Good Questions, Good Answers

Infertility & Adoption

Dear Catholic Exchange:

Very interesting website! Can you please display some articles or information regarding what is acceptable in the Catholic Church as far as infertility treatments? Do you have any information about the GIFT method and is this acceptable?

Please e-mail me any resources you may have.

Thanks so much,

Mary Ann

Dear Mary Ann:

Thank you for your inquiry. Here are some comprehensive resources for you, the second of which states that the GIFT method is still under discussion and has neither been approved nor disapproved as of yet by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:

http://personal.boo.net/~desloge/infertile_catholic.html

http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/issues/nfp/treatment.htm

http://www.popepaulvi.com/catholic1.htm

A very highly regarded clinic is the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, NE, which is the third link above.

Best of luck and we hope you continue to utilize our services.

God Bless,

Tom Allen

Editor

Catholic Exchange

Dear Tom:

Thanks for your quick response on sending me the informational websites! It was hard to find the information otherwise. I will tell others about Catholic Exchange. Would you happen to have any Catholic adoption websites? I think that will be all of my questions for now.

Thank you and God Bless,

Mary Ann 🙂

Dear Mary Ann:

Happy to be of assistance. You should call the chancery of your diocese to learn about the Catholic Charities adoption service in your area. Here are some additional leads for Catholic adoption services, which should serve as good points of departure.

http://www.cssnc.org/westernOffice.cfm?CurrentModule=1&Table=WesternOffice

http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/cc/AdoptionServices.htm

http://www.cssalaska.org/p_adopt.html

http://www.catholiccharities.org/childplace.html

Mary Ann, if you would be so kind as to participate in our Monthly Donor Campaign we would greatly appreciate it. We have the opportunity to revolutionize the Catholic Church with our unique information services, which you know to be very valuable. However, if we're not supported by our users, we will no longer be in existence after this year. This is a critical time in which we're making the adjustment to non-profit status. Please help us cover our modest overhead with a monthly donation so that thousands worldwide can continue to be served by Catholic Exchange.

Thanks and God Bless,

Tom Allen

Editor

Catholic Exchange

Note: See article on adoption and President Bush's declaration of November as National Adoption Month in today's Teen Life Channel.

Is the Pope the Head of the Church?

Dear Catholic Exchange:

Paragraph IV of Chapter 25 of the Historic Westminster Confession of Faith reads as follows:

“There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God.”

How do you answer that?

Peter Smith

Dear Peter:

I think it's silly. But the Framers of the Confession are entitled to their opinion. The dead rhetoric of 16th Century polemicists is fun to read, but rather wildly out of touch with the obvious sanctity (and, I might add, orthodoxy) of John Paul II.

As to the claim that the Pope is “head” of the Church, you need to be aware that Catholics have Ephesians in their Bibles as much as you do and, of course, acknowledge Jesus Christ as head of the Church. It's a good idea to know what the Church you are criticizing actually believes, not merely what its opponents say it believes, before issuing challenges.

Suggested reading: Ut Unum Sint.

Blessings!

Mark Shea

Writer/Editor

Catholic Exchange

They Know Not What They Do&#0151Not Always the Case

Dear Catholic Exchange:

I would ask Mr. Fitzpatrick [“Love Your Enemy”] what Christ meant when he said on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” It seems to me that if we are called to be like Christ that our prayer must be like Christ's and although I believe that we must defend ourselves and our families, we must also “forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Thank you,

Phil Kelley

Dear Mr. Kelly:

I insist that not every evildoer is in the category of those who “know not what they do.” If that were the case there would be no need for contrition, the sacrament of Penance — or Hell. And Jesus warned repeatedly of the danger of Hell.

I stand by the old aphorism that “even God cannot forgive an unrepentant sinner,” and that “loving those who hate us” means wishing and praying for their conversion, not forgiving them while they are in the process of doing us harm. Forgiveness requires repentance and sorrow for our sins and a determination to sin no more — as we know from the words used in absolution during the sacrament of Penance. The Church teaches that God does not forgive until those conditions are met.

Sincerely,

James K. Fitzpatrick

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