I think something got translated incorrectly by this one reporter on a Church sponsored clinic in Botswana that will not give out condoms.
Father John Corrigan of the Roman Catholic Church in Gaborone reveals that St. Joseph’s clinic is both a mission clinic and a government- aided clinic. He then states that it functions according to the Roman Catholic Holy Act, which does not treat sex lightly.
The Roman Catholic Holy Act? I thought for a minute that this must be some new and unheard of Vatican legislation. As far as I know the only Roman Catholic Holy Act is the one that states "Be holy as your Heavenly Father is holy." It is not often that a Google search turns up only one hit on a search term and in in this case it was this very article.
The next quote from the priest is very strange and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was not what he actually said.
"Sex is a secret and holy act that is meant to be a gift from God to husband and wife. However, with young people engaging in pre-marital sex, we encourage safe sex under two conditions. Don’t get AIDS. Don’t get pregnant," he says.
In another article about the drive to violate the consciences of pharmacists in the state of Washington.
And Marc Brenman, executive director of the state Human Rights Commission, warned in a letter to the board that refusals could be considered gender-based discrimination, which puts pharmacies at risk of civil damages.
So I guess following your correctly formed conscience is not one of the human rights in the state of Washington. Amazing how liberals were such stalwart supporters of following conscience such as supporting conscientious objectors. Following your conscience is fine just as long as it matches my own.
“Suppression of conscience is coercion and discrimination,” argued Jeffery Williams, a pharmacist with Saint Francis Hospital in Federal Way.
Exactly. Just too bad Catholic pharmacist as a whole did not fight against prescribing contraceptives until the debacle of the so-called morning after pill. This would have been a much easier battle to fight previously. The pill has always had a possibility to act as an abortafacient and plan B is just a stronger version.
1 comment
I’ve only just come across your post with the supposed quotation from Father John Corrigan c.p., vicar general of the Diocese of Gaborone, Botswana. I am sure he would be shocked to learn that he was misquoted in a way that could seem to be encouraging sex – “safe” or otherwise – between people who are not married. I remember on my last visit to Botswana being told by Father John that he had been stopped at a police road block. The young policeman who questioned him (-they were looking for escaped prisoners) was curious about priestly celibacy in the Catholic church and asked Father John if that meant that he, as a priest, was not allowed to have a sexual relationship with anyone. “That’s correct”, replied Father John Corrigan, “and neither are you if you are not married”. The article you quoted itself goes on to say “It’s almost a year since Pope Benedict XVI has been elected to sit on Peter’s throne and Father Corrigan says that policies of the church will never change”.