Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

WCR Letters to the Editor

Youth want Catholic truth

Does Father Ron Rolheiser know what the nature and purpose of sexuality really are? In his article (WCR, Feb. 27), he does not mention the primary purpose of sex (that is, the procreation and education of children) once.

The impression one gets from the article is children have nothing to do with sex, in other words, that there is no procreative dimension to the conjugal act.

This is a result of the dissent with Humanae Vitae and widespread acceptance of contraception and sterilization even among Catholics, including bishops, priests and theologians.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that contraception and sterilization are intrinsically evil (that is, evil in and of themselves regardless of intent or circumstances) because they directly contradict the cooperation of the spouses with the eternal fatherhood of God by closing to the conjugal act to the procreation of a new human being, a human being destined not for this world alone but ultimately for heaven, where he will enjoy the beatific vision and be perfectly united to God in a way that transcends all human comprehension.

Contraception and sterilization undermine the other dimension of the marriage act (the unitive dimension, by which the spouses express their spiritual communion with and complete self-giving to one another) because in them the spouses hold something back - their fertility - and thus destroy the possibility of mutual, entire self-giving.

Dissent on contra-conception is present in the Canadian Bishops' dissident Winnipeg Statement of 1968, of which Bishop Emmett Carter said, "Our statement was definitely meant to indicate to the people of Canada that if they found, as we anticipated, and God knows history has proven us to be correct, that they couldn't follow the directives of the encyclical, then they were not to consider themselves as cut off from the Church."

But John Paul II said, "To hold out for exceptions in the matter of the prohibition of contraceptives as if God's grace were not sufficient is a form of atheism" (Sept. 17, 1983). And this anti-child document still has not been revoked by the bishops of this country!

I do not understand why the Western Catholic Reporter, a newspaper that claims to be Catholic, prints articles which openly dissent with, or at least ignore, Catholic teaching.

I am 16, and I am sick and tired of all the dissent, wishy-washy-feel-good-fluffy-fuzz, and mollity so prevalent in the Church in Canada today: Young people like myself want the truth which comes to us through the magisterium of the Catholic Church, but we are not getting it.

Derek Remus
Coaldale

Let's honour women in our national anthem

Wow!

2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The Canadian government's newly-elected prime minister, MPs, especially those elected in the West, must be proud of the athletes representing Canada and who live in their constituencies.

Think of the photo-ops!

The histrionics!

The paeans of praise!

Yet it all seems to ring hollow when Canadian women athletes stand on the podium and the flag is raised as our national anthem resounds throughout.

Sound hollow?

Yes.

Our national anthem, O Canada, does not honour or recognize the achievements of Canadian women - athletes or members of Canada's Armed Forces.

The first stanza - "true patriot love in all thy sons' command."

Efforts commenced on Dec. 10, 1993 to amend it to read, "true patriot love in all of us command."

Two words.

It proceeded to second reading and then the house prorogued.

How about it Mr. Prime Minister? Especially those MPs from Alberta and British Columbia.

Are you really proud of our women athletes and members of the Armed Forces of Canada?

Give the bill a final reading and give the women the honour and recognition they have earned - the hard way.

Stu Lindop
Edmonton

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