Originally Posted by kerry

It was a direct quote in our local paper. There is a component of Catholic moral theology called the principle of double effect. While it wouldn't produce a straightforward inference, it's possible that it could be used to justify Ratzinger's position.
In all my interactions with Catholics, I've never actually met someone in person who concurs with the logic put forward in the Catholic theology of sexuality. A lot of people might accept the Catholic position on the basis of the authority of the Church but most modern people find the logic to be nonsense. It's relevant because the Church's position is that since their view is based in natural law, all rational people should concur and governments can legitimately enforce these views as part of natural law. See the ream after ream that John Finnis has written on this topic in legal philosophy. These issues aren't just theoretical with the majority of Supreme Court justices now being Catholic.