Three Lasting Lessons from Humanae Vitae

The landmark document is worth reading

BY SR. BRITTANY HARRISON, FMA

Although I doubt the papal encyclical about human sexuality, Humanae Vitae, would be on most Catholics’ top 10 list of favorite religious writings, it could certainly be included among the top most controversial of the last 50 years. Released in 1968 amid the fury of the sexual revolution, Humanae Vitae (On the Regulation of Birth) stunned clergy and laity alike with its explicit condemnation of artificial birth control, prophesying that its use would lead to greater sexual immorality and the denigration of women. Authored by Bl. Paul VI, who is set to be declared a saint this month, the famous encyclical became the foundation for what would later be St. John Paul II’s teachings on love and human sexuality, The Theology of the Body.

CHAOTIC WORLD AT THE TIME OF HUMANAE VITAE

When delving into Humanae Vitae, it’s important to keep in mind the sociological reality of the time it was written. The Vietnam War was raging, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, Richard Nixon was elected president, and Apollo 8 circled the moon. “Women’s Liberation” groups formed across the country, demanding equitable pay and educational opportunities. The sexual revolution was bolstered with the introduction of the birth control pill in 1960 and “second-wave feminism” was declared in an article by Martha Weinman Lear in The New York Times Magazine. The 1960s were a time of protests, violence, culture shifts, and exploration.

In view of the many societal changes and scientific advances following World War II, St. John XXIII, predecessor to Bl. Paul VI, formed a commission to study the moral question of artificial birth control. The commission was comprised of theologians, bishops, physicians, and married men and women. The Pontifical Commission on Birth Control (PCBC), as it was called, was later expanded from six during the time of St. John XXIII to 72 members under Bl. Paul VI, counting among its membership Polish bishop Karol Wojtyla who would later become Pope John Paul II.

THE LAMBETH EFFECT

Artificial birth control and abortion had been universally rejected by all Christians until the Anglican bishops’ 1930 Lambeth Conference, which allowed contraceptives if a couple felt in good conscience that it was acceptable. The United States’ Federal Council of Churches took its cue from the Anglicans and issued a statement in March 1931 allowing the use of birth control by married people, while noting that “serious evils, such as extramarital sex relations, may be increased by general knowledge of contraceptives.”

Paul VI speaks in 1965 from the papal apartment in the Vatican City. Photo by: Ciric Internationals

After years of discussion, debate, and study with the PCBC, Bl. Paul VI authored and released the definitive document on the Church’s teaching regarding the use of artificial birth control, Humanae Vitae. The document would become one of the most famous and infamous papal documents of the last century.

THREE TAKEAWAYS

At a little under 7,000 words, Humanae Vitae is more than just a condemnation of artificial birth control; it’s also a reminder of the dignity and beauty of the married vocation. Although most Catholics will not commemorate the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae by reading the encyclical, here are my three takeaways:

1. Married love is beautiful and a source of holiness for spouses. 

Established by God when he joined Adam to Eve (see Genesis 2:18–25) and sanctified by Jesus at the Wedding at Cana (see John 2:1–12), matrimony is a holy and beautiful vocation. Humanae Vitae provides an inspiring ideal for couples, which I encourage engaged couples to ponder as they prepare for marriage.

[Married love] is a love which is total — that very special form of personal friendship in which husband and wife generously share everything, allowing no unreasonable exceptions and not thinking solely of their own convenience. Whoever really loves his partner loves not only for what he receives, but loves that partner for the partner’s own sake, content to be able to enrich the other with the gift of himself. (Humanae Vitae, 9)

2. Children are God’s greatest gift and are entrusted by God to their parents as a blessing and responsibility.

Children are not a decorative accessory or a glorified form of pet that a married couple adds to their household.

[Married] love is fecund. … “Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the procreation and education of children. Children are really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute in the highest degree to their parents’ welfare.” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World of Today, 50, quoted in Humanae Vitae, 9)

3. Humanae Vitae was a prophetic document.

Paragraph 17 lists four effects Bl. Paul VI foresaw birth control causing within society if its use became widespread:

  1. The increased use of contraception would “open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards.”

    Photo by: G-StockStudio/Shutterstock

  2. Contraceptives would change the way men perceive women. Bl. Paul VI warned that man would “forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”
  3. Contraceptives would be a “danger… passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law” and be used to force control over social groups and populations.
  4. Finally, Bl. Paul VI warned that contraceptive use would lead to a mind-set that human beings have unlimited power to change, alter, and control their bodies, even to the point of departing from God’s created purpose and design.

I encourage us to commemorate the golden jubilee of Humanae Vitae by reviewing the text, pondering its prophetic messages, and reexamining our understanding of the beauty and responsibility of the married vocation. Rather than a dry dissertation, Humanae Vitae is a vibrant reminder of the precious gift of life, happiness, and authentic freedom that can be found in a healthy marriage. It is a celebration and a challenge; it is a source of liberating truth.

We feel, too, that the entire American people is here present, with its noblest and most characteristic traits: a people basing its conception of life on spiritual values, on a religious sense, on the rule of law, on freedom, on loyalty, on work, on the respect of duty, on family affection, on generosity, and courage. (Homily, Yankee Stadium, New York, Oct. 4, 1965)

From the MagazineHumanae VitaeSr. Brittany HarrisonSr. Brittany Harrison FMA
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