Polishprince
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- Jun 8, 2016
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- #61
Before abortion was even an issue, Pope Paul VI was praying over the decision about introducing birth control pills to the Catholic faith. In the Catholic faith, new life is seen as one of God's greatest gifts to mankind. Family life is also considered central to faith as it is our first example of community life and from there life in the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ are all those who believe in Christ--both the living and those who have passed on. This is our life centered around God.
Pope Paul prayed for guidance from the Holy Spirit. And what he saw was sex being taken from the context of family life into recreational sex outside of family life. (Fire in a fireplace good; wild fire, not so much.) But what he saw extended further. Sex would no longer be centered on new life, but recreational pleasure with no concern for life. And where there is no concern for life, comes dismissal of life, not only through abortion but with euthanasia as well. God is life. With the dismissal of life comes the dismissal of God who is life, who brings life.
With the breakdown of the family comes the breakdown of community, which brings fractures into the Church, into the Body of Christ.
The world has seen this before with the breakdown of Empires. The Roman Empire is a prime example. Worldly pleasures and recreation took priority over spiritual realities and kingdom living. Throughout Biblical history, what ultimately survives and what failure brings pain and suffering? People/communities of faith survive through times of famine and war. Worldly pleasures descend into a world of hurt.
That, while in prayer, is what Pope Paul VI envisioned, and so in good conscience could not approve birth control for Catholics. He envisioned a slippery slope that would not end well for the people.
Birth control was prohibited in the RCC long before Paul VI came around.