Is birth control ex cathedra?
if not, does this mean that if you truly believe birth control is moral, that you have permission from the catholic church to use it?
I'm sorry, i'm very confused on the meaning of ex cathredra!
if not, does this mean that if you truly believe birth control is moral, that you have permission from the catholic church to use it?
I'm sorry, i'm very confused on the meaning of ex cathredra!
Comments
Steve seems to have gotten it right.
I'll add:
'ex cathedra' means "from the Chair" in this case means 'from the chair of St. Peter' -- meaning that it is infallibly stated and is guided by the holy spirit.
Ex Cathedra statements are quite rare. There is some debate over the exact number, as the Popes of the past often times didn't expressly state if something was ex Cathedra or not. The church itself, is even unsure which statements were infallibly stated and which were merely theological teachings.
For example: Is the pronouncement of each Saint an infallible statement, because it claims that someone is for sure in heaven? Some people say YES, some say NO.
Ex-cathedra DOES NOT mean a person is excommunicated. It simply means that what was said has the certainty of infallibility and was guided by the Holy Spirit.
Excommunication is undone or removed once a person seeks forgiveness and no longer persists in their wrong view.
Violating a core doctrine of the Catholic faith is, however, a mortal sin - a grave matter.
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The Catholic church has always held that artificial birth control and being closed to even the possibility that the sexual act may result in children is morally wrong.
However, it has not made this infallible NOR an excommunicable offense. It IS however, a mortal sin.
A grave matter which puts the person's soul at risk of eternal damnation if they don't repent before death.
So the church would hold that contraception is a violation of Church DOCTRINE (or dogma, the distinction between those is confusing) AND a 'grave matter' But NOT infallible NOR something that automatically suffers an excommunication.
The Catholic church officially holds the position that any form of birth control other than abstinence is morally wrong.
This has been the position since the very earliest recorded times of the Church.
However, interestingly enough, there has not been a definite ex cathedra statement about birth control. One of the more famous documents from the 20th century pope Paul VI is something called 'Humanae Vitae,' which was a very detailed Papal essay on why birth control was wrong from a Catholic perspective. However, it was never declared official ex cathedra doctrine...but John Paul II did declare that it did not NEED to be declared ex cathedra, because the infallibility of the Birth Control doctrine should be considered inherent to the idea.
So...yes I know this is confusing but...while there has not been one single ex cathedra statement about birth control, no, the Catholic Church officially states that it is always wrong, and not a decision for the individual.
The official position is that if you don't want kids, don't have sex.
birth control is legal, but fornication is a sin, if people are birth control to stop pregnancy but to allow sexual pleasure, it is a sin. if a married couple are birth control because the mother shouldnt have another conception maybe the husband needs a condom or birth control is an option.
i understand the birth control pills actually do disrupt the womens physical health.
what is written in the bible is that man and wife are not defiled in marriage. however, sexual pleasure should be controlled with faith and wisdom. the bible even says a man and wife should fast after having sex. all premarital sex is to be prohibited and all people must learn to be chaste. chastity is not the same thing as celibacy.
Tell everyone including the pope and with the exception of God to stay out of your bedroom.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. KJV
Hebrews 13:4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. New Living Translation.
The second half of this verse does not contradict the first half. In fact the two have nothing to do with one another.