Gary Michael Voris: How much damage do you think the widespread acceptance of contraception among Catholics has caused to the faith?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: We can already see the effects in many areas of Church life, particularly among laypeople. In the Western world, the consequences are very visible: most practicing Catholics have few or no children. Those who do avoid contraception often have large families, which is a blessing, thank God for that, but they are not the majority.
The broader effects are significant. The Catholic population is declining, and those Catholics who practice contraception also set a poor example for non-Christians and for non-practicing Christians. In this way, they contribute to a broader “contraception culture” and to the decreasing population in their countries.
Part of the responsibility also lies with the clergy, who have often failed to clearly instruct the faithful on the immorality of contraception. Thankfully, there have been good bishops, and Saint John Paul II was very clear in his teaching on this topic. But the problem was that the Pope’s teaching was not sufficiently supported by the majority of the clergy.