LAMBETH CONFERENCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 439, 3 December 1930, Page 11

LAMBETH CONFERENCE

BIRTH CONTROL QUESTION RESOLUTION EXPLAINED [ Per Presi Association. 1 AUCKLAND, Dec. 2. “The resolution of the Lambeth Conference in respect to birth control has been misunderstood and misrepresented in every way,” declared Archbishop Averill on his return by the Marama to-day. “The whole idea of the report and resolution was to condemn contraception, but one exception was made and that is what has been quoted. It was the reservation of where a birth might have a vary harmful effect upon the mother and might cause her death. The exception was only to be made as the result of medical advice and a certificate, and although the resolution did not say so the underlying spirit was that in such cases the dispensation of the Church should be granted. The Bishops condemned the use of contraceptives for selfish ends or the pursuit of pleasure and use by unmarried persons. The Bishops felt that they should say something on this point, and what was agreed to seems to me to be quite rational.”

The Archbishop said that he opposed the resolution itself on account of the liability to misunderstanding when cabled in brief form. The whole idea of the conference was to raise the sex question to a higher plane and see that anything done in the way of control must be done conscientiously, according to Christian principles. He regretted that some of the Church’s enemies were misrepreseting the intention of the conference.