Catholic Teaching on Birth Control: Beyond Common Misunderstandings I Prof. Gina Noia

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

This lecture was given on October 1st, 2024, at North Carolina State University.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Gina Maria Noia, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Providence College. She received her PhD in Theology and Health Care Ethics from Saint Louis University. She has served as a clinical ethicist for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL and St. Alexius Hospital in St. Louis, MO, and she is published in Christian Bioethics and the Journal of Moral Theology. Outside of academia, you’ll find her spending time outdoors with her (philosopher) husband, Justin Noia, PhD, and their vivacious children.

Transcript

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0:00.0	As of July 1st, 2025, applications are open for the Thomistic Institute's Rome Study Abroad program for spring
0:07.6	26. Emmerse yourself in the Catholic intellectual tradition and experience profound opportunities
0:14.2	for spiritual formation in the heart of the church. Applications close August 15th. Learn more and apply at www.comstic Institute.org
0:24.4	forward slash Rome. Welcome to the Tomistic Institute podcast. Our mission is to promote the Catholic
0:33.8	intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.
0:38.4	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Thomistic Institute
0:42.9	chapters around the world. To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at
0:47.8	to mystic institute.org. The outline for this talk, I'll start by talking about Catholic
0:53.3	teaching on what it refers to as responsible
0:55.1	parenthood. Then I'll look at two distinctions that the Catholic Church makes. The first between
1:01.0	permissible and impermissible means of avoiding pregnancy. The second between what it refers to as direct
1:08.0	contraception and sterilization and indirect contraception and sterilization.
1:13.1	And then I'll conclude with looking at the Catholic reasoning, so the why behind the teaching.
1:18.6	So to begin, Catholic teaching, responsible parenthood.
1:23.6	So the Catholic understanding of marriage is that it involves the total self-giving of the spouses
1:32.0	to each other, self-gift, which is both unitive and procreative. This is something that the church
1:37.8	sees is lived out by the spouses in all aspects of their life, and is lived out in a particular
1:43.5	way through sexual intercourse
1:45.5	in marriage.
1:47.3	And so in terms of the procreative nature of the conjugal act then, and the link there to marriage,
1:52.4	then the Catholic Church sees children as a great good in marriage.
1:56.9	And couples are called to participate in God's fruitful love in this way and having children and being co-creators with God in this way.
	...

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