Janet Smith, Ph.D.The Sept. 22-25 conference will be a big stage for Catholic leaders and thinkers to speak about what it means to be a Catholic in the 21st century, spreading the Church’s notions of hope, peace and morality to a larger-than-life audience. Sacred Heart Major Seminary professor Janet Smith, Ph.D., will address the conference, the only speaker from the Archdiocese of Detroit.
“It’s always an honor to serve the Church, and it gives me great pleasure to do so,” Smith told The Michigan Catholic. “I didn’t know (that I was the only Archdiocese of Detroit representative).”
Smith will discuss Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, a 1968 encyclical reaffirming the Church’s teaching regarding artificial contraception. Smith will present material from her well-known talk, “Contraception: Why Not.”
“Humanae Vitae predicted that there would be many negative consequences when spouses rejected God’s plan for sexuality,” said Smith, who holds the Fr. Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart and serves as a consultor to the Pontifical Council on the Family. “For instance, contraceptive sex has led people to think sex is essential and thus the incidence of sex outside of marriage has greatly increased.”
Smith links increased sex outside of marriage to a rise in pregnancies, increased single parents, poverty and abortions. Her talk will detail the importance of living chastely and how the Church’s position on sexuality leads to a healthy, holistic life.
“Since the vast majority of Catholics use contraception, and since most of them have never heard a defense of the Church’s teaching, I’m just going to have to keep doing my best to get the message across,” Smith said. “St. John Paul II made this teaching a key feature of his pontificate, and I believe he was right to do so. So many troubles of our lives and ours society would be lessened if we were faithful to God’s plan for sexuality.”
Smith thinks large meetings such as this provide encouragement to other Catholics to strengthen their faith.
“Huge meetings like these generally fill people with enthusiasm and energy,” Smith said. “Those who attend are thrilled to see how many wonderful things the Church has going on and have their faith strengthened by the faithful people they meet and with whom they converse.”
Smith also will discuss caring for people with dementia, a topic that’s close to her heart — after caring full time for her own mother who has dementia.
“It has been among the hardest and most wonderful things I have ever done,” Smith said. “One of my strong suits is a sense of humor, and that has definitely helped in this situation. One of my weaknesses is a desire for efficiency, which I have had to abandon.”
Smith hopes her talk will strengthen others caring for a loved one with dementia, showing them they aren’t alone.
“I will be talking about what I have learned and hope it will help so many who will be dealing with this,” Smith said.
Smith relates both topics to the strengthening of families and unconditional love. The conference will strengthen the family ties of those who attend as they realize how important the family is to the fabric of society, she said.
“I hope we come to see that unless we strengthen the family, which will be done by more fully understanding the importance of the family, the importance of lifetime unconditional commitments to spouses and children, the amount of heartache and dysfunction in this world will continue to increase,” Smith said.
Smith thinks stressing the importance of family leads to other virtues of Catholic living, including commitment, sacrifice, generosity, loyalty, responsibility, a willingness to suffer for others and a wiliness to ask for and seek forgiveness.
“These are tremendous events, especially since the pope’s visit basically coincides with the meeting,” Smith said. “Catholics get a chance to see what a force for good we are and can be. “The Church teaches the family is the school of love. None of the things loves asks is easy, but no good thing in life will happen without them. The Church itself is a huge resource of wisdom and graces, both of which make being loving easier.”
