Pope's Statement about Condoms

What does the Holy Father really say about condoms in the new book?

By Dr. Janet E. Smith

This week, Light of the World, a book-length interview given by Pope Benedict XVI to journalist Peter Seewald, will be released worldwide. Several of the Holy Father's statements have already started making news, particularly his comments regarding condom usage in the prevention of the spread of HIV.

To the charge that “It is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms,” in the context of an extended answer on the help the Church is giving AIDs victims and the need to fight the banalization of sexuality, Pope Benedict replied:

There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.

Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?

She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.

To read the full article regarind the Pope's statement about condoms and sex workers go here.

Love and the Eucharist

So my week of blogging did not necessarily go as planned. My family is officially leaving tomorrow morning (sniffle, sniffle) but it will allow ample time to devote to Modern Catholic Mom.

I was catching up on my Catholic news when I saw this.

Pope Benedict commented at a Papal Audience on June 15th with the following:

"Love transforms all things", said Benedict XVI, "and hence we can understand why, at the heart of today's Feast of Corpus Christi, lies the mystery of transubstantiation, the sign of Jesus-Charity that transforms the world. By looking at Him and adoring Him, we are saying: yes, love exists, and because it exists things can change for the better and we may hope." (taken from here)

Pope Benedict highlights the most beautiful component of hope possible... love. When we look at the biggest problems of the world right down to the most irritating aspects of ordinary life we are transformed by the notion of love. Sometimes the concept of transubstantiation is overwhelming. As a human being it is impossible to fully comprehend the mystery and beauty hidden in the Eucharist. But with love, we can enter into the depths of Christ coming to us in the Eucharist. We don't have to know how..... that will be reserved for Heaven. All we have to do is believe through love that Christ died upon the cross for our sins using love as His motivator. Essentially we can do anything through the power of love.

And if Christ can die for us because of love then I can learn to love my husband through disagreements, love my daughter when she is disobedient, love my neighbor when he wrongs me. Love can even transform me when I am sitting at the sink washing dishes, cleaning the bathroom or mowing the lawn. His love is what sustains us, moves us, gives us hope. Love, faith and hope are connected in an intimate way as they provide us with the fuel to be believers and in turn to help evangelize the world.

During the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus let us pray for a greater understanding of love from Christ so that we may share that love with our family and friends.

The Truth

I found this quote in a news email I was sent. The editor was responding to the different responses that priests gave regarding the Pope's support of monogamy and abstinence.

Henry Makori, editor of Catholic Information Service for Africa, spoke for many Catholics when he wrote:

" So what? The uneasy relationship between religion and the media will continue. One hopes Pope Benedict does not lose much sleep over this. The church's greatest challenge in this age is not to have secular media on its side, or to get everyone agreeing with its doctrines. Christianity is in town to bear credible witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ."


This brought to mind the Scripture that reads:

"If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as it's own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of this world- therefore the world hates you."- John 15:18-19


In light of these two articles of truth I have to laugh. You see I constantly forget that I am going to come up against opposition. Somewhere along the line (probably because of the 1960's or something) I have been inundated with the idea that everyone is just supposed to be 'cool' with everyone beliefs... I get confused because in order to be 'cool' sometimes it means that I am not a bearer of truth (The Truth) but more someone who nods my head and thinks, 'Well, not for me but its okay for you I guess'.


Hearing the Pope speak out against the use of condoms has really been an amazing example for his flock. Of course, we pray and hope the Pope would stand up for Truth, still he surely has received a lot of opposition. Media, other priests, fellow Catholics and the list goes on of those who are really upset by the Pope's seemingly 'unrealistic' stance.

But for those of us who are truly hearing the Message we know that this is a deeper call to holiness.....

"Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 10)" - Matthew 5:10

Yes Lord!

This is where its at. Standing up for what is truth and proclaiming the Gospel message.


It made me think about an experience I had the other day...

I had the opportunity to pray outside an abortion clinic for an hour. Nothing crazy just rosary time. I went with a good friend and with the help of another lovely women we quietly prayed outside.


So, upon getting there I was in another world... I just had so much going on in my own life that this had become just another thing to do on the list. We get there, break out the rosary, and the multitude of women start pouring into the clinic. They are coming and I am standing on the side of the road praying. Honestly, my emotions were overwhelmed. My heart was breaking knowing that these women were coming to seek an end to their child's life. I was angry because I have been praying for another child for three years and they are willing to just 'get rid' of theirs. All of this while being touched with a moment of embarrassment.... I know! See, we were on this busy street and cars kept screaming by on their way to work or lunch, where ever and I started thinking about what they must think of me. I thought about the impression I was making, how I was probably offending those pro-choicers driving by, how this could potentially 'turn someone off'.


These were just the thoughts going through my mind....so as the rosary went on and the cars kept coming I began to feel the urgency of prayer and how necessary it is to be a catalyst of change in that community. Abortions are wrong. They are a travesty to the human race and I imagine that God cries each time his children are killed. It was at this point that the Holy Spirit moved me into conviction and gratitude that I had been called to pray for his little ones.


This reminds me that I have to have to put on the Whole Armor of God to truly become his warrior. (this is one of my faves):


"Finally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord and in the might of his power. 11 Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. High places, or heavenly places... That is to say, in the air, the lowest of the celestial regions; in which God permits these wicked spirits or fallen angels to wander. 13 Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day and to stand in all things perfect. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of justice: 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. 16 In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. 17 And take unto you the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). 18 By all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the spirit: and in the same watching with all instance and supplication for all the saints". - Ephesians 6:10-17 (taken from www.newadvent.com)


So, I have continued gratitude to the Pope for not only standing up for the Truth but inspiring his flock to follow suit and truly emulate his behavior. We are blessed to have a faithful and brilliant Pope. We must continue to pray for his faithfulness, holiness and servitude.

And as for us, I pray that we become INSPIRED! EXCITED! MOVED by the Spirit and able to always speak and promote the Truth.... With the Armor of God to cover us, the Rosary to guide us and the Eucharist to give us life we move forward in this day and age knowing that our reward lies in Heaven.

"He said what?"

I found a great article supporting Pope Benedict's recent statement regarding condoms. Sometimes when I hear about the Church stepping out and making bold statements that are totally counter-cultural I forget that I have to be a part of the revolution. Even within my family and friends I need to be on top of my game so I can 'defend' such statements.

So in light of the Modern Catholic Mom theme I am trying to figure out how to get involved as a mom!

Here are my thoughts:

1. Pray pray pray for the Pope and his Cardinals so they can remain faithful to the Tradition of the Church and always speak truth.

2. Educate ourselves so that we can respond to questions or misconceptions our family and friends may have. If you haven't read Pope John Paul II encyclical 'Humanae Vitae' it is an excellent source of knowledge regarding human sexuality and the Catholic Church's stance on such topics.


As most of us know the media is having a field day with the following:

The AIDS epidemic “cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems.”

With some media sources calling this one step away from a death sentence it is refreshing to read an article from the National Review Online that entertains the reasons 'why' the church would make this statement.

Here are the highlights:

"The pope, of course, is not actually “ignorant.” The Vatican knows well what it is doing, and the church is not deaf to the suffering of those Africans living with AIDS. Indeed, Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Internationalis (the U.S. and worldwide Catholic relief agencies respectively) are leaders in distributing antiretroviral drugs, and in so doing have saved thousands of lives."

It begins with the premise that while the AIDS epidemic is the result of a virus, it is as much a social as a viral illness. It is not something one catches merely inhalation or shaking hands or other passive contact. The transmission of HIV in the vast majority of cases can be traced to an elective and deliberate act of sexual intercourse.

The goal should be to promote widespread delays in becoming sexually active among young people and, when they grow up, encourage them to form committed relationships.

The Catholic position seems naïve to the average Westerner who, thinking of himself and his own society’s inability to regulate its collective sexuality, applies this lesson on the impossibility of self-restraint to the whole globe. (I have to comment on this because it just fires me up! Those who promote the use of contraception do so because they do not feel that our society is capable of any self restraint! Rather than try and teach abstinence they would rather throw condoms at our teens and tell them well since you are going to be reckless anyway mind as well use condoms! No! They can be taught self restraint which goes hand in hand with self respect.... which is the best gift we can teach our children. Ok- hopping off the soap box!)

In fact, such Westerners, before they criticize Benedict for being unrealistic, may first want to calibrate their own sense of reality to African standards. Because where abstinence and monogamy have been most vigorously promoted, the HIV-infection rate has declined the most dramatically. Particularly, this is true of Uganda, where evangelical Christian influences have imbued the country’s AIDS policy with a moralizing outlook and an emphasis squarely on behavior change. The message was: You have the power to change your behavior and, if you do not, you may very well die.

It proved to be startlingly effective. In spite of the expectations of public-health wonks, Uganda saw a “60% reduction in casual sex . . . equivalent to a vaccine of 80% effectiveness,” according to a review of the policy published in the journal Science. In the wake of the policy’s implementation, Uganda became one of the first African countries to post a decline in the HIV-infection rate. (Yay! Yay! Yay!)

In its obsession with condoms, the Western public-health community has been every bit as dogmatic as the pope. And it has been even more blinkered to the realities of Africa, which is arguably in the grips of a huge religious and moral revival that has a huge potential to be wielded in the fight against AIDS. Church attendance is soaring, and Africans are willing to make sacrifices, of both their money and their pleasure, for moral causes. In this respect, it is not Benedict and the Catholic Church who are out of touch. It is the West and its condom myopia.

Pope Benedict XVI

As Lent moves forward I find myself looking at my Lenten promises and wondering when I became so weak?? Fortunately, Pope Benedict has provided his flock with a Lenten message so to keep me on the right path.....

Now more than ever I believe prayer and fasting will be the cornerstone for change in the White house. We can use these tools to facilitate change not only in our own homes but for those in the homes of our entire country.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, “dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride” (Paschal Præconium aka the Exultet). For this year’s Lenten Message, I wish to focus my reflections especially on the value and meaning of fasting. Indeed, Lent recalls the forty days of our Lord’s fasting in the desert, which He undertook before entering into His public ministry. We read in the Gospel: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry” (Mt 4,1-2). Like Moses, who fasted before receiving the tablets of the Law (cf. Ex 34,28) and Elijah’s fast before meeting the Lord on Mount Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19,8), Jesus, too, through prayer and fasting, prepared Himself for the mission that lay before Him, marked at the start by a serious battle with the tempter.

We might wonder what value and meaning there is for us Christians in depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our bodily sustenance. The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it. For this reason, the history of salvation is replete with occasions that invite fasting. In the very first pages of Sacred Scripture, the Lord commands man to abstain from partaking of the prohibited fruit: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gn 2, 16-17). Commenting on the divine injunction, Saint Basil observes that “fasting was ordained in Paradise,” and “the first commandment in this sense was delivered to Adam.” He thus concludes: “ ‘You shall not eat’ is a law of fasting and abstinence” (cf. Sermo de jejunio: PG 31, 163, 98). Since all of us are weighed down by sin and its consequences, fasting is proposed to us as an instrument to restore friendship with God. Such was the case with Ezra, who, in preparation for the journey from exile back to the Promised Land, calls upon the assembled people to fast so that “we might humble ourselves before our God” (8,21). The Almighty heard their prayer and assured them of His favor and protection. In the same way, the people of Nineveh, responding to Jonah’s call to repentance, proclaimed a fast, as a sign of their sincerity, saying: “Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?” (3,9). In this instance, too, God saw their works and spared them.

In the New Testament, Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting, condemning the attitude of the Pharisees, who scrupulously observed the prescriptions of the law, but whose hearts were far from God. True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). He Himself sets the example, answering Satan, at the end of the forty days spent in the desert that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4,4). The true fast is thus directed to eating the “true food,” which is to do the Father’s will (cf. Jn 4,34). If, therefore, Adam disobeyed the Lord’s command “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” the believer, through fasting, intends to submit himself humbly to God, trusting in His goodness and mercy.

The practice of fasting is very present in the first Christian community (cf. Acts 13,3; 14,22; 27,21; 2 Cor 6,5). The Church Fathers, too, speak of the force of fasting to bridle sin, especially the lusts of the “old Adam,” and open in the heart of the believer a path to God. Moreover, fasting is a practice that is encountered frequently and recommended by the saints of every age. Saint Peter Chrysologus writes: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself” (Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 322).

In our own day, fasting seems to have lost something of its spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a therapeutic value for the care of one’s body. Fasting certainly bring benefits to physical well-being, but for believers, it is, in the first place, a “therapy” to heal all that prevents them from conformity to the will of God. In the Apostolic Constitution Pænitemini of 1966, the Servant of God Paul VI saw the need to present fasting within the call of every Christian to “no longer live for himself, but for Him who loves him and gave himself for him … he will also have to live for his brethren“ (cf. Ch. I). Lent could be a propitious time to present again the norms contained in the Apostolic Constitution, so that the authentic and perennial significance of this long held practice may be rediscovered, and thus assist us to mortify our egoism and open our heart to love of God and neighbor, the first and greatest Commandment of the new Law and compendium of the entire Gospel (cf. Mt 22, 34-40).

The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. Saint Augustine, who knew all too well his own negative impulses, defining them as “twisted and tangled knottiness” (Confessions, II, 10.18), writes: “I will certainly impose privation, but it is so that he will forgive me, to be pleasing in his eyes, that I may enjoy his delightfulness” (Sermo 400, 3, 3: PL 40, 708). Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.

At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live. In his First Letter, Saint John admonishes: “If anyone has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, yet shuts up his bowels of compassion from him – how does the love of God abide in him?” (3,17). Voluntary fasting enables us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends low and goes to the help of his suffering brother (cf. Encyclical Deus caritas est, 15). By freely embracing an act of self-denial for the sake of another, we make a statement that our brother or sister in need is not a stranger. It is precisely to keep alive this welcoming and attentive attitude towards our brothers and sisters that I encourage the parishes and every other community to intensify in Lent the custom of private and communal fasts, joined to the reading of the Word of God, prayer and almsgiving. From the beginning, this has been the hallmark of the Christian community, in which special collections were taken up (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27), the faithful being invited to give to the poor what had been set aside from their fast (Didascalia Ap., V, 20,18). This practice needs to be rediscovered and encouraged again in our day, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.

From what I have said thus far, it seems abundantly clear that fasting represents an important ascetical practice, a spiritual arm to do battle against every possible disordered attachment to ourselves. Freely chosen detachment from the pleasure of food and other material goods helps the disciple of Christ to control the appetites of nature, weakened by original sin, whose negative effects impact the entire human person. Quite opportunely, an ancient hymn of the Lenten liturgy exhorts: “Utamur ergo parcius, / verbis cibis et potibus, / somno, iocis et arctius / perstemus in custodia – Let us use sparingly words, food and drink, sleep and amusements. May we be more alert in the custody of our senses.”

Dear brothers and sisters, it is good to see how the ultimate goal of fasting is to help each one of us, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote, to make the complete gift of self to God (cf. Encyclical Veritatis splendor, 21). May every family and Christian community use well this time of Lent, therefore, in order to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor. I am thinking especially of a greater commitment to prayer, lectio divina, recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and active participation in the Eucharist, especially the Holy Sunday Mass. With this interior disposition, let us enter the penitential spirit of Lent. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Causa nostrae laetitiae, accompany and support us in the effort to free our heart from slavery to sin, making it evermore a “living tabernacle of God.” With these wishes, while assuring every believer and ecclesial community of my prayer for a fruitful Lenten journey, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 11 December 2008.

(emphasis added by blogger) :-)

For a copy of this article click here.