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Letters

Guilt-free sin

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 Contents - Jul 2013AD2000 July 2013 - Buy a copy now
Homily: Saints John Fisher and Thomas More: from Pope Pius XI's canonisation homily
Cardinal Pell's candid responses to Victorian Parliament grilling - Peter Westmore
News: The Church Around the World
Youth: Melbourne's young adult ministry continues its revival - Br Barry Coldrey
Paul VI: Humanae Vitae: still prophetic after 45 years - Anne Lastman
Cardinal Ouellet's Australian lecture: rediscover human nature - Owen Vyner
Social media: Catholic activism and the AussieMite affair - Damian Wyld
Formation: Future priests learn about the RCIA process - Rev Dr Elio Capra SDB
Obituary: Vale Fr Paul Duffy SJ (1931-2013) - Anna Krohn
Human dignity: Defence of marriage must be linked to defence of parenthood - Denise Hunnell
Musicae Sacrae: The essential role of music in the Mass - Ronan Reilly
Parody?: Anti-Catholic hate speech, Aussie Style (Move on, nothing to see here) - R.J. Stove
Letters: Vision of Heaven? - Peter Harris
Letters: Mr Hyde's lesson - John Ballantyne
Letters: Healthy families vital - Brendan Keogh
Letters: Finding true unity - Didymus Astle
Letters: Matter of conscience - Arnold Jago
Letters: Marriage simply is ... - Brian A. Coman
Letters: Guilt-free sin - Paul Voskulen
Letters: Offensive advert - Helen F. Daniel
Letters: Contact your candidates - Gerard Calilhanna
Letters: Christian civil rights - Name and Address Supplied
Books: SAINTS WHO RAISED THE DEAD: True Stories of Four Hundred Resurrection Miracles - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer)
Books: ST JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA AND THE ORIGINS OF OPUS DEI - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer)
Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au
Reflection: Benedict XVI: Sts Peter and Paul, two pillars of the Church

There is so much hand-wringing and soul searching over the sexual abuse scandals in the Church – and rightly so – but few seem to recall the prophetic words of Pope Paul VI in his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae.

The root of a number of problems in the Church can be found in the rejection, by many bishops and priests, of the teaching in this document which really only defined more clearly what the Church had always taught.

While the sexual revolution raged in Western society and people needed clear guidance, all that many pastors offered was a false presentation of "the primacy of conscience": guilt-free sin. Of course, that doesn't really work, and not only do we now have all the consequences of a contraceptive lifestyle, but the guilt-free found out that they felt guilty after all hence we have cafeteria Catholics, empty churches and fewer, weaker, priests.

It is not so much the sexual abuse by a few that has brought the Church all this grief. The disaster has been caused by those bishops and priests who, in seeking a softer option, acquiesced to the spirit of the world and led their flocks astray.

If we were to see a public expression of repentance, from the top down, accompanied by a pastorally sensitive but uncompromised teaching of the truth, confidence in Christ's Church might yet be restored.

PAUL VOSKULEN
Tarlee, SA

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Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 26 No 6 (July 2013), p. 16

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