A new inquisition

A NEW INQUISITION

The Catholic hierarchy’s crusade against contraception

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have no charity, I am nothing.

(1st letter from St Paul to the Corinthians, 13: 1-2. King James Bible, Cambridge edition)

Does the Catholic hierarchy have the gift of charity? Many would say they put dogma first - seeking perhaps to remove mountains with it - while closing their ears to the needs of the people.

One of my favourite stories is from Boccaccio’s Decameron. Some Catholic priests were trying to convert a Jewish man to their faith and thought they were doing splendidly until he told them he was so impressed by the Catholic Church that he was going to make a pilgrimage to Rome. They were horrified: one look at the corruption and excesses of the Vatican at that time and their convert would run a mile. He returned, but full of enthusiasm and determined to be baptised. Why? He explained: if a church is vibrant enough to thrive in the hearts of the people in spite of all that happens in Rome, it must indeed be close to God.

I am reminded of this story as I look at the Catholic hierarchy’s campaign to promote Catholic births, and particularly its campaign to stop people using contraception and abortion. In the name of a “pro-life” mission, they have made this their number one priority, of much greater importance than their opposition to war or mass murder. They have at times traded a tolerance for extreme cruelty in return for adherence to their “Life” crusade. Catholic priests have been implicated recently in justifying or even promoting torture and murder in Argentina and Rwanda, for example, in return for greater political commitment by repressive regimes to official campaigns against contraception and abortion.

This is all the more puzzling because virtually all Catholics reject the hierarchy’s teachings on family choice if they can – that is, if contraceptives are available. In Spain and Italy, both of them strongly Catholic, birth rates have dropped to near-replacement levels. In the United States, the Guttmacher Institute reported in 2011 that 87% of Catholic women at risk of unplanned pregnancy were using contraceptives, barely below the national average of 88%. Among women of reproductive age who had ever had sex, 98% of Catholic women had used contraceptives compared to 99% of all women. So the number of Catholics obeying their church’s teachings against artificial contraception was minimal – as low as one in a hundred. It is likely that the findings would be similar in other countries with easy access to contraception.

(This is the beginning of the chapter - more is available.)