change it.
This will never happen. The contraceptive pill has been proven to be a potential abortifacient, so the Vatican was entirely right and wise to rule against it and endorse NFP instead. So many other denominations have gone their own way, instead of listening to the wisdom of the Church (as advised by scripture) they went ahead and permitted the pill. How do they now justify actually causing spontaneous abortions? http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09052707.html
Pope Benedict would be the last person to make such a sweeping change, he's a traditionalist and the ban on contraception goes back to St. Augustine. That said, the Humana Vitae was an Encyclical and thus didn't have the authority of Papal Infallibility, it could thus be reversed by another Encyclical at any time, additionally even John Paul II admitted it was a controversial matter and chose to leave it alone after that. If the Church were to decide to reverse it's position on contraception rather than draw world-wide news coverage with a public admission of error, as you propose, they would more likely start with another Encyclical. privately distributed to the Bishops, allowing Priests to council their Parishioners according to their conscience and allow the change to take place from the bottom up. Don't forget that the Humani Generis (the 1950 Encyclical that gave conditional acceptance of evolution) didn't start to reflect in Parish teaching for another 15 years. I would also suspect that acceptance by the Catholic Laity would vary with culture, in the Western Societies like Europe or the U.S. most Catholics don't follow it anyway and would be glad to feel vindicated, in less developed and more traditional areas the message probably wouldn't get out. The Church is made up of people, after all, and we all act in accordance with out own conscience.
Since your not Catholic what makes you such a self proclaimed expert on Catholic Doctrine which by your comments your not.No Pope can or will change what is considered to be a command of GOD period.Even when we had some corrupt Popes not once did they ever attempt to Challenge nor Change Church Doctrine. In 1930 when all the Protestant Churches began excepting artificial birth control the Church founded on the Rock of Christ and Peters faith stood firm against it.I can go on but the point is until you learn and understand the difference in Catholic teaching between Doctrine and discipline i suggest you say nothing unless all your out to do is attempt to confuse the thinking of Cafeteria Catholics.