Blah, blah, blah.
We are Catholics. Not of the world.
In many countries it is not acceptable to spank our kids. So should we apply the same logic here??
Our wives are not our children.
Can anyone provide a historical precedent, magisterial teaching, or any other docuмentation, illustrating the times and places where it was deemed acceptable for Catholic husbands to spank or paddle their wives? I'm not concerned with what Protestants or Mohammedans did. I'm concerned with what faithful, traditional Catholics did. Does it appear anywhere in the Bible? Are there any catechisms that recommend it? And have there been any Catholic societies that were so conformed to this idea, that my hypothetical Sally-and-Maggie conversation could actually have taken place? If Maggie had been Sally's
mother?The only thing I can think of is when (I believe it was) John Paul II canonized some third-world saint (or some such), and said something to the effect of "he only beat his wife when she truly deserved it". Would anyone here wish to take
that as sound spiritual guidance?
I think a much more sound, reasonable thing to do, if a man is so unfortunate to have a wife who is giving him massive problems, would be to take her before a priest, explain what she is doing,
let her have her say as well, and have it explained to her, in no uncertain terms, why her behavior is unacceptable. The worst thing a wife can do, is of course, to cheat on her husband. There are some wives whose husbands can't trust them out of their sight! (And, in all fairness, it cuts both ways.)