Rome is Confused About Invitro Fertilization


The Vatican has two positions on children. One is to have more of them. The other is to avoid having children if it requires science and technology. Sometimes the high and mighty in the world, like Catholic male clergy, get their comeuppance. It happened with Gallello, but Rome learned nothing. It seems incapable of learning anything.

The Vatican ban on invitro fertilization is treated by the majority of Catholics the same way they treat artificial birth control and abortion are treated. There is a collective response, "The Church is ridiculous." If these Catholics go to confession probably they don't fess up about these issues. It's no one's business but their own. Certainly, it is not the business of any unmarried clergy.

 Century after century, the Vatican is blindsided by new technology and by updated thinking by the public. It seems like the current Pope takes a longer view of things than previous Popes and than many current clergy and lay people. The current Pope knows his denomination needs to appeal to people with modern ideas. While the Pope cannot eliminate the old and outdated foolishness in Catholicism it can do the next best thing by pretending the bad stuff has been left behind by not mentioning it. He exercises his authority by canning Bishops that remind the public of old Catholic foolishness. 

One word the Vatican should flush from its vocabulary is "natural" and "natural law." Some of the most stunning modern innovations are the result of nature. Even fertilization of a woman's egg by a man's sperm cell in a petri dish is "natural." I wonder if anyone in the Vatican ever says in private meetings, "You know, we're in a little over our heads on this stuff."

The old strategy of the Vatican was, "If we force people to conform to our beliefs they will be unhappy. Once they conform, they will be happy. Therefore, we can blackmail them into compliance." That was the strategy of withholding communion from divorced and remarried couples. It is the strategy behind disapproval of invitro fertilization. Couples who cannot become pregnant will try harder if they are scolded for using invitro. 

I wonder if the Vatican has a Department of Common Sense?



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