(August 6, 2018 at 2:17 pm)pocaracas Wrote:(August 6, 2018 at 1:50 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Married couples are expected to practice responsible parenthood using natural means of avoiding pregnancy, without altering the sex act itself.
What if you were presented with a couple on whom those natural means of avoiding pregnancy failed 4 times?
Would you still advocate using them as a means of avoiding pregnancy?
Not everyone wants to support 4 kids, not everyone *can* support 4 kids. What is the church teaching on that? How to avoid having more kids when the natural way... the one that god turns a blind eye upon, it seems... when it fails systematically?
The official Catholic stance is to always use natural methods. There is no official teaching on what to do if these methods consitently don't work and the couple can't handle more kids. At that point it becomes a matter between them and God. Personally I wouldn't expect them to keep trying natural methods, and wouldn't fault them at all if they didn't. I know of instances where priests have even told the couple to go ahead and use condoms, given their extreme circumstances.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
