How the world saw birth control ruling

BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
THE Encyclical on birth control released on onday was received with
n ixed feelings round the odd. While it came as no sI1rprise to conservatives. it as seen as a great setback b,' the liberal wing of the hurch,
In the Uonki e do f States N ew Ayrocrhk b sIho pco
i s id: "The decree is an authorit• tive teaching of the part of i e Pope. Those who would p blicly teach against it would a least be guilty of disobedi e ce and a violation of faith."
In Washington a group of p tests, claiming to represent 1 2 out of 362 diocesan priests.
s id they could not follow a' d rective which "gives no room f r either opinion regarding t e practice of contraception o the right of conscience so c arty enunciated in the docuents of Vatican II."
Dr. Lippe, creator of the oop" contraceptive device, id he did not think the decree uld make any difference in rth-control programmes cur' r ntly under way in a number countries.
Dr. Billy Graham, the evan g list, said that the Pope's deci ion could adversely affect t e ecumenical movement because most Protestants strongly' supported birth control. "We rued some kind of population control or we'll find pressures building up which will explode the world."
Returning from Tanzania, were he had attended the centennial of the Catholic Cuirch, Cardinal Alfrink of H011arld. told journalists that h4 considered the Papal Enc 'heal letter an authoritative st tement. though not an inf lible one."
In the personal decision in m tters of morality, he said. thj individual conscience must b4 formed, therefore one stould read the Encyclical c refully.
DUTCH MEETING he Dutch Bishops are so c ncerned about the Encyclical th t they are to meet in a fortni ht's time to decide on a C mmon standpoint.
Bishop Zwartkruis of Haarle pointed to what Vatican II sa d about Papal statements. he faithful must accept the P pe's words in reverence even w en he is not speaking exc. hedrn."
Mgr. Ruygers and Mgr. J. Van Laarhoven, Vicar-Gener Is of Hertogenbosch and Breda. said: "The new birthcointrol Encyclical of Pope Paul does not alter the 'pasto -al practice' that has come a out after years of dis
c sions. It means that de ci ions on this question are a m tter of the conscience of the m rried couples themselves." his was also signed by the
D rector of the Pastoral Institu e of the Dutch Church P vince Dr. W. Goddijn. 0. .M.. the Secretary-Director of1 the Catholic Centre for P ,chic Health. Dr. C. Kuitenbr uwer and Prof, Dr. C. P. S rkenaa. who heads the M rriage and Family-Cornmission sion of the Dutch Pastoral Ccjuncil.
signor Luigi Demarchi. se retary of Italy's Planned P renthood Association. described the Encyclical as incomprehensible because all ler Churches had already
recognised that the pill was compatible with Christian morality.
Mgr. Ruygers said on television that many Catholic couples would use the Papal Encyclical to reconsider their point of view regarding birth control. "But they will not, after this conscientious counselling, alter tomorrow what they did yesterday."
Fr. C'. P. Sporken. one of the most prominent priests in this field in the Netherlands, said in the same TV programme that the Pope's Encyclical was not in line with the fundamental opinions on marriage from the Vatican Council. "11 is a most remarkable declaration. It puts the question back 15 years."
Mgr. J. A. Van Laarhoven, Vicar-General of Hertogenbosch, said that the Pope should have asked the world episcopate before the Bishops' Synod last autumn, when he was already about to formulate his statement. However, the last decision in moral affairs lies with the consciences of the people themselves.
Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angeles. said: "Our Holy Father has given the world a positive expression of fundamental principles of morality. Such a positive expression is refreshing in an age which has grown confused by the changing and subjective theories of situational ethics and morality."
Meanwhile, the New York Time.% regretted the Pope's continued stand against birth control. The Pope, it said in an editorial, "has been among the most passionate pleaders for peace and for human dignity in the modern world. It is tragically ironic. therefore, that this Pope may be most remembered for an Encyclical that can only serve to strengthen the twin evils of war and poverty against which he has so courageously spoken."
"DOUBTFUL TEACHING" Fr. Hans Kung. the Swiss theologian, provided Catholic liberals with a rationale for disagreeing with the Pope's view that "every matrimonial act must remain open to the transmission of life."
Fr. Kong points out that it is a settled principle of Catholic moral theology that "a doubtful teaching does not oblige."
In Brazil, the largest Catholic country, a spokesman for Cardinal de Barris Camara of Rio de Janeiro, said the Pope's decision must be accepted as "law" by all Catholics.
In Switzerland Fr. Jakob David. Si_ head of the Zurich Apologetic Institute, said it could not be regarded as an infallible statement.
Bishop Mariano Gabiola, secretary-general of the Philippines BishopS' Conference, said the Church.i which has been fighting a number of family planning programmes, would mount a broad campaign to make the Encyclical known.
Fr. Martelet, Si., a French religious specialist on birth control said the Encylical would "prove unacceptable to some people." The Pope was not pronouncing a judgment of law but a moral judgment. "This moral teaching is not a constraint, but an appeal." It was a prophetic appeal for a more authentic love.
"REAL DOUBT"
The Canadian theologian, Fr. Gregory Baum. said there was indisputably "real doubt in the Catho ic Church" about the validity of a moral dis tinction . between so-called "natural" neans (rhythm method) and 'artificial" means (contraceptiv s) of regulating births.
He points ut that the effort to draw su h a distinction, which the Pope repeats, has been repudiated by most of the world's leading Catholic theologians and by a majority of the Pope's own special inter national commission of experts.
Since members of the Hierarchy, scholars and the people themselves are clearly "not in agreement" on birth control, Fr. Baum argues, the Pope's decision cannot be regarded as "a definitive I interpretation of Divine Law binding under all ci rcu nista nceS."
"AN ADVANCE" In Spain Archbishop Morelli° of Madrid said the En cyclical represented an "advance" in 'Catholic doctrine on the grounds that it "exalted" the woman in her personal dignity as "a wife" and invited scientists to dpvise a safe birthcontrol system using the rhythm method.
In an effort to promote support for the Encyclical among the Spanish working classes. the Archbishop called on the Government and industry to ensure that the workers' wages increased as their families grew.
The Young Workers' Catholic Action Movement, the most ardent supporter of liberalising the Spanish Church, maintained a stony silence on the Encyclical. I Bishop E dez Arceo. of Cucrnevca, Mexico. instructed priests not 0 withhold the sacraments f om any couple which reache a conscientious decision to u e contraceptives.