Some of you may or may not subscribe to Fr. Tom Euteneuer's weekly e-mail newsletter. As President of Human Life International, Fr. Euteneuer is a leading voice in the pro-life movement and a fervent supporter of Pope Paul VI's landmark encyclical, Humanae Vitae. In his latest newsletter, he shares a touching letter from a laicized priest who signed the infamous 1968 protest letter encouraging Catholics to defy the Church's stance on contraception as a matter of "conscience". The letter is reprinted in its entirety here:
"Dear Fr. Euteneuer,
I have signed and am returning the Pledge of Assent to Humanae vitae for the Laity. There is for me a special significance in signing this Pledge, and [it] will give me a peace of mind and heart that I have not experienced since 1968. In 1968 I was a young Franciscan priest studying in the Graduate School of Religious Education at Catholic University. I personally knew Fr. Charles Curran and Fr. Dan Maguire, and was a student of Fr. Robert Faricy, SJ. Since they, as well as many other professors and graduate students were signing the Protest Document, I went along and did so also.
In 1975 for personal reasons not related to any doubts or questions about the Faith, or the Church, or the Religious Life...I requested and obtained...a dispensation from Pope Paul VI returning me to the Lay State. Later, I was married in the Church and raised my two children in the Faith....I have had many conversations with my Pastor and with his assistant (who is my spiritual director) about my days as a Franciscan Priest, and have been active in many of our parish's lay apostolate and ministries.
But I have always regretted having signed the Protest Document against Pope Paul's teaching in 1968, and having learned a few years ago that Fr. Faricy had publicly repudiated signing the Protest, I had wished that I, too, could repudiate in some official way, having signed the Protest....And so your "Pledge" document offers me an opportunity to correct my mistake, and find healing - and telling you about all this helps me to feel that my repudiation of the Protest is now known and accepted in a kind of semi-official sort of way by an "authority" in the Church.
And thank you for reading this, thereby humoring an old man, who despite everything else, knows that he is a "priest forever, according to the Order of Melchizedek.'"
It serves as a reminder that we should never assume that our sinfulness is greater than God's mercy. God bless!
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2 comments:
It also points to something I often say. The few times I have questioned Catholic doctrine, upon further research invariably I find that it is I who is wrong.
I just read this story today. What an awesome story. It shows that the teachings of the Church stay the same, even if the current trend leads some of us astray. Christ's Church will always be here to welcome us back. We just need to swallow our pride and we will be as the Prodigal Son, coming back to the joyful Father.
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