| Dear *|FNAME|*
Re: Invitation
to be a member of an ad hoc
independent advisory committee on the ethics of using contraceptives
.
I hope this finds you well. As someone with expertise in the field of sexual ethics, we would like to invite you to be a member of an ad hoc
independent advisory committee on the ethics of using contraceptives.
Why Is This Urgent?
The issue of the responsible use of contraceptives still affects millions of Catholic families in the developing world. And yet, the problem was only touched obliquely in the Final Report
of the October 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family (see §§18 and 58). It has arguably become the “elephant in the room” of Catholic sexual ethics.
Yet it is encouraging that last year’s extraordinary synod was merely preparatory for the October 2015 Synod on the Family, which will be a much larger and more representative gathering of bishops, and promises to be an important event for the development of Catholic doctrine on many issues to do with sexual ethics. In this connection, commentators such as Peter Steinfels have called on this forthcoming synod to establish a renewed study of the issue of contraception within the broader context of the meaning and purpose of sexuality (“Contraception & Honesty
“, Commonweal
, May 2015).
What Is Our Aim?
We want to produce a comprehensive, collaborative and peer-reviewed Report on the Ethics of Contraception
which will outline the current position of Christian scholarship on the subject. We plan to publish it in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the 1966 Final Report
of the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control, which famously advised Pope Paul VI to drop the Catholic Church’s absolute ban on artificial contraceptives. The report will address the ethics of contraception from the broader viewpoint of the meaning and purpose of human sexuality.
What Do We Hope to Achieve?
Should the Report be completed before the Synod, we will disseminate it to the Synod fathers in order to provide them with a recent and comprehensive argument on the topic, supported by many Christian academics and experts. We also plan on condensing its argument in a letter to the Editor to major newspapers (e.g. The Guardian, The New York Times), which will be signed by as many relevant experts as possible. Finally,
we will make it freely accessible
online as a permanent resource anyone will be able to consult.
Even if church authorities were not to take notice, it will continue to raise awareness of the glaring discrepancy between the official position of the Catholic hierarchy and the consensus of the academic community.
How Do We Hope to Achieve It?
The Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research
, a not-for-profit independent think-tank for Catholic theology based in the UK, has set up a wiki-style online facility to allow scholars from all over the world to cooperate in producing a peer-reviewed research report. This collaborative approach will minimise the possibility that the outcome were to be manipulated in any way by the views of a small group.
The process entails the setting up of an ad hoc
advisory committee or expert panel whose members will contribute to the assembly of data and the assessment of successive drafts. This email is to invite you to become a member of such an expert panel.
The contribution required of members of the expert panel is flexible in terms of time-commitment and, we believe, not too onerous. It requires at a minimum providing the relevant bibliographical references that the expert is aware of. In addition, those who want to can also highlight what they deem to be the arguments that need to be addressed to reach a solution, and even contribute to the actual drafting of the report. This is described in more details in the document attached which outlines:
- the background and vision of this new initiative;
- a description of the process for drafting the collaborative peer-reviewed research reports.
WICR staff have already started putting together some initial material and questions on the ethics of contraception, which you can access here
.
Among the experts who have already agreed to participate in this collaborative report are the following:
- Ricardo Chica
, Professor of Development Economics, Director Centre for Asian Studies, University of Bolivar (Colombia).
- Christine Gudorf
, Professor of Religious Studies, Florida International University (USA);
- Jan Jans
, Professor of Moral Theology, Tilburg University (Netherlands);
- Paulachan Kochappilly
, Professor Moral Theology, Dharmaram Athenaeum (India);
- Michael Lawler
, Professor of Catholic Theology, emeritus, Creighton University (USA);
- Irina Pollard
, Associate Professor of Bioscience Ethics at Macquarie University, and Chair of the Australian Unit of the International Network of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics (Australia);
- Todd Salzman
, Professor of Moral Theology, Creighton University (USA);
- Joseph Selling
, Professor of Moral Theology, emeritus, University of Leuven (Belgium);
- Agneta Sutton
, Visiting Lecturer in Sexual Ethics and Bioethics at Heythrop College, University of London.
Should you want to join them in participating in this new initiative, please register online here
. You will then be able to submit your contributions to the report.
Finally, we would be very grateful if you could let us know of any academic or relevant expert who may be interested in joining this initiative. Alternatively, please feel free to invite them yourself by forwarding to them this email together with the document attached.
Should you have any question, suggestion, or require more information, we are available to have a chat via skype (luca.badini.confalonieri), phone, or email (luca.badini@wijngaardsinstitute.com
).
Kind regards,
Luca Badini Confalonieri & John Wijngaards |
