Bishop Huonder Denounces the “Culture of Death” at Work in Birth Control

The Swiss prelate does not fear the general outcry his remarks are likely to cause, for he is well aware that “many reject this teaching of the Church”; but she, “like her Founder, must be ready to show her contradiction.”

Bishop Huonder’s pastoral letter mentions the major points of the encyclical promulgated exactly 50 years ago: love between Christian spouses means “persevering both in the joys and sufferings of daily life.” This love is “exclusive, until death,” adds the prelate, recalling that it should also be “fertile”.

Bishop Huonder points out that the destabilization of marriages and therefore of families has greatly increased, which leads to a fear of attachment and an inability to commit.

He also warns of the confusion between abortion and birth control, due to certain forms of birth control whose effects are comparable to an “early abortion”.

While the priests of the diocese of Coire are not obliged to read their bishop’s pastoral letter, they should nonetheless “include it in their preaching in an appropriate way,” adds the bishopric.