We live in a world that is developing a culture inimical in many aspects to Catholic values and to natural law morality. What is acceptable today in American society? The answer is the following: pre-marital sex (just watch almost any movie or TV show produced these days), contraception, abortion, the gay lifestyle, same sex marriage (most recently in California), assisted suicide and euthanasia (legal only in Oregon but practiced in subtle ways by many medical personnel).

It would be foolish to say that a man, woman or child of our land is not going to be influenced by these trends. They are asserted in the media, claimed as rights, glorified in the arts, and taught in schools. And the example of Catholics in public life who assert that they are personally opposed to these actions but still vote to legalize and support them is no help to the cause. More and more Catholics — parents, educators, professionals, clergy — realize they have to be increasingly aggressive in promoting God’s law and counteracting the immoral views so current in our society.

Last week I read an article by Rob Stein of The Washington Post about a group of Catholic pharmacists who are taking a stand. Some members of “Pharmacists for Life” are opening “pro-life drug stores,” stocked with pain relievers, ointments, vitamins, etc., everything one finds in a drug store except condoms, birth control pills and “emergency contraceptives.” They claim the right of their conscience to do this, believing that most birth control methods promote promiscuity and the spread of venereal diseases and most female contraceptives are abortifacient.

There is, of course, opposition to such views. Marcia Greenberger of the National Women’s Law Center said: “I’m very troubled by this. Contraception is essential for women’s health.” I think that there would be many physicians who would dispute that contraceptives are “essential” for female health. (She said nothing, of course, about the health of a child who is aborted.) Some bioethicists claim that pharmacists are obligated to fulfill all prescriptions by reason of their profession.

Nancy Berlinger of the Hastings Center, for example, has stated: “If you are a health care professional, you are bound by professional obligation.” Four states, wrote Stein, require that pharmacists fill all prescriptions or help women fill them elsewhere, even if it is contrary to the pharmacists’ religious beliefs. Ten other states are considering similar legislation.

But there is in our country a long tradition of concern for conscience. We should protect that tradition. Pope Benedict XVI said last October to a group of Catholic pharmacists: “It is not possible to anesthetize the conscience …. Conscientious objection is a right that must be recognized for your profession so you can avoid collaborating directly or indirectly in the supply of products which have clearly immoral aims, for example, abortion or euthanasia.” 

On another front, I read the other day the June 6 syndicated column of Father Richard McBrien, in which he writes of a new book on the history of moral theology by Father Charles Curran.

Father McBrien refers glowingly to Father Curran as “the most widely published and respected Catholic moral theology in the United States and probably in the world.” And Father McBrien concludes his article with the lament: “To the discredit of Catholic higher education, Charles Curran has never received an honorary degree from even one of its institutions.” 

First of all, I would dispute the assertion that Father Curran is the most respected Catholic moral theologian in the world — even in the United States.

He popularized the insidious moral method of “proportionalism” in our country, by which he and his followers justified premarital sex, contraception, abortion, homosexual acts and other intrinsically evil acts.

It took two encyclicals by Pope John Paul II — “Splendor of Truth” and “Gospel of Life” — to counteract proportionalists’ influence. Furthermore, Father Curran led a national dissent against the encyclical of Pope Paul VI, “Humanae Vitae,” and eventually was denied the right to claim to be an authentic teacher of Catholic moral theology by Catholic University of America, where he was employed.

There may be a good reason why Father Curran has never received an honorary degree from a Catholic institution. During this year’s observance of the 40th anniversary of the publication of “Humanae Vitae,” it is ironic to read Father McBrien’s claims.

Father John A. Leies, SM, STD, is president emeritus of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and was formerly dean of the Theology Department there.