SIR – Tom McIntyre’s letters are always well informed, articulate and thought provoking, but I think his last one (December 2) rather misses the point. Of course the essential nature of marriage has not changed. The question is: has the essential nature of second marriages while the original spouse is still alive changed? Christ himself said such marriages were adulterous. Are we now being asked to redefine adultery – indeed, in some cases to redefine it out of existence? And are we also being asked to set aside on occasion St Paul’s strictures in 1 Corinthians about the unworthy reception of the Eucharist?
Cardinal Schönborn said we were seeing a development of doctrine and cited Blessed John Henry Newman in support. Newman gave seven notes to assist in distinguishing true development from corruptions. The sixth such note says that the development should show “conservative action upon its past”, and in it Newman says quite clearly that “developments which do but contradict and reverse the course of doctrine which has been developed before them, and out of which they spring, are certainly corrupt”.
In the deliberate ambiguity surrounding the practical implementation of Amoris Laetitia it is not difficult to detect such a reversal of doctrine, but I am only a confused layman. We are all of us, not just the four cardinals, owed answers and clarification.
Yours faithfully,
Hugh Dwan
Wokingham, Berkshire
SIR – While one cannot fail to be struck by the compassion and love stated in Misericordia et Misera in relation to post-abortive women and aborters (Report, November 25), the letter’s provisions in this respect raise some fundamental questions.
The structure in place until the Year of Mercy, whereby only bishops could give absolution for such faults, was surely the result of deep reflection as to both the spiritual significance and the sheer physical reality of abortion. Misericordia et Misera provides no rationale as to why this highly long-standing reflection on the part of the Church is now to be permanently set aside.
The letter’s overall spirit of inclusiveness and desire that Christ’s mercy be spread wherever it is truly sought is not of relevance here, given the extremely widespread practice among bishops up to a year ago of delegating the faculty of absolution for abortion to their priests.
The only conclusion that can be drawn is that Pope Francis has deemed that the link which the Church in her wisdom has very long made between the particular nature, abuse and savagery of abortion, and the role of bishops as ultimate granters of absolution thereto, no longer pertains or needs to pertain.
The full meaning, in several senses – political, bodily, psychological and sociological – of abortion is something that the Church herself, and the world, is currently growing in knowledge of, and even among many abortion supporters there is now greater openness as to the facts of this termination of lives.
This journey of growing comprehension on the part of the Church and humanity is generally marked by realisation that abortion is more, not less, serious than might have previously been thought; for this reason alone, the decision in Misericordia et Misera to reduce the significance of abortion in terms of the level in the Church at which absolution for it may be granted, is strangely untimely, and does not have any hallmarks of real progress.
The Church might well come to regret the separation of the terror undergone by huge numbers of unborn people from the apostolic role of bishops.
Yours faithfully,
Jacqueline Richold
Oxford
SIR – I must take issue with Francis Phillips’s recent blog at catholicherald.co.uk, “How feminism betrayed childless women”. She speaks about those career women who leave it too late to settle down and raise children.
Most women, throughout history, have had to work, not as a lifestyle choice, but out of the need to put bread on the table and help to pay the bills. Since the Industrial Revolution, that involved going out to work in factories, shops or in “service” – with such small wages and frequent pregnancies that they depended on a male “breadwinner”. With better and free education for women since the war, women began competing with men in professional and creative occupations and thus have brought down on themselves the word “feminism” used pejoratively.
If women cannot manage to combine children with work it could be simply that our working practices are still geared to suit men, or that their partners or spouses are not sharing the parenting equally. It is still very much a man’s world.
Yours faithfully,
Deborah M Jones
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
SIR – Now that the Year of Mercy has officially drawn to a close, one can only hope that correct teachings of Pope Francis in relation to humility live on and that they are not misinterpreted.
Those familiar with the Dickensian character Uriah Heep will undoubtedly be aware that humility can often be false. But as Pope Francis has taught us, true humility comes from deep within one’s soul. Prayer, humility and charity towards all are essential in the Christian life and they are the true way to holiness.
Now that the Holy Doors of Mercy throughout the world have closed, let us hope that the concept of humility is not closed within the hearts of those of us who chose to immerse ourselves in and embody the Year of Mercy as best we could.
True humility must constantly be at the forefront of our minds if we dare to call ourselves Christians. Surely the best legacy we can give to the Year of Mercy is for us to be truly humble at every opportunity and for us to pray for a greater degree of humility in our increasingly narcissistic society.
Yours faithfully,
Donato Tallo
Eastbourne, East Sussex
SIR – Mary Kenny (November 4) writes about fertility apps. While I welcome the movement of many young women towards the use of their own signs of fertility, the majority of these apps are little better than the 1960s rhythm method, and mislead women about when they are fertile.
They are dangerous for those men and women who do not have a good knowledge of the four signs of fertility. They should be avoided until rigorous trials have been undertaken.
Last year the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists produced Nice guidelines for the several methods of natural family planning, so accepting its validity and efficiency.
It is a little-known fact that the British Pregnancy Advice Service claims that two thirds of all terminations are due to failed contraception: something that pro-life groups would do well to address.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Olive Duddy
By email
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