Newsworthy News

This is a rather encouraging article:

Bishops Stand Firm on Birth Control

It is not encouraging because of its subject (I knew that already) but because of the manner in which it says it. The author spends no effort attacking the Church. Rather, he seems to talk only about the issues people have missed. My favorite quote:

"But Catholic Church teaching doesn't change based on statistics, even if that teaching is ignored for a couple of generations."

In many ways it is less about birth control per se and more about the idea of the teaching authority of the Church, that the Bishops and the Church teach the same thing for generations.

The article also includes quotes from Christopher West of the Theology of the Body Institute, probably the best known name in America about TotB.

What was particularly stunning was the lack of refutal of the Church's position. The only 'negative' quote came from a professor of moral theology who simply said that people have already made up their minds and will not change them. No source was brought into to show how the Church is harming the world.

Overall, I was very surprised by this article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, carried by the Washington Post. It is a wonderfully simply explanation of the workings of the Magisterium, at least on this side of the pond.