Connect with Patrick and please subscribe in iTunes:

Tweet to Patrick: https://twitter.com/Patrick_Coffin

Follow Patrick on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrickcoffin.media/

Check out our swag:
https://www.patrickcoffin.media/swag

For Catholic Resources:
www.patrickcoffin.net/store

***********************************

Resources recommended in this episode:

• Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader ed by Janet Smith
• Why Humanae Vitae Is Still Right ed by Janet Smith
• Humanae Vitae A Generation Later by Janet Smith
• The Contraception Deception: Catholic Teaching on Birth Control by Patrick Coffin
• Sex Au Naturel by Patrick Coffin (On SALE at $8.99)

What is Humanae Vitae, you ask? It’s the 1968 papal Encyclical by Blessed Pope Paul VI (who will be canonized this fall). I can still remember walking into the Daughters of St, Paul Catholic bookstore in Toronto when I was teaching high school there. My glance fell to a book titled, Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later by someone called Janet E. Smith. It had a huge effect on me. I was already on board with the norms of the Encyclical, but this Janet Smith person broadened and deepened my appreciation of the teaching, from multiple angles of consideration.

Well, I ended up meeting her at a couple of conferences through the years, and I’m so happy to present this interview with her. She is courageous, articulate, and knows the teaching inside and out.

In this episode you will learn::

-The context in which Humanae Vitae was released and rejected.
-The level of authority with which the Encyclical is presented by the Church.
-A simple way to understand the why behind the what of the teaching.
-How soon-to-be-Saint Paul VI was vindicated as a prophet.
-How contraception paves the way for abortion.
-The moral difference between natural family planning (NFP) and contraception.
-Why NFP is good for marital longevity, happiness, and stability.

Connect with Patrick:

Tweet to Patrick: https://twitter.com/Patrick_Coffin

Follow Patrick on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrickcoffin.media/

Check out our swag:
https://www.patrickcoffin.media/swag

For Catholic Resources:
www.patrickcoffin.net/store

***********************************

THIS was a really fascinating conversation with the world’s best known expositor of the Theology of the Body by St. John Paul II. In his second appearance on The Patrick Coffin Show, Christopher West is in fine form connecting all manner of dots as we talk about the impact of dissent from Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical by soon-to-be-St. Paul VI, in light of West’s new ebook, Eclipse of the Body. If you use the code ECLIPSE you can get a copy free + shipping by clicking here. If you enjoy Christopher’s writing and speaking, you will love this.

After this interview you will know:

• How the “errors of Russia” in the message of Fatima have to do with the destruction of marriage and family
• The way in which the sexual revolution started with exalting the body, is now running its last lap because of debasing the body
• How the gender confusion in the world has affected the divine liturgy
• Why the transgenderism movement is an inevitable consequence of dissent from Humanae Vitae
• The deep influence of St. John Paul II in the writing and implementing of Humanae Vitae
• How profound is the connection between the small r real presence of Christ in the marital act is organically tied to the capital R of the Real Presence in the Eucharist

Resources recommended in this episode:

Eclipse of the Body: How We Lost the Meaning of Sex, Gender, marriage & the Family (and how to get it back) by Christopher West (Free + shipping if you use the code ECLIPSE).

Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by St. John Paul II, translated by Michael Waldstein.

The Contraception Deception: Catholic Teaching on Birth Control by Patrick Coffin

Question of the week:

Do I really believe that the body, and not just the soul, is a visible reflection of God’s image and likeness? If not, why not?

This is a sample of our new segment called TransformU which is normally published on our NEW members-only website.

To see all that membership of Coffin Nation gives you go to: https://www.coffinnation.com/features

Registration will re-open soon. Join the waiting list: https://www.coffinnation.com

Coffin Nation— The Community of Culture Builders

Canada has many private colleges and universities. It almost had a Christian law school. The number of these will remain zero for the foreseeable future thanks for a stunning 7-2 decision by Canada’s Supreme Court that forbids the establishment of the Trinity Western Law School in Langley, BC.

The reason?

Because Trinity Western is an evangelical institution that holds to the traditional biblical view of sexuality, and because prospective students must sign a Covenant Agreement in which they agree to avoid drunkenness, gossip, plagiarism, any form of hazing or intimidation, with emphasis (I’m quoting now) the Christian “virtues of honesty, civility, truthfulness, generosity and integrity.” Trinity Western make no bones about the fact that its “community life are formed by a firm commitment to the person and work of Jesus Christ as declared in the Bible.”

So far so good. Except that the Agreement also says the following:

• observe modesty, purity and appropriate intimacy in all relationships, reserve sexual expressions of intimacy for marriage, and within marriage take every reasonable step to resolve conflict and avoid divorce
• sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman

No explicit reference to homosexuality, but that is exactly what triggered the legal battle, starting with the Law Societies of B.C., Ontario, and Nova Scotia, that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Bruce Pardy, professor of law at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario (who was introduced to me by Dr. Jordan Peterson) thinks this decision is a cruel joke on all Canadians. In my interview, he explains exactly why. Professor Pardy has a libertarian-style view of the definition of marriage, and the TWU Covenant Agreement is not his cup of tea. But that’s not the point. What happened to good old Canadian diversity? Is there really no room for even one Christian Law School that upholds the traditional biblical view of marriage (which is shared, one notes, by the Catholic Church, many conservative Christian bodies, as well as Orthodox Jewish and Muslim organizations (the non-polygamous ones at any rate)?

If someone is offended by the rules of a private school, he or she should refuse to go. But that’s not enough for the LGBTQS2 (lesbian gay bisexual transgender questioning two spirited) activists who opposed the school’s plans from the get go. Backed by powerful legal interests across Canada and a broadly accepted presupposition about the redefinition of marriage and “evolving Canadian Charter values,” their fight ended last month with this decision.

In this episode you will learn:

• How the shift from Charter rights (which are concrete, verbally explicit things) to Charter values (which are ephemeral, fleeting things) softened the ground for the high Court’s reasoning
• How the interests of a tiny minority became the tail that currently wags the Canadian dog
• Why the Court’s reasoning unwittingly promotes very unjust discrimination the Justices opine they oppose
• The eerie similarity between “the vibe of the thing” (a comedy reference that will make sense once you hear the interview) and the “penumbra” of the 1965 Griswold v Connecticut, which paved the way for Roe v Wade via an alleged “right to privacy” in the U.S. Constitution
• How this disastrous decision is a wake-up call for those who have been lulled into thinking reasonable accommodations will be made going forward for private educational institutions that go against the grain of PC culture.
• Why it may signal the death knell of the much-vaunted pluralism that has characterized Canadian society since the Quebec Act of 1774
• Why it should matter to Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, the Salvation Army, Mormons, or any group that assumes they can freely form communities with their own self-regulating rules

Resources recommended in this episode:

• Professor Pardy’s presence, writing, and contact information on the Queen’s University website
• Pardy’s essay on the decision in The National Post newspaper.
• Australian classic comedy The Castle
• The implications of the decision in The National Post by Ray Pennings of the faith-based think tank Cardus.

Support our show: www.patrickcoffin.media/donate

Tweet to Patrick: https://twitter.com/Patrick_Coffin

Follow Patrick on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrickcoffin.media/

Check out our swag:
https://www.patrickcoffin.media/swag

For Catholic Resources:
www.patrickcoffin.net/store

***********************************

A few minutes into my conversation with Bishop Gracida, bishop emeritus of Corpus Christi, TX, it becomes obvious that he is direct and to the point, evidently allergic to beating around the bush. Yet, he’s kindly and thoughtful. At 95, he is hale and hearty, and is one of the very few bishops who regularly blog. His remarks, sometimes trenchant, always readable, are found at www.abyssum.org Abyssus Abyssum Invocat, Latin for “deep calls to deep” (from Psalm 42:7).

 If you feel somewhat disoriented by some of the utterances and writings of Pope Francis, you’re not alone. If the thought of criticizing the Pope makes you uncomfortable (there are plenty of nasty professional Francis Haters online), that’s a good sign of filial devotion to the Holy Father and to the Church he visibly leads. Sometimes, though, the faithful have “the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful” (Canon 212.3).

In this regards, Bishop Gracida has some questions that fearlessly “go there.” What do I mean? The authorized biography of disgraced Godfried Cardinal Daneels of Belgium describes activities between and among cardinal electors, such as Cardinal Carlo Martini, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, and Cardinals Karl Lehmann and Walter Kasper—dubbed the St. Galen Mafia. These activities, verified by Austin Ivereigh in his hagiographic biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making Of a Radical Pope involve canvassing other electors to elect Jorge Cardinal Bergolio.

Well…

Bishop Rene Gracida believes, as do others, that this activity is canonically illegal under the promulgated laws in the 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, by St. John Paul II. If this is true, then the validity of the papal election may be in doubt. You read that right.

To state the obvious, I am not a canonist nor was I at the Conclave. What I know is that know that the reaction of most Catholic pundits to the notion that the 2013 election may have been invalid is met with a guffaw or a “that’s crazy talk.” It’s a gorilla in the room whose existence needs to be acknowledged before it can be dismissed as harmless.

In this interview you will learn:

• Have a sense of appreciation for what Ordinaries are called to as shepherds of souls
• Understand the difference between true episcopal authority as it resides in the individual bishop and the largely administrative authority of a national bishops’ conference
• Get a clear picture of a self-described “one crisis after another” life lived to the full
• See more reasons to renew your prayers for the life and health of the Church
• Understand why the sacraments must never be politicized no matter who does it
• Maybe be shaken up

Resources recommended in this episode:

• An Ordinary’s Not So Ordinary Life by Bishop Rene Henry Gracida
• Follow Bishop Gracida on his blog here:  www.abbysum.org