Fr. Hans Küng lost his license to teach in 1979, after his theological work was found to contain frequent and persistent heresy, including the denial of papal infallibility and opposition to Humane vitae.
It’s unjust to say that people with Down syndrome exist to teach us lessons about being better people. It’s an extremely common trope we would all do well to avoid.
People with Down syndrome, exist for God’s mysterious purposes: because we give him glory and because he loves us.
*I don’t know what that errant comma is doing there. It’s kind of embarrassing.
I heard this kind of talk from a very well-meaning pro-life person today, and I appreciate the effort.
But I have a theory (but no data) that this kind of talk actually makes it more likely people with Down syndrome will be aborted, by making them a different kind of creature.
On the feast of St. Joseph, I'll mention the period in which he was most manifestly evident in my life:
We were 23 and just-turned-24 when we got married, we were both in grad school, we had no money and no plan. We lived in a rat infested apartment in DC.
But we really wanted to be parents. So we did the things people do when they want to be parents, but no babies came.
We tried for a couple of years without getting pregnant before we went to see doctors, but eventually we saw doctors, had surgeries, etc. No babies came.
Those of you who have experienced infertility know it can be a very difficult cross.
Other things my dad told us:
- that 'Green Chromosomes' are stronger than other genes, so if you are a bit Irish, the green chromosomes will overpower everything until you're all Irish.
- that on St. Patrick's Day, I had to write Seamus on my school papers or I would get a zero.
So the Prince of Wales shows up in the U.S. and we say "Hey, this freakin coffin couldn't hold George Washington. You remember that guy, right? Anyway, here's some wood."