The Pope’s comments in an unauthorized excerpt release from Peter Seewald’s latest book, “Light of the World, The Pope, The Church and The Signs of the Times”, has caused quite a stir.
Basically he said, as an extreme example, if a male prostitute was to use a condom during sex, it was a step towards a better morality.
Pope Benedict wasn’t speaking ex-cathedra.
Nonetheless, the secular media, like clockwork, has declared that condoms are now allowed by all fornicators (not like dissident Catholics were following the teachings of the Church anyways).
So here is a short roundup of the better informed among us:
Pope Approves Restricted Use of Condoms? – M.J. Andrew, TAC
Understanding Pope’s Dilemma on Condoms – Jimmy Akin, NCRgstr
Condoms, Consistency, (mis)Communication – Thomas Peters, AmP
Pope Changed Church Condoms Teaching? – Q. de la Bedoyere, CH
A Vatican Condom Conversion? – Mollie, Get Religion
Pope: Condoms, Sex Abuse, Resignation & Movie Nights – John Allen
What The Pope Really Said About Condoms in New Book? – Janet Smith
Ginger Factor: Pope Approves of Condoms! – Jeff Miller, The Crt Jstr
The Pope and Condoms – Steve Kellmeyer, The Fifth Column
Condoms May Be ‘First Step’ In Moralization of Sexuality – Cth Herald
Pope Did Not Endorse the Use of Condoms – Fr. Zuhlsdorf, WDTPRS?
Did Pope Change Teaching About Condoms? – Brett Salkeld, Vox Nova
(Hat tips: The Pulpit & Henry Karlson)
Don’t forget Kevin O’Brien’s take. He recorded the official audio book version of “Light of the World”.
Or you could use the direct link. Sorry about that!
I find it sadly amusing you ignore Brett’s post, which is quite well informed.
Ahh Tito, I’m hurt.
http://vox-nova.com/2010/11/20/did-pope-benedict-just-change-church-teaching-about-condoms/#more-14644
😉
Henry & Brett,
Got that fixed ASAP!
More information can never hurt.
🙂
“I find it sadly amusing you ignore Brett’s post …”
I find it sadly amusing – no, just sad – that certain people automatically assume bad motives on the part of others. Maybe he just hadn’t seen it yet.
Thanks Tito.
Brett,
No problem buddy!
Check out The Pulpit a little past noon (Central time).
Anyone know what Voris is saying?
Tito,
Thanks for the tip on The Pulpit. Did you do that?
Brett,
Yes, it’s my little apostolate that I enjoy doing.
http://www.wordonfire.org/WoF-Blog/WoF-Blog/November-2010/Media-The-C-Word.aspx
I appreciated this, especially the last two paragraphs.
Hey Tito,
Do you think you could put another list together in response to this?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hJU2dz_FwsPjYGXFjYDkbEH5VHfA?docId=d01ae88980c54a2da67605575ea0e7f6
Namely, the clarification that this also applies to acts that are not naturally infertile.
It looks like people aren’t writing as much. I know I myself have blog fatigue. Maybe that’s a factor.
Brett,
Read my mind!
The list may not be comprehensive enough to cover all of those topics, but it will be comprehensive.
I was going to post it tomorrow, but I’ll post later this evening.
“However, questions arose immediately about the pope’s intent because the Italian translation of the book used the feminine for prostitute, whereas the original German used the masculine.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his comments to apply only to men. Benedict replied that it really didn’t matter, the important thing was that the person took into consideration the life of another.
“I personally asked the pope if there was a serious, important problem in the choice of the masculine over the feminine,” Lombardi said. “He told me no. The problem is this: … It’s the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship.”
“This is if you’re a man, a woman, or a transsexual. … The point is it’s a first step of taking responsibility, of avoiding passing a grave risk onto another,” Lombardi said.
Those comments concluded the press conference, and Lombardi took no further questions about how broadly this interpretation could be applied.”
And the teaching of the Church against the use of condoms for contraceptive purposes flies right out the window as a practical matter. Appalling. I hope the Holy Spirit will inspire the Holy Father to emulate the example of Saint Celestine V, and soon.