Women, Sex and the Church

Book excerpt: "The women who write in this volume challenge the common misconception that the Catholic Churchs teachings are anti-women and anti-sex. Rather, these women believe that it is precisely the Churchs controversial teachings on abortion, sex, marriage, and contraception that bespeak the Churchs love of women-and reverence for sex. Recent empirical evidence reveals just how harmful breaking from these teachings has been for women, their children, and our culture over the past few decades. Indeed, the women who write these chapters argue that contrary to popular belief, following Church teachings on sex and marriage, in spite of the sometimes arduous difficulty of doing so, actually helps women to flourish-physically, emotionally, relationally, and socially." -from the Introduction