By Gudrun Schultz
PARIS, France, February 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Francis Deniau of Nevers, in eastern France, wants the Vatican to lift the Church’s ban on artificial birth control methods.
The bishop has joined his voice to a group of Christian intellectuals in France who are campaigning for Church acceptance of birth control.
Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical on love, “Deus Caritas Est” (God is Love) appears to be fueling activists who are pushing for radical change in the Church. Bishop Deniau said the encyclical was “a hopeful sign for possible change” in an interview with Le Pelerin magazine earlier this week.
In his encyclical Pope Benedict offered clarity on the Church’s understanding of erotic love, saying it is not an objection to the body that leads the Church to set boundaries on sexual expression, but rather a sign of the depth of respect and reverence held by the Church for the gift of sexuality.
Despite the unambiguous wording of the document, which leaves little room for liberal interpretation, the text has been seen by some as an indication that the restrictions against contraception may be loosened.
In November of last year Pope Benedict stated firmly that he would not make any change to the Church’s stand against artificial contraception. Natural family planning methods that call for abstinence during fertile periods in a woman’s cycle are acceptable to the Church’s teaching on the necessity of respect for life and natural law.
For related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Pope to Bishops: Don’t Water Down Church Teachings
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05110803.html
To contact the Apostolic Nuncio to France with concerns:
Fortunato Baldelli,
75116 Paris, Avenue du President Wilson, 10
Telephone: (33)1.53.23.01.50