Thomas C. Fox, in Sexuality and Catholicism
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Thomas C. Fox, in Sexuality and Catholicism, presents a simple, clear, and fair argument that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is pursuing a self-defeating policy with respect to sexuality. Fox does not intend to merely bash the Church for its strictly conservative policy on birth control, abortion, sterilization, in vitro fertilization, homosexuality, non-traditional sexual behavior among consenting adults, and ordination of women. To the contrary, he acknowledges that the Church has much to offer the world. as in the Pope's 1995 encyclical which "reaffirms the sacredness of life," a "message the world needs desperately to hear" (4). However, the good the Church does is undermined by its counter-productive stand on sexual issues. Fox calls the problems of the Church in its sexual policy symptoms of an "illness" which is "woven into a Catholic fabric that makes up much of twenty centuries of sexual teachings supported by a moral theology that for now appears intractable." Fox hopes that "the telling of the Catholic Church's story of sexuality will lead to greater understanding and perhaps even to healing (8). Fox's central idea is that this intractable policy on sexuality is destructive to the Church and its goal of spreading Jesus' message of "compassion and forgiveness" (3), and alienating to many Catholics and non-Catholics. Fox's book is a call for dialogue, for creative responses to a host of global problems--rapidly expanding populations in less developed nat
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riting on the wall. Despite the fact that the Church has last two thousand years, there is no guarantee that it will survive its current crises, particularly if its leaders continue to treat Catholics as if they are rebellious children who need a stern father to remind them that they do not know what is best for themselves.
Fox is certainly effective, compelling, and accurate in his analysis of how the Church arrived at its current critical juncture. He is not so effective in arguing that there are strong signs in the Church that reform is coming, that it is somehow inevitable. He finds individuals in the Church, such as the counselors Ferder and Heagle, a nun and a priest, whose work for reform supports his hopes for the Church and its future. However, in any era, no matter how conservative, no matter what the institution, there are always individuals here and there who attempt to influence future directions. Ferder and Heagle merely suggest that "psychosexual development" is an important part of the human experience. That is not a threat to the Church hierarchy, and Fox is deceiving himself if he thinks that somehow the Church will be reformed without threatening that hierarchy. The Pope and his fellow patriarchal leaders see
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Approximate Word count = 1619
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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