Philosophy and ethics

• Extraordinary minister


  A non-ordained man or woman who assists the work of priests
• Gender discrimination


  Treating people differently because of their sex
• Gender prejudice


  Believing that one sex is superior to another
• Ordained


  Set down by God, or made a priest
• Ordination


  The act of conferring holy orders (making a priest)
• The Catholic Church opposes gender prejudice and gender discrimination because
• Genesis 1


  • Teaches that God created both men and women in the image of God
• St Paul


  • Taught in Galatians that men and women are equal in Christ
• Catechism


  • Teaches that men and women are equal and should have equal rights in life and society
• Vatican II


  1. Led to pressure from Catholic women for greater equality in the Church, resulting in:

  2. Women being able to study and teach in theological colleges

  3. Women being extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion

  4. Women being able to read the Bible readings at Mass (lectors)

  5. Women taking funerals in certain circumstances
• Mary Robinson (former president of Ireland) campaigned for an end to discrimination in Ireland. As a result of her work:
• Outcomes of Mary Robinson's work

  • Irish women can serve on juries
  • Divorce was legalised in Ireland
  • Contraception was legalised in Ireland
  • Homosexuality was legalised in Ireland
• Mary Robinson became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights working for equal rights for all
• Evangelical Protestants


  • Teach that men and women have separate and different roles and so cannot have equal rights
  • Believe that women should not speak in church, should not preach and must submit to their husbands because it is what God ordained in the Bible
• Liberal Protestant Churches


  • Are opposed to gender prejudice and discrimination and so have women ministers, priests and bishops
  • Because St Paul taught that in Christ there is neither male nor female, the Gospels show that Jesus treated women as his equals, and there is some evidence that there were women priests in the early Church
• Most atheists and all Humanists

  • Believe that men and women are equal and should have equal rights
  • Believe that it is wrong for religion to be able to discriminate against women and that refusing to ordain women or have women leaders should be made illegal
• The Catholic Church has been accused of gender discrimination because it does not allow women to become priests
• The Church's response


  • Having men-only priests is not discriminatory because the priest stands in the place of Jesus during the Mass and Jesus was a man
  • Men and women are equal but their sexuality is not interchangeable- people's gender is not an accident
  • Jesus chose 12 men and no women to be his apostles
• Cycle


  Requires a couple being in a loving, stable relationship as it requires planning and sufficient love to give up sex at certain times of the month
• Artificial contraception


  Enables a couple to have sex without conception occurring, so allowing the couple to control the number of children they have
• It is now estimated that 90 per cent of the active population of childbearing age in the UK use some form of artificial contraception
• Almost all non-Catholic Christians believe that all forms of contraception are permissible because

  • Christianity is about love and justice, and contraception improves women's health and raises the standard of living for children as families are smaller
  • God created sex for enjoyment and to cement the bonds of marriage and it is not wrong to separate this from making children
  • There is nothing in the Bible that forbids the use of contraception
• Non-religious attitudes to contraception

  • Humanists and atheists are in favour of all forms of contraception because they assess the rights and wrongs of birth control by looking at its consequences
  • They use ethical theories such as utilitarianism and Situation Ethics to argue that contraception is a good thing because of its effects which improve women's health and well-being
  • Raise children's standards of living by preventing unwanted babies
  • Reduce the need for unsafe abortions
  • Reduce the number of babies born with HIV
  • Provide protection against STDs, including HIV
• Catholic responses


  • The Catholic Church has issued statements to Catholic couples that they must use only natural methods of contraception
  • The Church opposes issuing free condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases
  • However, ordinary Catholics seem to have responded by accepting the non-religious attitude
• Abortifacient


  Bringing about a very early abortion
• Condoms


  Thin rubber sheath protecting against conception and STDs
• HIV/AIDS


  HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)
• IUD


  Intra-uterine device (the coil)
• NFP


  Natural family planning
• STD


  Sexually transmitted disease
• Sources of wisdom and authority

  • Humanae Vitae declared that the only allowable forms of contraception for Catholics are natural methods
  • The Catechism says that any methods of contraception which render procreation impossible are intrinsically evil
  • The Baptist Church says that contraception is a gift from God via medical science but Christians should avoid contraceptives which take life
  • The British Humanist Association says that contraception is a good thing because it makes every child a wanted child
• Consensual sex


  When both parties freely agree to sex
• Extra-marital sex


  Sex outside marriage - usually called adultery
• Homosexuality


  Sexual attraction to a same-sex partner
• Pre-marital sex


  Sex before marriage
• Procreative sex


  Sex which is open to the possibility of new life being formed
• Promiscuity


  Having sex with a number of partners without commitment
• Unitive sex


  Sex as a source of joy and pleasure for a married couple
• The Church teaches that sexual activity should be procreative as well as unitive-this is not possible for homosexuals
• The Catechism teaches that marriage is for a man and a woman