Scourges against Marriage 5 -If a Pastor of Souls Connives at Abuses in Marriage He Betrays God’s Trust

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If a Pastor of Souls Connives at Abuses in Marriage He Betrays God’s Trust

In the text presented today we see Pope Pius XI reaffirming that any use of the marital act that is not turned toward generating life is a mortal sin.

The Pontiff goes further by severely admonishing all confessors or pastors of souls to fully condemn the scourges against marriage; by doing otherwise they will betray their mission and will have to give a strict account of the souls they wrongly counseled to God.

Pius XI
Since, therefore, openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian tradition, recently some have judged it possible to declare solemnly another doctrine regarding this question, the Catholic Church, to whom God has entrusted the defense of the integrity and purity of Morals, standing erect in the midst of the moral ruin which surrounds her in order that she may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, raises her voice in token of her divine ambassadorship, and through Our mouth proclaims anew: Any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin.

We admonish, therefore, priests who hear confessions and others who have the care of souls, in virtue of Our supreme authority and in Our solicitude for the salvation of souls, not to allow the faithful entrusted to them to err regarding this most grave law of God; much more, that they keep themselves immune from such false opinions, in no way conniving in them.

If any confessor or pastor of souls, which may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted to him into these errors or should at least confirm them by approval or by guilty silence, let him be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict account to God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of his sacred trust, and let him take to himself the words of Christ: "They are blind and leaders of the blind: and if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit." (Mt 15:14)

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Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Casti connubii,
December 31, 1930, §§ 56-57
Posted on February 4, 2023

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