I Now Pronounce you Wife and Babies

I'm not Catholic, but many of my family members and friends are, so I've been to quite a few Catholic ceremonies. Most recently, I attended the wedding of a friend, an amazing, generous woman who is kind, but with just a dab of wickedness to make her real, and really hilarious. If you had attended her wedding, however, you would've discovered nothing about her (or her partner), because the Priest was far too obsessed with pushing the baby agenda to acknowledge her beyond her ability to be a vessel for Jesus, much like the much beloved 'Virgin' Mary. Another of my friends who was married in the Catholic church informed me that there isn't a set of vows you can choose from which omit the necessity of producing children to raise in the Catholic faith. As I listened to the Priest inform my friend that the next time she'd be in the church, it'd be to baptize her children, all 12 of them (problem: my friend is 31, and unless there is some IVF intervention, which the church condemns, she's probably not going to make it up to 12 babies) I just felt that continuing disappointment in the Catholic Church's willful disregard for the rights, health and sovereignty of women, and really humans in general.

I am not someone who is interested in being part of organized religion, but why is it that couples who choose to remain childless can't be considered "good" Catholics? Having children is something to be taken very seriously, and why bring babies into this world if you know you won't have the emotional, physical or monetary capabilities to provide for them? It should be as okay to not want kids as it is to want kids. Related, if a couple is unable to have children, how hypocritical is it of the church to condemn people who would go to scientific means to procure this 'blessing'? It's interesting (and shitty) how the church picks and chooses which medical interventions are acceptable (blood transfusions, yes, birth control, no. Gametes are super sacred cells, Erythrocytes, not so sacred).

At the wedding reception, the people at my table joked about how the Priest was seriously pushing the 'have kids' agenda, and probably one of the highlights was when my sister yelled 'MAKE BABIES FOR JESUS' to another couple friend of ours as we departed. However, despite the inherent joy at mocking ridiculously antiquated notions, it is disheartening that such notions are still being touted as the only way to 'salvation', whatever that means. If the only way a church can gain membership is through an forced breeding program, then perhaps it's time for said church to reevaluate its tenants and goals.