Reflections from Father Maletta

Father Maletta on the Sanctity of Life (10/5/2008 Respect Life Sunday)

"...Never have we seen such abusive criticism directed towards those who believe that life begins at conception and ends with natural death.  In the public forum today, if you speak a pro-life message you are immediately targeted and characterized as some kind of nut and extremist.  So this pro-life Sunday becomes more important than ever before.

But as Catholics, we should not be surprised by the developments.  Forty years ago, when Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Humanae Vitae, which was uniformly criticized, put aside, late night TV comedians made fun of it, it became the but of many jokes.  But in that encyclical, the Pope predicted that the widespread use of artificial contraceptives would lead to an increase in marital infidelity, lessen the regard for women, and a general lowering of moral standards, especially among the young.  Now we look at this 40 years later and social scientists, not necessarily Catholics, attest to the accuracy of his predictions.  As if we were following some bizarre script.  The sexual revolution has produced widespread marital breakdown.  Actually, 52% of all marriages end in divorce.  Think about that.  More marriages fail than succeed these days.  And the statistics do no change when you look at Catholic marriages versus other marriages.  The same exact statistics apply.  And when the family breaks down, all kinds of other things happen..."
Listen to the full homily

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