Obviously, this is for those who are married and have need of access to the information. Those who aren't married or who don't need the info are cautioned not to be curious. There's a reason it's in Latin.
Get yourself an OCR/AI companion such as this:
https://sider.ai/This will allow you to translate Latin as you go through the following resources:
1871 -
https://archive.org/details/compendio-della-teologia-morale-di-alfonso-maria-de-liguori-volume-2/page/467/mode/2up1880 -
https://archive.org/details/theologiamoralis02scav/page/696/mode/2up1884 -
https://archive.org/details/CompendiumTheologiaeMoralis/page/791/mode/2up1885 -
https://archive.org/details/compendiumtheol03gurygoog/page/400/mode/2up1890 -
https://archive.org/details/compendiumtheolo0002gury/page/400/mode/2up1911 -
https://archive.org/details/cu31924021851526/page/n95/mode/2up1911 -
https://archive.org/details/summatheologiaem01nold/page/n501/mode/2up1925 -
https://archive.org/details/compendiumtheolo0002ferr/page/726/mode/2up1927 -
https://archive.org/details/plaintalksonmarr0000revf/page/46/mode/2up1935 -
https://archive.org/details/summatheologiaem0000merk/page/946/mode/2up1936 -
https://archive.org/details/moralpastoralthe0004davi_h2g7/page/248/mode/2up1945 -
https://archive.org/details/moralpastoralthe0004davi_y0j2/page/n5/mode/2up1958 -
https://archive.org/details/catholicmarriage00kell/page/36/mode/2upAll of these have imprimaturs, and are written by real theologians, not keyboard theologians.
There is much in these manuals that will be helpful and give clarity on this topic. All of them are in complete agreement, and these sample principles from Compendium Theologiae Moralis 1884 is carried through to all of them:
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938. Whatever is necessary for completing the conjugal act, or useful for performing it more easily, quickly, or perfectly, is entirely permissible for spouses. However, anything that, in the conjugal act, harms generation or induces pollution outside of the natural union is seriously illicit. Anything ultimately useless or indifferent to remotely and indirectly procuring generation or reasonably promoting the conjugal affection is equally illicit, but does not exceed a venial sin.
Reason for the first: Whoever has the right to the end also has the right to the necessary or useful means, unless otherwise prohibited; and those for whom the principal is permissible, the accessory is also permissible, as well as the means to it.
Reason for the second: Voluntary effusion of seed is not permissible except in order for generation. Marriage only gives spouses the ability for effusion of seed, which can directly serve generation. Otherwise, if people could enjoy just the pleasure itself without the consequent burden of offspring to be raised and educated, the generation of children would easily be neglected or deliberately avoided, and society itself would decline toward destruction.
Reason for the third: Only pleasure would be sought in these things, which, as said above, is indeed a sin, but doesn't exceed venial.
939. Resolutions
Any honest kisses between spouses and touches in both modest and less modest parts (if done cautiously) are innocent by the reason of demonstrating conjugal affection or fostering love, even if sometimes involuntary pollution occurs by accident. All honest signs of love, even tender ones, as means to an end, are permissible for those who must become one heart and one flesh by the matrimonial bond (cf. S. Alphons, n. 933).
Touches and actions that are intended to arouse are generally considered less honorable unless they are directly related to coupling. Even inherently dishonorable actions that are necessary or useful for arousal are not considered grave offenses when they serve as preparation for the act of coupling. However, these actions become venial if they are done solely for pleasure, even if they precede coupling immediately. They are considered mortal offenses if they expose one or both spouses to the risk of defilement before coupling, which can easily happen if they linger too long before proceeding with the marital act.
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End of quote.
There is much more in these moral theology manuals which wouldn't be suitable for posting here. The moral theologians are always quite specific about what is forbidden. As you go through these, you will notice what is missing from the list of "forbidden acts". On these topics, theologians rarely get into the weeds in terms of what is permitted, citing the first principle and leaving it at that.
Moral theology is not always an exact science but rather involves men making their best judgments based on moral principles, Divine and Natural law, and the teachings of the Church. This is why there are variations in what some theologians deem acceptable while others may not. I'm not going to get into the details on this, but if you read the moral theology works from the 16th century and compare them to St. Alphonsus' works from the 18th century and later, you'd be surprised at the number of ideas that had been abandoned/changed even in that small time frame, and not all of them had only to do with increasing knowledge of biology.
And in terms of the St. Alphonsus quote that everyone keeps sharing, it's important to note that what he refers to is
irrumatio, not the other unspoken term that is the elephant in the room (starts with an F). They are indeed different. And I blame translations from Latin to English to be the chief cause of the confusion, and people like Ronald Conte Jr. as a close second. But even
irrumatio, St. Alphonsus quotes those theologians of his day who say that is permitted, so long as the danger of pollution isn't present. He quotes those who think it's wrong, and simply places his opinion with them.
That's all I'm going to say on this topic.