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German Catholic archdiocese promotes fornication, abortion, to 15-year-old girls
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<p class="gmail-article-tags gmail-hide-print"> <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/german-catholic-archdiocese-promotes-fornication-abortion-to-15-year-old-gi">https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/german-catholic-archdiocese-promotes-fornication-abortion-to-15-year-old-gi</a><br>
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<p>November 6, 2017, (<a href="http://lifesitenews.com/">LifeSiteNews.com</a>)
– <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>German Catholics are protesting</b></span> a<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> program <u>endorsed personally by the
archbishop of Berlin t</u>hat gives “practical tips” to Catholic sex
educators on how to teach children about their “sexual rights,” advising
them that adult sex with a minor is permitted, as long as it’s
“consensual,” and outlining the process of obtaining an abortion.</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The program also seeks to eliminate <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">“taboos,</span>” “<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">prejudices</span>,” and
“<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">stereotypes</span>” regarding various forms of sexual deviation, including
homosexual behavior and masturbation, treating such impulses as part of a
person’s identity.</b></span> At the same time, it seeks to resolve the “tension”
between such behaviors and the Catholic Church’s “official” doctrines on
human sexuality.</p>
<p>“<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>A church that tries to impose people's opinions today is crazy,” <a href="http://www.katholisches-netzwerk-kinderschutz.de/fileadmin/user_mount/PDF-Dateien/Seelsorge/KNK/2016KNK_Grusswort.pdf">writes</a>
Berlin archbishop Heiner Koch in his introduction to the program. </b></span>“We
need to take note of the diversity of ideas about sexuality in our
society. However, in the company of young people, we also need to be in a
position to make a profound statement that the Christian faith and its
image of man can free themselves to self-realization, to true
relationship and intimacy.”</p>
<p>The program’s “Practical tips for the use of methods in sexual pedagogical work with youth groups,” <a href="http://www.katholisches-netzwerk-kinderschutz.de/fileadmin/user_mount/PDF-Dateien/Seelsorge/KNK/2017KNKPraxistippsf%C3%BCrdenEinsatzvonMethoden.pdf">posted</a>
on the archdiocesan website, addresses the question, “When is it normal
to have sex?” It gives a list of hypothetical “situations” regarding
minors involved in out-of-wedlock sexual activity and then provides
“answers” to those situations regarding the minors’ “right” to engage in
the behavior. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Catholic doctrine on sexual morality</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> in the document is
left unmentioned. </b></span></p>
<p>In hypothetical “Situation 2” a 22-year-old man has a 15-year-old
girlfriend with whom he wishes to have sexual relations. The archdiocese
writes, “In principle, persons of legal age may sleep with minors,
provided it is consensual sexual acts/intercourse. It gets difficult,
however, whenever sexual acts or intercourse are forced.” </p>
<p>In “Situation 6,” a girl named “Milena” has an “unwanted pregnancy.”
While the document discusses options for receiving state support for her
as an unwed mother, or for adopting, it adds, “In the context of
pregnancy conflict counseling Milena can be advised on the possibility
of abortion.”</p>
<p>“In the consultation, the father of the expected child or even her
parents can be present if she so wishes. She even has to show that she
took part in a consultation should she decide to terminate. In the
consultation, the father of the expected child or even her parents can
be present if she so wishes. No matter how Milena decides, she can get
advice and has the right to psychological support,” the document
continues.</p>
<p>The “tips” even explain how minors can obtain contraceptives without
their parents finding out, and implies that those under 14 years of age
can obtain contraceptives to facilitate their sexual activity, despite
the fact that it is illegal.</p>
<p>In “Situation 5,” readers are told, “Laura (15) would like to sleep
with her boyfriend and considers different contraceptives.” However,
she’s afraid her parents will find out. The archdiocese notes that, as
“Laura” is under 16 years of age, her doctor can inform her parents that
she wants oral contraceptives. However, “Laura” can “try to convince
the doctor that she is mature enough to make that decision.” </p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><u>The archdiocese notes </u>that “for under-14s it will be difficult to get
a prescription for contraceptives since intercourse for under-14s is
prohibited by law.” However, it adds that “in principle, adolescents can
buy over-the-counter contraceptives such as condoms and a diaphragm at
any pharmacy. If you are uncomfortable asking for it in a pharmacy, you
can also buy condoms anonymously in a drugstore.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Other “situations” include teenage girls in lesbian relationships and
a boy who wants to be tested for venereal diseases without being
detected by his parents. Both are within the legal “rights” of minors,
the archdiocese states.</b></span></p>
<h4><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><strong>German Catholics respond with a petition</strong></span></h4><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
</b></span><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>A group of German Catholics outraged</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>by the archbishop’s apparent endorsement of pro-abortion materials<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>has organized a <a href="https://www.patriotpetition.org/2017/10/26/das-erzbistum-berlin-soll-endlich-aufhoeren-jugendlichen-abtreibungstipps-zu-geben/">petition</a>
to ask</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>him</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>to remove</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>them</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> from the archdiocesan website</b></span>, entitled “The
Archdiocese of Berlin should finally stop giving teens tips on
a<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>b</b></span>ortion!”</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>“Incomprehensible! The Archdiocese of Berlin gives 15-year-old
pregnant women tips on how to kill<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> their child. . . .</span></b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span></span>This exposes the
archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, as a follower of the feminist
pro-choice ideology, which gives the right to life of unborn children to
the arbitrariness of their mothers. Pro-Choice is not opinion, but
murder!”</p>
<p>The petitioners ask the archbishop to “take the unspeakable abortion
tips immediately from the website of the Archdiocese of Berlin. The
church has the right to defend the right to life of the unborn and a
moral obligation to act as the protective power of innocent children in
public.”</p>
<p>However, the petitioners make no mention of other material on the
site that normalizes and legitimizes out-of-wedlock and homosexual sex
acts.</p>
<h4><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><strong>Archbishop seeks 'conversation' with <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">adolescents</span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> </span>about their values</span></span></strong></span></h4>
<p>T<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>he materials were originally presented by the Archdiocese of Berlin at a <a href="http://www.katholisches-netzwerk-kinderschutz.de/fachtag-in-freiheit-und-verantwortung/">conference</a> called “In ‘Freedom and Responsibility’: Sex Education Work in Catholic Institutions” in February of 2016. </b></span></p>
<p>According to Archbishop Heiner Koch, the conference <a href="http://www.katholisches-netzwerk-kinderschutz.de/fileadmin/user_mount/PDF-Dateien/Seelsorge/KNK/2016KNK_Grusswort.pdf">sought</a>
to “trace the tensions between Catholic sexual morality, one's own
attitude, life-world and the sexual pedagogical requirements in the
workplace and to get into conversation about it.”</p>
<p>“Abortion, Homosexuality, Masturbation: The spectrum on the topic of
‘sex’ is as far-reaching in Catholic education and care facilities for
children and adolescents as society dictates,” <a href="http://www.katholisches-netzwerk-kinderschutz.de/fachtag-in-freiheit-und-verantwortung/">states</a>
the archdiocese on its webpage regarding the event, “But the taboos are
also big, as educators and social workers admitted at a conference.”
Conference materials seek to help adolescents clarify their own values
in a dialogical manner.</p>
<h4><strong>Archbishop responds to complaints, but protesters not satisfied</strong></h4>
<p>Following an outcry from German Catholics over the abortion “tips”
given in “Situation 6,” the archbishop ordered a paragraph be added to
that section noting that it is “difficult” to teach about the law
“completely detached from moral issues,” and that the “ecclesiastical
context” “offers the topic of ‘protection of life.’” According to the
archbishop, this makes it “clear” that Christian values are to be taught
along with the material. Other statements were added affirming that
girls can’t be pressured to have abortions.</p>
<p>However, the petitioners were not satisfied with archbishop’s
response. “The document still states (supplemented by a few remarks):
‘Even girls under the age of 18 have the opportunity in principle to be
able to terminate a pregnancy without penalty in the first twelve
weeks. (...) No matter how Milena decides, she can seek advice and has
the right to psychological support .’”</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, this is only a half-hearted appeasement by the
archdiocese, but not a true commitment to a culture of life!” add the
petitioners. “We must therefore maintain our protest and continue to
apply pressure. The document should completely disappear from the site
of the archdiocese!”</p>
<p>The material represents a long-established tendency of extreme laxity
regarding sexual morals among German-speaking Catholic clergy and
laity. German-speaking bishops, Such as Walter Kasper and Christoph
Schönborn, have provided the principal impetus for the acceptance of
adulterous second marriages in the Catholic Church. The permanent
council of the German bishops’ conference has <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/pulse/german-bishops-formalize-their-dissent-with-statement-approving-communion-f">approved</a> giving Holy Communion to those who are living in such marriages.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>In recent years the German bishops, in particular, have <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/german-bishops-promote-diverse-family-types-to-help-church-question-herself">promoted</a> the notion of “diverse family types” and have even published an <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/germanys-bishops-just-published-an-apologia-for-gay-marriage-this-crosses-a">article</a> defending same-sex “marriage.”</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Some German bishops, however, are <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/a-handful-of-young-german-bishops-resisting-the-national-churchs-march-to-h">resisting</a> </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>this tendency.</b></span></p>
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