Issues with male circumcision and the Roman Catholic Church

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There have been many Issues with male circumcision and the Roman Catholic Church.

Jesus, the Christ, was reared in a Jewish family in Israel by Mary, his mother and Joseph, his step-father. Israel was a Jewish nation where Judaism was the prevailing religion. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day in accordance with the Abrahamic covenant.

The first followers of Jesus were Jews, since his ministry was in Jewish Israel. After Jesus ascended into heaven, an issue arose among his followers as to whether it was necessary for Christians to be circumcised in accordance with the Abrahamic covenant, as advocated by the Judaizer party.

It was necessary to hold a meeting to resolve the issue. The Council at Jerusalem was held approximately 49 AD to establish a policy. The Council determined that circumcision is not necessary to be a Christian and wrote a letter stating that. The requirement for circumcision was omitted from the requirements in the letter. This remains the general view of Christians to this day with the exception of the Copts, a denomination in Egypt, which requires circumcision.

The position of the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church has issued the following relevant documents.

Bull of Union with the Copts (1442)

The Roman Catholic Church convened an ecumenical council at Florence in the Fifteenth Century to establish relations with eastern churches. A papal bull was published in connection with this ecumenical council. The Bull said in part:

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Bull of Union with the Copts It [The Holy Roman Church] firmly believes, professes and teaches that the legal prescriptions of the old Testament or the Mosaic law, which are divided into ceremonies, holy sacrifices and sacraments, because they were instituted to signify something in the future, although they were adequate for the divine cult of that age, once our lord Jesus Christ who was signified by them had come, came to an end and the sacraments of the new Testament had their beginning. Whoever, after the passion, places his hope in the legal prescriptions and submits himself to them as necessary for salvation and as if faith in Christ without them could not save, sins mortally. It does not deny that from Christ's passion until the promulgation of the gospel they could have been retained, provided they were in no way believed to be necessary for salvation. But it asserts that after the promulgation of the gospel they cannot be observed without loss of eternal salvation. Therefore it denounces all who after that time observe circumcision, the sabbath and other legal prescriptions as strangers to the faith of Christ and unable to share in eternal salvation, unless they recoil at some time from these errors. Therefore it strictly orders all who glory in the name of Christian, not to practise circumcision either before or after baptism, since whether or not they place their hope in it, it cannot possibly be observed without loss of eternal salvation.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church was promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It was published in Latin with translations in English and Spanish. The English version was released in 1994. It aims to summarize, in book form, the main beliefs of the Catholic Church. A revised edition was published in 1997.

The Catechism contains discussions and extensions of the meanings of the Ten Commandments. The Fifth Commandment (Thou shalt not murder.) is relevant. The discussion of the Fifth Commandment is divided into three sections. Section II Respect for the Dignity of Persons is relevant. It is divided into several subsections. The subsection entitled Respect for Bodily Integrity is relevant. It includes Paragraph 2297. Paragraph 2297 does not use the word circumcision. It does discuss amputations and mutilations, which certainly include circumcisions.

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Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2297 Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures. They are morally wrong. Terrorism threatens, wounds, and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity. Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity. Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law.