Blessed Mother Teresa's Advice Re AIDS and Condoms

What might Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta say about the use of condoms to protect another person from AIDS? What would she say in the case of two homosexuals? Or in the case of a married couple where one spouse has AIDS? Or in the case of a heterosexual couple who are not married?
Some years back a friend of mine wrote to Mother Teresa for the answers to some questions about condom use. She received the following reply from a Priest who had answered at Mother Teresa’s request, Fr Lawrence Abello S.J., a Jesuit who was at that time writing from St Xavier’s College in Calcutta. His powerful reply was also signed at the bottom, with a little message offering prayers, by Mother Teresa. It’s not short but it’s very clear and worth a read for anyone struggling with this issue.
31/8/93
Dear....
The Peace of Christ
Mother Theresa requested me to reply to your letter, dated 9/6/93
Your first question is the following: “What is the teaching of the Catholic Church for a married couple when one partner is H.I.V.+?” You add that “The Catholic Church allows natural family planning, i.e., sexual intercourse that will not lead to conception. Is it therefore wrong to use a condom in order to try to prevent harm to one’s partner?”
The Catholic Church teaches that contraception is an inherent moral evil because contraception falsifies the very meaning of the marital act which MUST EXPRESS THE LOVE OF THE SPOUSES. By the very nature of contraception, at least one of the spouses must manipulate self to destroy the power to conceive. This self-manipulation necessarily turns attention to self (i.e. is narcissistic), whereas, to be an expression of love, the marital act should turn attention to the spouse. To posit any act which, in its very nature, turns attention to self, falsifies the marital act and is, therefore, an abuse of a gift of God, which can never be morally justified.
In other words, the marital act can be an unreserved, total self-giving only if there is no deliberate manipulation of self to destroy the power to conceive – as happens in contraception. Being a self-manipulation to destroy the power to conceive, contraception necessarily is a narcissistic act which falsifies the expression of conjugal love by the marital act. Thereby, contraception is inherently evil.
Pope John Paul II expresses this narcissistic element of contraception as follows: “When couples, by means of recourse to contraception, separate these two meanings (i.e. the unitive and pro-creative), they manipulate and degrade human sexuality by altering the value of total self-giving. Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. When, instead, by means of recourse to phases of infertility, the couple respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meaning of human sexuality, they are acting as ministers of God’s plan and they benefit from their sexuality according to the original dynamism of total self-giving, without manipulation or alteration.” (Familiaris Consortio, by Pope John Paul II, No 32.)
Note that the reason why contraception is wrong is not that conception does not take place, but that a SELF-MANIPULATION is deliberately posited to destroy the power to conceive. Obviously, even when the married couple know that conception is not possible, they may perform an infertile marital act, as happens, not only during the infertile phases in cases of natural family planning, but also during pregnancy and in old age.
Note also that, even though a couple could not conceive a child for other reasons, such as old age, they may not use a condom or any other device to prevent the spread of AIDS. Being a self-manipulation, the use of any such device necessarily is a narcissistic act which falsifies the expression of conjugal love by the marital act. Thereby, the use of any such device is inherently evil and may never be morally justified for any reason whatsoever.
In short, the reason why contraception is wrong, i.e., self-manipulation in connection with the sexual act, applies equally to the use of a condom which merely “prevents” the spread of AIDS and is not strictly a contraceptive because the couple can not conceive for other reasons. When the “couple” are both men, there is not only the inherent evil of self-manipulation in using the condom; there is also the inherent evil of homosexual relations.
In the case of the married couple, it must be pointed out that marriage does not confer an unlimited right to sexual relations. Far from it. There is a right to the marital act only when it is an expression of love. For an H.I.V.+ person to have sexual relations with his or her spouse can never be an expression of love because – condom or no condom – such relations always have a certain risk of transmitting the lethal AIDS virus. The only loving and moral solution for the couple, when one spouse is H.I.V.+, is to live like brother and sister.
In his Encyclical ‘Humanae Vitae,’ Pope Paul VI teaches that “any action is prohibited which has, as its purpose, to impede procreation regardless of whether such an action is posited before, during or after the conjugal act. Nor may one adduce as valid arguments (to justify contraceptive acts) either that one must choose what appears to be a lesser evil or that these (contraceptive) acts participate in the moral goodness of fertile acts already posited or to be posited” – cf. ‘Humanae Vitae’ No.14.
Those who propose the “lesser evil” argument, i.e., that the use of a condom is a “lesser evil” than the spread of AIDS, never distinguish moral evil from physical evil. The use of a condom for whatever reason is a moral evil, i.e., the violation of the Sixth Commandment, whereas, death as such, even from AIDS, is a physical evil. The Catholic will accept the Church’s official teaching that, knowingly and willingly, to violate any of the Ten Commandments always involves personal sin. Basing herself on the true sense of the infinite evil of sin inasmuch as it is an offense against the Infinite God, and also basing herself on the witnessing of the martyrs, the Church teaches that no good end can ever morally justify the violation of any of the Ten Commandments.
Moreover, quite apart from the morality, on the purely practical level distributing condoms as a protection from AIDS gives false hopes. The use of the condom is not at all a complete protection against AIDS. The condom has a significant failure rate even as a contraceptive and, from recent literature which did not give reference to the scientific sources, the AIDS virus is 450 times smaller than a sperm! Whatever be the accuracy of this figure, distributing condoms to stop the spread of AIDS involves implicit approval of deviant sexual behaviour because one is formally cooperating to overcome the problems to practice such behaviour. Hence by distributing condoms one is promoting the addictive use of sex, i.e., contraception, and the other perversions which turn the attention inwards to self, reduce sexual relations to a habit which, like narcotic-drug habit, has to be fed. Cf. The literature of ‘Sexaholics Anonymous’.
Consequently, although the use of a sterilized syringe to inject oneself with a narcotic drug, or the use of a condom, may prevent the spread of AIDS in concrete acts to feed the drug or sex habit, promoting such practices promotes the behavior patterns which led to the AIDS problem in the first place. After all, addicts will feed the drug or sex habit even when a sterilized needle or a condom is not available. Hence, even from a purely practical point of view, distributing condoms as a protection from AIDS gives false hopes. Such an approach to control the spread of AIDS is based on an erroneous position, i.e., that one can control the diseases spread by addictions by means of protective devices which promote the addictive behaviour.
From all that has been stated above, it follows that a person working in an AIDS Center may not formally cooperate in the evil of homosexual relations, or of contraception-type heterosexual acts (e.g., between spouses) by having anything to do with the distribution of condoms. Likewise, the person working in such a Center may not formally cooperate in the evil of drug abuse by distributing sterilized syringes to drug addicts to avoid the spread of AIDS. Such an AIDS worker must SUFFER the AIDS-related deaths that addicts inflict upon themselves instead of FORMALLY COOPERATING in the moral evil of degrading the addict further by helping him to solve his problems in practising the addictive behaviour. In this connection, we must remind ourselves that God permits or suffers evil but never commits it, and we are called to be God-like. We must also remind ourselves that the highest value of a person is to reach eternal life. Cooperating in degrading the addict further, by formally cooperating in fostering “safe sex” or “safe drugs”, jeopardizes the addict’s eternal life and is a much greater evil than death – such cooperation is not true compassion.
You may reproduce and pass on this letter to whomever you wish. I shall be happy to answer any further questions you may have.
Sincerely in Christ,
The letter is then signed by Fr Lawrence Abello, S.J.
Below this is added in handwriting: I will pray for you God bless you M Teresa MC

Support the pro-life work of The Good Counsel Network through prayer, or donate to our work.

Clare McCullough

Our Lady's Promise to End Abortion -Join Our Total Consecration to Mary Now

"In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph", Our Lady predicted at Fatima. Therefore we can be assured that is is true. Yet until that triumph is complete, it is clear that the closest that we can come personally, in our families, and as a Church, to the peace we can expect from the arrival of her heart's triumph is to live out her requests at Fatima.
Much ink has already been used in the various arguments about whether or not Russia has been consecrated to Our Lady. I shall not enter that debate here, but what I will say is that rather than point the finger at what someone else has or hasn't done I should examine the way I personally fulfill Our Lady's requests.
"When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world by means of war, hunger and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If people attend to my requests, Russia will be converted and the world will have peace. If not, Russia will spread its errors throughout the world, fomenting wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer and various nations will be annihilated..." (source "Fatima: The Great Sign" by Francis Johnston. My emphasis added in bold.)
Sr Lucia saw a light in the night sky in 1938, on 25th January in April the same year Germany invaded and took control of Austria, the following year the Second World War broke out. We tend not to see communism as much of an influence on the Western world today. Yet the roots of the anti-God and specifically anti-Catholic secularist movement - which came to the fore when the Pope visited the UK recently for example - has it's roots in the same soil as communism. The annihilation of nations happens nowhere with such huge numbers and such a relentless appetite as in abortion. As a Counsellor I know only too well that atheism - or the kind of pratical atheism which sadly many nominal Catholics live - results in an inability to recognise the infinitely precious and irreplaceable nature of the unborn child.
The fact remains then, that to prevent the annihilation of various nations Our blessed Mother requests not just the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, but also the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays.
Do I make the first five Saturdays? Do I offer a total Consecration of myself and my life to Jesus, through Mary? And if not then I must realise that I am part of the cause of the annihilation of nations, rather than the solution.
Whatever else I do as a Catholic, whatever pious works and practices, I must consider that if the Blessed Mother was sent to earth to warn me and my fellow Catholics, and the world as a whole, and to offer us a solution, I should not be so arrogant - or even more likely -so lazy - as to fail to implement any part of it that I can.
Join us in making the Total Consecration of Our Lives to Jesus, through Mary. Read about the Consecration and the 30 Day preparation period by following this link . You can find all the readings and preparatory prayers on that site too (If you prefer it in book form you can obtain it in book form from Montfort Press. 28, Burbo Bank Rd, Liverpool, Merseyside L23 6TH. Tel: 0151 287 6862) . We begin on Sunday the 20th February and end by making the Consecration on March 25th, Feast of the Annunciation.

Please email us or contact us through the comments box to let us know if you are joining with us in the Total Consecration.

Clare McCullough

Urgent! National Day of Prayer & Fasting for Life

Once a month the Good Counsel Network has a National Day of Prayer & Fasting for Life. As the unseen mass slaughter of abortion and euthanasia goes on around us day in day out, it is easy to become a bit laid back about the evils of this world. But not so this month, the Fast Day is Thursday 10th February, Vigil of the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. MP Chris Bryant’s private member’s bill to make sex and relationships education (SRE) compulsory in all schools is due for second reading this Friday, 11th February.

We also have the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists launching a consultation on their proposed guidelines for the care of women requesting induced abortion with a deadline of 18th February.

So please join us each month in Prayer and Fasting for Life:
Fasting
Fast from all food except bread and water for the day
Or
Fast from a particular food or luxury, e.g. chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, TV.
Fast from whatever you can given your state of health etc, but make sure it is something that involves a sacrifice to yourself.
Prayer
We are asking people to say a Rosary (or an extra Rosary if you say it daily already).
You could also offer an extra effort such as going to Mass (or an extra Mass) on the day, or going to Adoration. You can even pray before a closed tabernacle if Adoration is not available near you.

Normal People Kneel in the Street

So there I was, one day last week counselling outside marie stopes house, now an abortuary, in Whitfield Street. The weather forecaster had said that it would be 2 or 3 degrees, but feel like minus 2 or 3 degrees due to the wind chill factor! I was moving around trying to keep warm with little effect, when Flora, who was praying on the other side of the road, was joined by a little old lady.
I don't know if it was the Sorrowful Mysteries or the Stations of the Cross they were saying, but the little old lady knelt down for a very long time on the very cold pavement. If you have not spent an hour or two praying outside an abortuary I cannot explain just how cold the floor really is. And then a little while later they were joined by Eddie, and then they were all kneeling & praying in the street in the middle of London.
I had to stop feeling sorry for myself then. In spite of what everyone passing by may have thought, they were the three sanest people in that street.
Making reparation for the deaths of the countless children being killed by 'doctors' every day in this 'clinic' and the six other private 'clinics' around London, is in fact normal!

Stuart McCullough

RCOG Guidelines Want All Medics to Deny Abortion Has Serious Risks

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has launched a consultation on their proposed guidelines for the care of women requesting induced abortion. You can view it here or if you have trouble with this link paste this into your browser: http://www.rcog.org.uk/files/rcog-corp/TheCareOfWomenRequestingInducedAbortion_PeerReviewDraft_Jan2011.pdf

Amongst many little gems of information, this document says the following:
Women should be informed that induced abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer.
Women should be informed that there are no proven associations between induced abortion and subsequent ectopic pregnancy, placenta praevia or infertility.
Women should be informed that induced abortion is associated with a small increase in risk of subsequent preterm birth, which increases with the number of abortions.
Women should be informed that most women who have abortions do not experience adverse psychological sequelae.


I invite you to have a look around many pro-life sites offering the testimonies of women who have had abortions to discern for yourself how true any of that is. See here and here to start with and why not have a look here while you are about it.

And have I read this wrongly or could the RCOG be suggesting that it is ok to use abortion "medicines" at gestations for which they are unlicensed?
P66: "* The dose of mifepristone (200 mg) recommended for medical abortion at all gestations is unlicensed. Similarly, misoprostol is unlicensed for induction of abortion at any gestation and via all routes of administration, nor is it licensed for cervical preparation. Women undergoing medical abortion or cervical preparation should be informed of this but reassured that these regimens are evidence-based, safe, and widely used."

Lastly, a heart-rendingly tragic comment:
"RECOMMENDATION 64 Feticide should be performed before medical abortion after 21 weeks and 6 days gestation to ensure that there is no risk of a live birth.
(and then from: Evidence supporting recommendation 64)
Inducing fetal death before medical abortion may have beneficial emotional, ethical and legal consequences. The RCOG guidance on Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality (published in 2010) clearly explains the legal situation around late stage abortions (chapter 2)7. Where a decision to abort a pregnancy after 21 weeks and 6 days is taken, feticide should be routinely offered."





Please read the guidelines, they will provide you with lots of information about current abortion practise. But also please ask all your friend who are Doctors, Nurses, Midwives and healthcare professionals to respond to them. The closing date for submissions is February 18th.

Clare McCullough

“I was nearly aborted, but I escaped, I must give my baby the freedom to live.”

The night before her abortion, ‘Jackie’ stayed up all night, and kept asking herself if she could go through the abortion. "My boyfriend has lived with someone else for three years, and has been seeing me on the side. I can’t have a baby whose father lives with another woman." In the early morning, she looked at the dawn and thought "I must go through the abortion, it would be very inconvenient for my boyfriend if I have this baby. His girlfriend will hate me for having his baby..."

For the millionth time ‘Jackie’ studied the abortion forms that her doctor had given her. She asked herself: "What if my mother had got these forms and aborted me?"

Going to the clinic, she saw some people standing outside, and thought that the clinic was busy; lots of women were coming out... As she got closer, she saw that they were praying, and thought: "This is my sign. People are praying that I won’t have the abortion. They are praying for my baby..."

Jackie came to our centre for detailed counselling and to make plans for the help she would need to keep the baby. At the start of our time together, she said, ‘I might still have the abortion. It doesn’t feel right having five kids on my own, with no father around.’ We talked about her own family background, and how her father had been a very mercurial figure, coming home for times but living with other women when he felt like it. Jackie’s mother had still had ten children by him – “twice as many as I’ll have if I keep this one” – said Jackie. Jackie had been her mother’s tenth pregnancy, conceived before her father left them for good.

“My mother was really desperate when she was having me, she had nine small boys at home, and my father had beaten her. She was bringing us up on her own with so little money. She nearly aborted me when she was heavily pregnant with me, but she trusted in God and asked God that I would be the child that would look after her. When she was dying, I was the only one with her.” This was very painful for Jackie to talk about, but she conceded, “I can go to the clinic, and get someone else to get rid of the baby, but if I don’t walk in there, the baby will live. You can pretend it’s not you that’s doing the abortion because the doctor signs the forms and the nurse knocks you out, because you’re still the mother who is handing over your baby. I was nearly aborted, but I escaped, I must give my baby the freedom to live.”

May we ask your continued prayers for ‘Jackie’.

Mary O'Regan

Congratulations To Clare & Stuart

Congratulations to Clare & Stuart McCullough of Good Counsel, who celebrate their tenth Wedding anniversary today. (Photo of flowers from staff & volunteers)