It is estimated that between 2.1 percent and 8.3 percent of Catholic couples remain biologically childless after exhausting all morally upright approaches for assisting reproduction. This represents a significant group within the Church earnestly seeking to live a fruitful married life in the absence of conceiving children. This essay seeks to provide a theologically and pastorally enriching exploration of marital fruitfulness for sterile Catholic couples in two ways: first, by demonstrating how the meanings of human fruitfulness and sterility have been definitively transformed by Christ and second, by exploring some of the ways sterile Christian marriages are abundantly fruitful. The insights of twentieth-century theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar are drawn upon and shaped for this purpose. The essay concludes by highlighting ways that sterile Christian couples can be supported to come to a better understanding of the abundant fruitfulness of their marriage.
Author. 2020. “The Barren Bear Fruit: Towards a Theology of Marital Fruitfulness for Sterile Catholic Couples in Light of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of Fruitfulness.” MPhil thesis, University of Notre Dame. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/267/.
2.
BalthasarHans Urs von. 1993. “A Word on Humanae Vitae.” Communio: International Catholic Review20 (2): 437–450.
3.
BalthasarHans Urs von. (1987) 2004. Epilogue. Translated by Edward T. Oakes SJ. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
4.
BalthasarHans Urs von. (1974) 1995. Explorations in Theology, Volume 4: Spirit and Institution. Translated by Edward T. Oakes. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press.
5.
BalthasarHans Urs von. (1986) 2014. Explorations in Theology, Volume 5: Man Is Created. Translated by Adrian Walker. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
6.
BalthasarHans Urs von. (1977) 1983. The Christian State of Life. Translated by Mary F. McCarthy. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
7.
BalthasarHans Urs von. (1976) 1990. Theo-Drama, Theological Dramatic Theory, Volume 2: Dramatis Personae: Man in God. Translated by Graham Harrison. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
8.
BalthasarHans Urs von. (1987) 2005. Theo-Logic, Volume 3: The Spirit of Truth. Translated by Graham Harrison. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
9.
BalthasarHans Urs von. (1988) 1991. Unless You Become Like this Child. Translated by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2000. Strathfield, NSW: St. Pauls.
12.
ChrysostomSaint John. (390?) 1990. “Homily 18.” In The Fathers of the Church, Volume 82: Homilies on Genesis 18–45, translated by Robert C. Hill, 3–20. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press.
KristiansenStaale J.2013. “Hans Urs von Balthasar.” In Key Theological Thinkers: From Modern to Postmodern, edited by KristiansenStaale J.RiseSvein, 249–266. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing.
17.
LindseyBrandiDriskillCynthia. 2013. “The Psychology of Infertility.” International Journal of Childbirth Education28 (3): 41–47.
18.
MossCandida R.BadenJoel S.. 2015. Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
19.
NicholsAidan. 2000. No Bloodless Myth: A Guide Through Balthasar's Dramatics. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.
20.
RatzingerJoseph Cardinal. 1998. Milestones: Memoirs, 1927–1977. Translated by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
21.
Second Vatican Council. (1964) 1988. “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.” In Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, edited by Austin FlanneryO. P., 350–426. New York: Costello Publishing Company.
22.
Second Vatican Council. (1965) 1988. “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: Gaudium et Spes.” In Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, edited by Austin FlanneryO. P., 903–1001. New York: Costello Publishing Company.
23.
StanfordJoseph B.ParnellTracey A.BoylePhil C.. 2008. “Outcomes from Treatment of Infertility with Natural Procreative Technology in an Irish General Practice.” The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine21 (5): 375–384.
24.
ThamElizabethSchliepKarenStanfordJoseph. 2012. “Natural Procreative Technology for Infertility and Recurrent Miscarriage: Outcomes in a Canadian Family Practice.” Canadian Family Physician58 (5): 267–274.
25.
The Order of Celebrating Matrimony: The Roman Ritual. 2015. 2nd ed. Strathfield, NSW: St Pauls.
26.
WilsonMercedes A. 2018. “Natural, Scientific, and Highly Effective Treatment for Infertility.” The Catholic Social Science Review23: 265–312.
