Quite appropriately in the face of the "Culture Wars" raging around us. the Catholic Church has been very active in explaining and espousing teachings on Faith and Morals, especially those on Marriage and sexual mores which should serve as a guide for Catholics as well as for all people of right moral persuasion. 

A very clear and extensive exposition of these positions was recently published on Zenit:The World Seen From Rome"(www.zenit.org) (ZE 10092501, article 30473).  It is entitled:
"Bishop Laffitte's Address To Couple to Couple League". 
In it, the Bishop describes the Church's support for the married couple, man and woman, within the Sacrament and structure of Marriage.  He points out the Community good that this structure produces, for the present and for future generations.  He stresses the "unitive and intrinsic function" of the marital act within the marriage bond.  And he points out, with abundant references, that ..."the Church has never wavered...." in these positions. 

But there's the rub.  Throughout its long history, the Church has had to bend,  often after decades or even centuries and after wars and atrocities, to the discoveries of Science and to the healthy rational development of Man.  On the current subjects, the Church appears to have decades more to go.  Addressing now only a committed and loving couple, man and woman, within the bonds of Holy Matrimony, the Church gives no credence to the responsible discharge of that couple's duty to procreate, or to the intrinsic value of the sex act between them in constantly reinforcing their personal bond - apart from the immediate likelihood of a pregnancy ensuing each and every time.  At the heart of this discussion, the Church infers or asserts its jurisdiction over such a married couple in their bedroom and in the discharge of their responsibilities as articulated in the relevant sections of the Roman Catholic Catechism.  In my opinion, and as discussed elsewhere in this series of offerings, the Church has no such jurisdiction.  Inferences and assertions will not do.  However, what they will do and have done for many decades, is to alienate and repel so many married couples from their midst during the exact periods of their personal and family formation when such contact and support would be most valuable and lasting.  Specifically, in declaring as intrinsically evil the practice of contraception within the marriage bond in the same pronouncements as the abomination of abortion has literally contributed to "throwing the baby out with the bath water".  That's wrong.  And that "What's Wrong with the Catholic Church..."

GS