The turmoil surrounding sexuality and sexual ethics can be traced to the widespread acceptance of contraception, said the Rev. Michael Ward, Catholic priest and associate professor of religion and theology at the University of Oxford. 

On March 20, the Catholic Society hosted Ward to discuss “The Elephant in the Bedroom: C.S. Lewis on Contraception.”

“When we speak of an elephant in the room, of course we mean an important and obvious subject that everyone ignores out of existence,” Ward said. “Contraception is one such subject.” 

If society does not acknowledge the elephant in the bedroom, then our sexual ethics will decline even more, Ward said. 

“Contraception raises to the forefront of our attention the importance of self-control in the ethical life, and all of us need to exercise the virtue of self-control, whether we are married or not,” Ward said. “Self-control is not an end in itself, but a means to growth in charity.”

Although Lewis was not a Catholic, Ward highlighted the similarities between Lewis’ views and the Catholic Church’s stance on contraception. 

“The fact that he held a view on contraception that was similar to but not identical with that taught by the Catholic Church makes him a very useful person to study for anybody who wishes to uphold Catholic teaching on contraception, whether they be Catholic or no,” he said.

Ward attributes Lewis’ near silence on contraception as a testament to his prudence, and references other material when he speaks neutrally on it.

“I am not aware that he ever speaks well of contraception,” Ward. “He speaks of it neutrally or indifferently, only in those four instances I’ve just mentioned.” 

Senior Emma Purdy, vice president of Catholic Society, said the talk addressed an ongoing theme for the complementarity of the sexes. 

“It must be the Holy Spirit leading us, we haven’t necessarily planned this theme, so this feeds into the topics of how men and women relate to each other, how do we do that well, and how contraception plays into that,” Purdy said. 

Senior Noah Hoonhout, president of Catholic Society, said Ward had reached out to Benedict Whalen, associate professor of English, to give the talk since he didn’t have the contact information for Catholic Society.

“It was such a great topic, so it was pretty obvious that we wanted to sponsor it,” Hoonhout said. “I really liked that it was applicable to Catholics and non-Catholics.”