Dear Mel:

Your friend has some difficult decisions to make. I praise God that she is seeking a solution that will be in accord with God's Will.

The position of the Catholic Church has always been that contraception is a grave and moral evil. Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae said:

"Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection."

This position is summarized in the a 1997 Vatican Pontifical Council for the Family statement:

"The Church has always taught the intrinsic evil of contraception, that is, of every marital act intentionally rendered unfruitful. This teaching is to be held as definitive and irreformable. Contraception is gravely opposed to marital chastity; it is contrary to the good of the transmission of life (the procreative aspect of matrimony), and to the reciprocal self-giving of the spouses (the unitive aspect of matrimony); it harms true love and denies the sovereign role of God in the transmission of human life."

If this couple uses a condom they will be closing the marital embrace to life and also damaging the second purpose of the marital embrace -- the unitive faculty expressed by the mutual self-giving of each other. One cannot mutually self-give if deliberately closing off the purpose that God gives to the marital embrace. When the purposes of the marital embrace are circumvented then we are acting selfishly and lustfully. Love is not love unless it is in accord with God.

Bishop Victor Galeone confirms this point in his 2003 article, Marriage: A Communion of Life and Love:

III. Contraception: Telling lies with our bodies

8. Since God fashioned our bodies male and female to communicate both life and love, every time that husband and wife deliberately frustrate this twofold purpose through contraception, they are acting out a lie. The body language of the marital act says, "I’m all yours," but the contraceptive device adds, "except for my fertility."

So in actual fact, they are lying to each other with their bodies. Even worse, they are tacitly usurping the role of God. By thwarting the purpose of the marital love embrace, they are telling God, "You may have designed our bodies to help you transmit life to an immortal soul, but you made a mistake—a mistake we intend to correct. You may be Lord of our lives—but not of our fertility."

From what I understand from medical sources (Mayo Clinic) Hepatitis C is spread when you come in contact with contaminated blood. Although it is possible, it a rare that Hepatitis C will be transmitted sexually, and only a small percentage (5%) of babies contract the disease from their mothers.

The situation is not quite a dire as it may seem.

Should the couple wish to avoid pregnancy the disease "might" be a valid reason, but with only 5% of babies contracting the disease from their mothers, I do not think the couple needs to avoid pregnancy. I would instead give it to God and trust in Him.

If pregnancy is to be avoided it cannot be accomplished by immoral means. The ends never justify the means is a central tenet of all of Christianity.

Thus, I think the couple needs to trust in God and practice Natural Family Planning. The organization Couple-to-Couple League can help them with that and answer questions concerning NFP.

We need to remember, and this couple need to know about God's promise.

(1 Cor 10:13)  No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

God keeps his promises. He does not lie. Thus, we can know for a fact that He will allow nothing to come into our lives that we cannot handle. He will always give us a way to escape from the temptation.

The temptation for this couple is to use an immoral act -- condoms -- which is a distrust of God and a perversion of marriage not only in that the marital embrace is not open to life, but that even the unitive faculty of the marital embrace is damaged and the mutual self-giving is a lie.

I would advise the couple not to worry. Trust in God. Should she or the baby contract the disease (both of which is unlikely), God will give all the graces needed to cope with the situation. We should never take matters into our own hands. Trust in God.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary