Sterilization and Confession

Regarding the high rate of sterilization among weekly church attendees, among Catholics this may be due to a current confessional policy in which many priests tell penitents that they need to do only their canonical penance but do not have to change their behavior.  That is, they do not have to have a reversal and/or practice abstinence during the fertile time.  This makes the sin of contraceptively sterilized intercourse the only sin of which I am aware that does not require a change of behavior as part of repentance.  Chapter 12 of Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality explains why I think this is erroneous, but I’m still waiting for an invitation to speak publicly on the issue.  This chapter is at our website.

John F Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality (Ignatius)

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