Published: 2019-02-12

The Evangelical and Catholic Teaching about Contraception as a Disputed Area of Ecumenical Dialogue

Janusz Podzielny
Studia Oecumenica
Section: Dialogi ekumeniczne i procesy integracyjne
DOI https://doi.org/10.25167/SOe/18/2018/317-332

Abstract

The aim of this study is to look at the problem of contraception in the ecumenical context. A special occasion for such reflection is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication by Pope Paul VI the Humanae vitae encyclical on the regulation of birth (1968). It is known that the Catholic Church in its official statements completely differently evaluates the use of contraceptives than the Evangelical Churches. Evangelicals, like other Protestant communities, already in the 1930s accepted contraception as a form of responsible spouses’ approach to parenthood. In the Catholic Church, contraceptive methods are treated as wicked, opposed to the morality of a marriage act. The subject of contraception is therefore still a controversial area of ecumenical dialogue. Nevertheless, the statements of some theologians or Catholic bishops referring to the teaching of Pope Francis may perhaps change something in this matter.

Keywords:

Evangelical theological ethics, Catholic moral theology, contraception, ecumenical dialogue

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Citation rules

Podzielny, J. (2019). The Evangelical and Catholic Teaching about Contraception as a Disputed Area of Ecumenical Dialogue. Studia Oecumenica, 18, 317–332. https://doi.org/10.25167/SOe/18/2018/317-332

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