In 1965 Bishops Voted 9 to 3 that Artificial Contraception a Not a Sin (Part4)

In 1965 Bishops Voted 9 to 3 that Artificial Contraception a Not a Sin

Posted on March 22, 2011 by RHBill.org

continuation... Part 4

Current Pope’s Statement on Conscience

The current Pope, Benedict XVI, wrote in 1976 (as Josef Cardinal Ratzinger) that one’s own conscience is primary, even over the Church, when considering matters of morality:

“Over the pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority there still stands one’s own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else. If necessary even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. This emphasis on the individual, whose conscience confronts him with a supreme and ultimate tribunal, and now which in the last resort is beyond the claim of external social groups, even of the official Church, also establishes a principle in opposition to increasing totalitarianism.”[15]

Sources

1. Robert McClory, Turning Point: The Inside Story of the Papal Birth Control Commission, Crossroad Publishing, 1995.
2. National Catholic Reporter, “Reveal Papal Birth Control Texts,” April 19, 1967.
3. National Catholic Reporter, “Reveal Papal Birth Control Texts,” April 19, 1967.
4. Charles E. Curran and Robert E. Hunt, Dissent In and For the Church, Sheed & Ward, 1969.
5. William H. Shannon, The Lively Debate: Response to Humanae Vitae, Sheed & Ward, 1970.
6. Statement of the Canadian Bishops on the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, September 27, 1968.
7. John Horgan, Humanae Vitae and the Bishops, Irish University Press, 1972.
8. Andrew Greeley, The American Catholic: A Social Portrait, Basic Books, 1977.
9. William D. Antonio, “The American Catholic Laity in 1999,” National Catholic Reporter, October 29, 1999.
10. Andrew Greeley “American Catholics Since the Council,” Thomas Moore, 1985, p. 81.
11. Avery Dulles, “Humanae Vitae and the Crisis of Dissent,” Origins, April 22, 1993.
12. National Catholic Reporter, “Pope Takes Firm Stand on Contraception Issue,” October 7, 1983.
13. Wanderer, “Pope Warns Theologians not to Question Ban on Contraception,” November 24, 1988.
14. Bernard Haring, “Does God Condemn Contraception?” Commonweal, February 10, 1989.
15. Herbert Vorgrimler, ed. Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, v.5, 1976