BOOK REVIEWS

Pro-Life Catholicism

by Paul Marx, Ph.D., O.S.B.

Catholic Teachings on Pro-Life Issues

by Fr. Anthony Zimmerman, STD

Humanae Vitae Research Institute, 137 pp., $10.00. (Available from Human Life International-1-800-549-LIFE.)

The seeds of this book were sown at a pro-life conference in Manilla several years ago. At a meeting attended by 1000 mature pro-life leaders, a seminarian stood up to announce airily that the teachings against contraception in Humanae Vitae are not binding. Seminary professors say so, he added with a flourish of finality.

A thousand faces turned to Father Matthew Habiger who was moderator. Rising to his full height of six foot plus, adjusting the microphone, Fr. Matthew disdained to launch a verbal defense of the Encyclical. This audience, firmly wedded to authentic Church teaching, needed no dialogue about that. He said merely: "I thought seminarians are supposed to obey the Church. What are they teaching you in your seminary?" For a second there was stunned silence. Then applause broke out like thunder, shaking the rafters of the hall. The seminarian sat down disappointed. He left the hall with head bent, naively surprised that no one there had agreed with him.

This student's seminary professor was most likely using the text written by a German theologian, Fr. Karl H. Peschke, S.N.D. His one-time mentor was dissenter Fr. Bernard Haering. The book smoothly softens moral theology much as Fr. Richard McBrien's Catholicism waters down Catholic teaching in universities and eventually in parish catechism courses. Both books give the impression that the Pope has not yet caught up with the progressive theologians who are pointing to the future of the Church. They rob students of a firm conviction about teachings of the Magisterium.

Over 28,000 copies of Fr. Peschke's morals text are in circulation, especially in developing countries. A priest complained at a conference in Nairobi that "a good number of moral theology professors, lecturers and teachers in colleges and major seminaries have been trained either in Rome at the Pontifical Universities Alforisianurn or Urbaniana ... The influence of Bernard Haering and Henry Peschke ... in the third world, is very great." Father Haering had once taught at the former, and Fr. Peschke at the latter. Father R. Wanjohi then pointed out errors in the current Peschke text concerning abortion and contraception. Listening intently was energetic Sister Ursula Schnell, OSB, surgeon at St. Benedict Hospital in Tanzania. She obtained the text of the scorching criticism from Fr. Wanjohi, printed it and circulated it among neighboring seminaries in Africa.

After these experiences we prevailed upon Fr. Zimmerman to draft this book as a counter-thrust against the Haering-Peschke fiasco. The first of the six chapters tells why contraception is always intrinsically and gravely evil; birth control pill users should convert or at least refrain from receiving Holy Communion. Chapter two leaves no doubt that direct abortion is never licit nor necessary, whereas indirect abortion is not always illicit. Dr. Pat Dunn here exposes a case cited by Haering and Peschke by which they attempt to justify some direct abortion. Dr. Dunn delivered 15,000 babies so he knows what he is talking about it. His son is a bishop. That case is a phony, writes Dr. Dunn. Phony cases should not be used to subvert ethics, he comments.

Chapter three tells how our lives begin with the first single cell, not later at nidation or beyond. This chapter is enlivened by a delightful explanation of life's beginning by geneticist Dr. Jerome Lejeune. Overpopulation (chapter four) is not an excuse for birth control; it is the biggest money-making hoax of the century, bloated by slush Rockefeller wealth and mis-used tax funds. Catholics who have married outside the Church (chapter five) should stay with the Church, but should do as the Pope says: live as brother and sister or refrain from Holy Communion.

Every seminarian should learn the essentials of natural birth regulation as provided in chapter six. Their conviction can enhance their skills for pastoral counseling. They should know that couples can practice it successfully and become reasonably comfortable with it. The author presents the original charts and data of Dr. Kyusaku Ogino first published in Japanese in 1923, not in 1929 as is commonly held. From it the world learned that ovulation occurs normally within the span of 12-16 days before the anticipated next menstruation.

I hope that in future editions other topics might be treated more fully, such as in vitro fertilization, the devastating effects of divorce, raw sex education, and a guide for positive education in chastity.

This is a beautiful text for seminarians, and for teachers and couples, arming them to meet dissension and to proclaim the Gospel of Life proudly with the Church. Fr. Zimmerman has taught moral theology in major seminaries of America and Japan for most of his fifty years as priest. Entirely faithful to Magisterial documents, the book has an Imprimatur for the Japanese translation from Peter Cardinal Shirayanagi, Archbishop of Tokyo. The English version has an imprimatur from Bishop Paul S. Itonaga, Bishop of the Kagoshima. Fr. John Nariai first published English copies in that diocese for missionaries in Japan. I recommend the book wholeheartedly for the widest possible circulation. May it help to make family life a beautiful thing for God.

Father Paul Marx is the Chairman and Founder of Human Life International.