Minister tells Catholic church: relax ban on contraception

A British Cabinet minister has told the Pope to relax the Catholic Church’s strict ban on the use of contraception, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Penny Mordaunt, the International Development secretary, urged the Vatican to change stance a meeting with senior aides to Pope Francis last week.

At the meeting in Rome’s Vatican city with Archbishop Vicenzo Paglia and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Ms Mordaunt urged the Church to make it easier for young girls to have access to contraception.

Ms Mordaunt specifically raised her concerns about what officials said was “the tragedy of 800 girls and women unnecessarily losing their lives every day through pregnancy or childbirth complications”.

Ms Mordaunt told The Telegraph: “Everyone deserves the right to a safe childhood, to an education and to a life without fear. For many girls this is not the case.

“Child marriage, and a lack of control over their own bodies or access to reproductive healthcare including contraception means many girls have no hope of completing an education.  

“It is crucial we engage with faith leaders to help us challenge deeply held beliefs and attitudes.

“The Catholic Church can help us in that and my appeal to them was to help us save lives, especially of young mothers.

“As we work with African leaders to help them build their nation’s it is vital that family planning is part of that plan. It will save lives and huge suffering.”

In the meeting last Thursday with the Holy See – the global government of the Catholic Church – Ms Mordaunt raised the issues of combating female genital mutilation (FGM), ending child marriage and preventing violence against women and girls.

Ms Mordaunt also raised the issue of LGBT rights, noting the Church’s leadership on this area is helping to combat hatred towards these groups.

A spokesman for the Catholic church in the UK said Ms Mordaunt's comments were a matter for the Vatican. A spokesman for Vatican was approached for comment.

The Catholic Church’s staunch objections to contraception stem from its belief that it interferes with the creation of life.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI set out the Church’s official position that it is always intrinsically wrong to use contraception to prevent new human beings from coming into existence.

In his Humanae Vitae letter, the Pope said contraception is "any action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act [sexual intercourse], or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible".

This is interpreted to include condoms, and other barrier methods, including spermicides and the Pill.

In 2010, the Church appeared to end its absolute ban on the use of condoms, after Pope Benedict said it was acceptable to use a condom when the sole intention was to “reduce the risk of infection” from Aids.

His comments appeared in an interview published in the book Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times.

However, the Church remains fiercely opposed to birth control.

In recent years, there have been repeated calls for the Church to clarify its position.Theologians suggest that condoms are not a contraceptive if they are intended to prevent death rather than avoid life.