Daring Catholic Voices in the Public Square

Part of the subtext of the new papacy of Benedict XVI is the idea of Catholics and Christians in general learning to speak out boldly and radically against the suffocating secular "dictatorship of relativism" in the West. Yesterday, on the pages of the Detroit Free Press, we saw a fine example of this type of needed boldness in action. In Michigan, the "Catholic Lite" governor has proposed a plan to reduce unwanted pregnancies which includes requiring health care plans to cover contraceptives. Now, the truth is that some Catholics, who otherwise agree with the Church's teaching against contraception, have in the past been tempted to take such actions in stride as culturally inevitable and unchallengeable and so have remained silent. But that atmosphere and reluctance are changing, due in no small part to outspoken faithful Catholics like Dr. Janet E. Smith, who holds the chair in Life Ethics at Detroit's Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

She responded to the pro-contraception move in Michigan and its endorsement by the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press with her own guest column in the same newspaper. She takes no prisoners. Instead of trying to argue merely at the edges of the issue, she boldly goes to the crux of the issue: contraception is bad for people and for society.

Here are some excerpts from Smith's column:

The widespread promotion and provision of contraceptives inevitably nurtures a cultural acceptance of sex outside of marriage--precisely what any culture friendly to children should be trying to reduce and prevent.

. . .

Contraceptives facilitate sex outside of marriage; sex outside of marriage with or without contraceptives is irresponsible.

. . .

The only sensible way to combat unwed pregnancy is to promote the facts, values and behavior that persuade individuals to abstain from sex before marriage. Such persuasion will only happen, however, if young people are led to see that abstaining from premarital sex is a terrific if not indispensable preparation for healthy marriage. Having control of one's sexual powers--preserving them as a gift for one's future spouse--is a wholly attractive concept that will protect many important goods in life, not the least of which are children growing up with a mother and father in the home. Meanwhile the best way to help the married avoid unintended pregnancies is to teach methods of natural family planning--completely healthy methods, ones that strengthen relationships and cost nothing to use.

Dr. Janet E. Smith, July 14, 2005, Detroit Free Press (emphases added).

And the big change for many American Catholics is the bio at the end of her column: she holds a chair in ethics at the official Catholic seminary of the Archdiocese of Detroit. She is not a marginal figure. I would not in the least be surprised that her column attacking the evil of contraception may be the first time that many Catholic readers, or readers of any background for that matter, may have heard such a vigorous attack on contraception. And it comes from a professor at the official seminary. Times are changing. The dissidents, modernists, and theological liberals must be aghast that, almost 40 years after their attacks against Humanae Vitae began, the message that contraception is evil is still being proclaimed. We are now approaching the 37th anniversary of that pivotal and revolutionary encyclical on July 25th. Let us all, whether professors or not, be resolved to keep proclaiming this radically Catholic and Christian truth to all, without fear or hesitation.

Historical Note on the issuance of Humanae Vitae:

Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical against contraception on July 25, 1968, the feast of St. James the Apostle or St. James the Greater. Interestingly, St. James the Greater was the apostle who inspired the Spanish Christians to roll back the Islamic military conquest of most of Spain in the eighth century. It took 800 years; but the Christians, as we all know, were ultimately successful in finally taking back all of Spain by 1492. Some Islamic radicals are still smarting over that Christian reconquest.

Today, Western Europe finds itself in a catastrophic demographic crisis of low birth rates due to widespread contraceptive use. Today, Western Europe is increasingly anxious about the presence of millions of Moslems within its borders--just consider the continuing coverage of the recent London attacks by second generation British Moslems. In my opinion, it is indeed prophetic that Paul VI issued the encyclical condemning contraception on the feast of the Apostle who inspired the defeat of Moslem conquest in the West. By ignoring that condemnation, Western Europe has facilitated a new Moslem "conquest" of sorts that shows no signs of abating. It is ironic that, in the long-term, secular Western Europe's best defense may lie not in police work but rather in abandoning contraception.