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Friday, December 18, 2015

Vatican cardinal: I shouldn’t have used the term ‘birth control’

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Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
December 17, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – After sparking controversy during a BBC interview outside the UN climate change talks in Paris last week, Cardinal Peter Turkson is regretting use of the term “birth control” when what he meant was spacing of births or “responsible parenthood.” Speaking to Aleteia’s Diane Montagna, Cardinal Turkson said, “When I used the phrase ‘birth control,’ what I had in mind was the Church’s own traditional teaching about responsible parenthood. So wherever anyone reads ‘birth control’ in the BBC interview, they should understand it as meaning ‘responsible parenthood.’”

During the BBC interview, Turkson, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said that “birth control” could “offer a solution” to the impacts of climate change. "This has been talked about," he said, "and the Holy Father on his trip back from the Philippines also invited people to some form of birth control, because the church has never been against birth control and people spacing out births and all of that. So yes, it can offer a solution."

Cardinal Turkson explained to Aleteia that the BBC reporter had used the expression “birth control” and he was responding in kind, but “my intention was to present the Church as not inimical or opposed to the idea of spacing births,” he said. READ MORE HERE

REMNANT COMMENT: Can you imagine the Cardinal making this sort of mistake with other hot-button issues? For example, what if he'd told the BBC:  "Marriage is between one man and one woman, and these here faggots are straight up wrong to say otherwise."

A few days later..."When I called these good folks 'faggots' I was only responding in kind, and didn't at all mean to seem insensitive to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters."

What then?  "No worries, Eminence. Nobody's perfect. No harm, no foul!" 

Yeah, right!  


Why do they always get a pass on massively scandalous "mistakes" such as these? And, really, how does a prince of the Church--an intelligent man--trot out the term "birth control" when speaking about the pope's position during an interview with the BBC and not think: "Gee, I'd better be careful here."?

It's always the same routine: Not until some faithful Catholic whistle blower freaks out do they suddenly feel the need to walk back their outrageous "mistakes".  Seems kind of ridiculous to me, but, then again, at least he walked it back this time. Five years from now?  No way!

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Last modified on Friday, December 18, 2015
Michael J. Matt | Editor

Michael J. Matt has been an editor of The Remnant since 1990. Since 1994, he has been the newspaper's editor. A graduate of Christendom College, Michael Matt has written hundreds of articles on the state of the Church and the modern world. He is the host of The Remnant Underground and Remnant TV's The Remnant Forum. He's been U.S. Coordinator for Notre Dame de Chrétienté in Paris--the organization responsible for the Pentecost Pilgrimage to Chartres, France--since 2000.  Mr. Matt has led the U.S. contingent on the Pilgrimage to Chartres for the last 24 years. He is a lecturer for the Roman Forum's Summer Symposium in Gardone Riviera, Italy. He is the author of Christian Fables, Legends of Christmas and Gods of Wasteland (Fifty Years of Rock ‘n’ Roll) and regularly delivers addresses and conferences to Catholic groups about the Mass, home-schooling, and the culture question. Together with his wife, Carol Lynn and their seven children, Mr. Matt currently resides in St. Paul, Minnesota.