Phazzan Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 An interesting question was posed to Cardinal George Pell on an Australian radio station the other day. The question was in regards to the AIDS dilemma that is affecting the worldwide community, particulalry in Africa. The question was "if a mother of three children in Africa remains faithful to her husband, yet he doesn't and contracts AIDS in a extra-martial affair, should she be allowed to use contraception to protect herself from the disease?". The best Pell could answer was "no" but he did commend the bravery of the woman should ever such an event occur (and I'm sure it has). So what is the Catholic Churches stance on a situation like this (hypothetically speaking)? Surely, there must be some way for this woman to protect herself from contracting this debilitating disease without sinning. I think for this woman to engage further in sexual intercourse without protecting herself in some way would be a sin in itself, because she would be exposing herself to the risk of contracting this disease, without taking necessary precautions for prevention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fides_et_Ratio Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 (edited) If there were such an event... why would the woman need/want to pursue further sexual intercourse with her husband? And even besides the point... we are not animals, we don't need sex. Abstinence is not an unwise answer. Edited December 21, 2004 by Fides_et_Ratio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madonna Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 That's easier to say. I know of couples that have overcome unfaithfulness and restored their marriage. A huge part of being married is renewing the wedding vows through sex. It's beautiful. It's not "animalistic" to have sex. I don't think that the question even is that neither can control themselves. It's got to be rough not to be able to renew the oneness one has with his or her spouse. That's a tough question. I don't know what I would say. The AIDS virus isn't always transmitted though. It would be rare that it wasn't. I say that if he still loves his wife and repents for his affair, the loving thing would not to expose his wife to his illness. They would probably have to live as brother and sister, but the choice is theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewmeister2 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 While I am not able to give you any document to back up what I am about to say, I do trust the person who gave me this information (a theology teacher I had a few years back, who was a Seminarian). He said that condoms do not protect against AIDS, because the fibers in the latex have big gaps, which allows the smaller AIDS virus to pass through. So you could still get AIDS, even with this form of contraception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apotheoun Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 She would not be required to have sexual intercourse with her husband, but neither may she do that which is objectively evil (i.e., using contraceptives) in order to achieve a good end. The ends do not justify the means. God bless, Todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phazzan Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 [quote name='Fides_et_Ratio' date='Dec 21 2004, 10:35 AM'] If there were such an event... why would the woman need/want to pursue further sexual intercourse with her husband? And even besides the point... we are not animals, we don't need sex. Abstinence is not an unwise answer. [/quote] Surely not, but I was under the impression if the husband wants se.x and the woman refuses she commits mortal sin, but perhaps there are times when the woman is within her rights to refuse sex. [quote]While I am not able to give you any document to back up what I am about to say, I do trust the person who gave me this information (a theology teacher I had a few years back, who was a Seminarian). He said that condoms do not protect against AIDS, because the fibers in the latex have big gaps, which allows the smaller AIDS virus to pass through. So you could still get AIDS, even with this form of contraception. [/quote] Though condoms protect against AIDS to an extent, they can fail, be used incorrectly and/or break. So yes, you can still get AIDS from using a condom, but the chances of contracting the disease are at a much lower risk. I don't think condoms are the answer though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fides_et_Ratio Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I did not intend to say that to sex was "animalistic" at all! Only that the thought that we need to have sex is animalistic. What Apotheoun said was what I intended to get at... the woman cannot use an evil means to achieve a good end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fides_et_Ratio Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 [quote name='Phazzan' date='Dec 21 2004, 11:51 AM'] Surely not, but I was under the impression if the husband wants se.x and the woman refuses she commits mortal sin, but perhaps there are times when the woman is within her rights to refuse sex. [/quote] The possibility of contracting AIDS would be reason enough to allow the woman to refuse sex. Not every request of sex is to be granted... only REASONABLE requests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madonna Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I agree with Jillian. That sounds really sketchy. Women are not there to alleviate men's sexual urges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apotheoun Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 [quote name='Phazzan' date='Dec 21 2004, 08:51 AM'] Surely not, but I was under the impression if the husband wants sex and the woman refuses she commits mortal sin, but perhaps there are times when the woman is within her rights to refuse sex. [. . .] [/quote] This is not necessarily the case, the goods of marriage do not outweigh the woman's right to bodily integrity and good health; in other words, she doesn't have to kill herself in order to fulfill her husbands carnal desires. Moreover, if she is a mother, she has a duty to protect her health in order to raise her children. God bless, Todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewmeister2 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Is it really a mortal sin if the woman refuses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oik Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 It is sinful for either spouse to use sex as a punishment. Withholding the marital embrace, unless for the correct reason, could be sinful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madonna Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 (edited) On the flip side, so is forcing sex. Edited December 21, 2004 by Madonna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 [quote name='drewmeister2' date='Dec 21 2004, 01:00 PM'] Is it really a mortal sin if the woman refuses? [/quote] It depends on why she refuses. If a woman consistantly refuses to have sex with her husband, I think that would be considereed breaking the marital bond. Hey Apotheoun what would be the church teaching on this? Inquiring minds want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Yeah, this is interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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