A gesture of courage! Those are the words Pope Benedict XVI used in addressing participants of a church-sponsored conference about Pope Paul VI’s controversial encyclical, Humanae Vitae. Back on July 25, 1968 the then Holy Father issued this encyclical on artificial contraception and the role of procreation in marriage. Forty years later the document still arouses interest, apparently a bit more favorable today than it was back then.
This was a 7,000 word document which upheld the church’s long-standing teaching about the regulation of birth by spouses. The anniversary prompted me to go back and re-read the encyclical in order to become familiar once again with its content and to make it possible for me to offer you some facets of the pope’s teaching which are important for you and me to ponder prayerfully and to share more widely.
What most folks remember about that encyclical is that it reaffirmed the long-standing teaching of the church that artificial contraception is not acceptable behavior. Even though many at that time were espousing a change, the pope asserted that every conjugal act must remain open to the transmission of life. Furthermore, the encyclical rejected all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, and condemned direct sterilization, whether permanent or temporary.
Back in May of 1960, the Food and Drug Administration had approved the use of Enovid — the pill — after tests on some 900 women through more than 10,000 fertility cycles and had shown no significant side affects. Many of the pope’s advisors were encouraging him to endorse the principle of freedom for parents to decide when to give birth to their children and when not. In fact, when the encyclical was promulgated, many Catholic teachers, clerics and laity spoke out in opposition. Eighty-seven teaching theologians from American seminaries and Catholic universities responded with their own statements. They were quick to point out that the encyclical was not an infallible teaching and that married couples in good conscience could use artificial contraception and still be good Catholics.
Upon reflection, I suspect we all should have taken a little more time to reflect prayerfully about what the Holy Father was saying. Even the word “contraception” should have made us give pause before opposing so boldly what our teacher and pastor was telling us. The word “contra” in Latin means against. Conception is God’s plan for populating the earth. Acting against God’s plan certainly seems like a brash undertaking by any creature. For creatures upon whom God had conferred his greatest blessings and gifts to act in such a way seems unconscionable. The giving of life is God’s domain, not ours.
But the encyclical was not simply listing a series of prohibitions. It made it quite clear that sterilization would be allowed to cure bodily diseases. Married couples themselves, for serious reasons, could decide to reserve sexual union to the infertile periods in the woman’s reproductive cycle. Some will say that the church was telling couples to leave their family size to chance. That is not true. Sometimes there are serious circumstances, be they financial, physical, psychological, or those involving responsibilities to other family members which would make an increase in family size untimely. In such situations they should always act out of respect for God’s design for life and love.
Natural Family Planning is widely belittled in today’s culture, even among many Catholics. But NFP encourages spouses to respect God’s design for life and love. Couples are free to choose to refrain from sexual union during a woman’s fertile time, at the same time doing nothing to destroy the love-giving or life-giving meaning that is present in sexual union.
What is especially interesting about the papal letter of 1968 is its assertion that artificial birth control would eventually lead to wider marital infidelity, a general lowering of moral standards and the demeaning of women. Obviously Pope Paul was very concerned about the dire consequences that he foresaw would result from a “contraceptive mentality” in society. Ironically, there are more unwanted pregnancies and abortions today than there were back in 1968, this after such widespread acceptance of contraception. We continue to witness the breakup of families, a greater divorce rate, more women bearing children out of wedlock and the irresponsible behavior of men who father children without accepting the consequences of responsible child-caring.
Pope Paul VI recognized that not all would accept these teachings, even though the church is indeed “guardian and interpreter” of moral law. He reminded us all of the importance of self-discipline if we are to lead a virtuous life and encouraged the teaching of chastity as an important element in the Christian formation of our children. Recently, we American bishops issued a statement about the importance of teaching chastity in our religious education programs. We are hopeful that this document will be widely read, discussed and acted upon.
Back in 1968 governments were not prone to establish legislation that treated contraception, abortion or sterilization as higher values and as means of regulating birth. The pope foresaw that these attitudes would be gradually debunked and laws of the land would more widely be supportive of irresponsible behavior in matters sexual, particularly with respect to the divinely established consequences of lovemaking.
The church is in no way against sexual pleasure. Interestingly, those things that are necessary for life in God’s plan seem to involve pleasure. We need to eat in order to live. It’s usually an enjoyable activity. Husbands and wives need to experience sexual intimacy in order that the gift of human life will be shared more widely. God made sure that such sexual intimacy would also be a pleasure. In other words, in God’s plan, sex is not simply a “recreational activity” as the secular culture seems to believe.
If this teaching seems hard, it is really no harder than the church’s teaching about most virtues. Don’t you find it hard to be loving, forgiving, patient and understanding all the time? I do. It’s also hard to live chastely all the time. God foresaw our failings in this regard as well. And so he gave us the church, the sacraments, his Son’s forgiving and understanding heart. It took courage for Pope Paul VI in 1968 to support chaste living when society was saying it was too hard. It still takes courage for us to embrace that teaching, to share it more widely and to practice it in our daily lives.
