tad – Page 3 – Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

A few years ago, I spoke with a young man preparing to get married. His aunt told him that she thought he and his fiancée were too financially-strapped to have a child, and that it wouldn’t be fair to bring up a baby in poverty. Keenly aware of his joblessness and his minuscule bank account, he concluded she was probably right.

The young man and his fiancée were ready to tie the knot in a few months and they expected that she would be at the infertile phase of her cycle around the time of their honeymoon, so they would be able to consummate the marriage while avoiding bringing a child into the world.

They agreed they would use Natural Family Planning (NFP) after that to avoid a pregnancy. A few years later when they felt financially secure, he told me, they would have their first child.

Making Sense of Bioethics

On January 18, 2012May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Unconditional parental love

Once I met a woman who had worked for years in fashion and modeling. Unsurprisingly, she was strikingly attractive.

She was accompanied by her teenage daughter who, by contrast, was rather unremarkable to look at, maybe even a plain-Jane.

After spending time with them, I began to sense that the mother, whose life had largely revolved around her appearance, seemed to look down on her daughter, perhaps unconsciously, because of her average appearance.

Making Sense of Bioethics

On December 18, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

To give or not to give: The marital question

In a recent column, David O’Brien, the associate director of religious education for lay ministry in the Archdiocese of Mobile, Ala., recounts the story of Agnes and Jake, devout Catholics who conceived and delivered four children during the first five years of their marriage.

Agnes described how Jake, “wanted to be a good father and husband, and he couldn’t see how that could happen if we continued to have more children. In short, he was getting a vasectomy.”

Spouse no longer open to life

Agnes had a strong Catholic formation, and understood that married couples should not engage in sexual acts that have been intentionally blocked or “rendered infecund.” She struggled with Jake’s new stance, and dug her heels in.

She wondered how she could possibly be an authentic witness to the Gospel “if within my marriage, I was no longer open to life? How could I minister to other women and encourage them to be bold in their faith if I wasn’t living it myself? And what do I teach my children about marriage and sex when their father and I weren’t aligned?”

Making Sense of Bioethics

On November 23, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Vaccinating our children for sexually transmitted diseases

Last month, an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta recommended that nine- to 12-year-old boys be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus transmitted through sexual contact. The goal of the recommendations was to prevent cancers caused by HPV, such as certain cancers of the digestive tract.

The same committee had already recommended, back in March of 2007, that girls and young women between the ages of nine and 26 be vaccinated against HPV, to help prevent various cancers of the reproductive tract, such as cervical cancer.

Raises ethical concerns

While the motivation to prevent cancer and diseases is clearly good, a universal recommendation of this type raises ethical concerns. Because the recommendations of the committee relate to important aspects of human behavior and sexuality at formative ages for children and adolescents, parents need to look at the psychological and social messages they might be conveying by choosing to vaccinate their children against HPV.

Making Sense of Bioethics

On October 27, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Facing terminal illness realistically

In modern times, dying is more and more often portrayed as a cold, clinical reality to be kept at arm’s length, relegated to the closed doors of a hospital, almost hermetically sealed from the rest of our lives.

When it comes to the event itself, we diligently work to avoid confronting it, addressing it, or acknowledging it. Because of this cultural backdrop, patients receiving a diagnosis of a terminal illness can be tempted to indulge in unrealistic expectations about what lies ahead, clinging to unreasonable treatment options and hoping for highly improbable outcomes.

Making Sense of Bioethics

On October 6, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Dangers of human stockpiling

A recent news report chronicled a Chinese woman named Huang Yijun. Sixty years ago, her unborn child died, but the pregnancy was never expelled from her body. Instead, her baby’s body slowly began to calcify inside her, becoming a crystallized, stone-like mass.

Such stone babies (known as lithopedions) are extremely rare. When Mrs. Huang was 92 years old, the baby was discovered in her abdomen and surgically removed.

This rare medical event prompts us to consider a thought experiment. Imagine a drug that could be injected into a child to crystallize him, but without killing him. The process would turn the child into a static mass for as many years as the parents wanted; another injection would reverse the process, and allow the child to wake up and continue growing.

Making Sense of Bioethics

On August 25, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Bringing Christ to the clinic

A Catholic physician once related to me a powerful story about one of his patients, who had just received a diagnosis of advanced, metastatic cancer and had a relatively short time left to live.

Making Sense of Bioethics

On July 28, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Sexual attractions and the call to chastity

People often surmise that same-sex attraction is inborn, and that homosexuals are “naturally gay” or “born that way.” They suppose that if God made them that way, then it must not be a sin to act on their sexual desires.

The possibility of a “gay gene” is sometimes offered as a further defense, suggesting that the condition, and its associated behavior, are inevitable and inescapable.

One commentator summarized it this way: “Asking someone to stop being homosexual would therefore be equivalent to asking an Asian person to stop being Asian or a left-handed person to stop being left-handed.”

Making Sense of Bioethics

On June 23, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Does Church have doubts about brain death?

The Catholic Church has long acknowledged the role of the medical professional in declaring death. It is the proper competency of medicine, not theology, to identify reliable signs that death has occurred.

The hardening of the body known as rigor mortis, for example, is a reliable medical indicator that death has occurred. When the heart permanently stops beating and the lungs permanently stop functioning (cessation of cardio-pulmonary function), medical professionals recognize these signs as another reliable way to assess that death has occurred.