A Catholic friend said:
“[There are] other indicators of such a steep decline in real Catholic faith in the American Church that I recommend simply abandoning almost all of our institutional ministries (in healthcare, higher ed, social services) – there just are not enough Catholics around to maintain real apostolates. The Humanae Vitae neglect of which you speak probably should be tied (as you do, in the Wanderer) to the collapse of sacramental marriage among Catholics. Solid priests of my acquaintance say that from half to three-quarters of the couples they marry are entering annullable marriages. That is a sad, sad, reality for which the bishops are partly to blame. But the lion’s share of blame has to be attributed to an ambient culture which simply makes real marriage an invisible option. Of course, the culture is as bad as it is partly due to Catholic neglect of it.” (July 23, 2012)
John’s response:
“You have an interesting perspective. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The general cultural decline probably started with the acceptance of contraception and companionate marriage in 1930 and the ‘logic of birth control’ as Walter Lippmann put it, and I think the collapse within the Church started with the cultural Catholic acceptance of contraception and the entire logic of birth control in 1968. That “logic” has no way to say no to anything imaginable between persons with mutual consent. This is what is behind the diminution of the numbers of real Catholics to the point where there aren’t enough to staff truly Catholic institutions. Recreational sex, within marriage as well as outside of it, has become the new idolatry. When a wife says, ‘I will give up the Church before I give up the Pill,’ that’s idolatry.” (July 24, 2012)
John F. Kippley
Battle-Scarred: Justice Can Be Elusive
Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality
The Seven Day Bible Rosary: Different Mysteries for each day of the week