by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer

(May 13, 2008) While addressing participants in an international congress in Rome marking the 40th anniversary of the Encyclical on contraception, Humanae Vitae, Pope Benedict XVI said the truths contained in this document are more relevant now than ever before.

“The truth expressed in ‘Humanae vitae’ does not change,” he said, “quite the contrary, in the light of new scientific discoveries its teaching becomes more relevant and stimulates reflection on the intrinsic values it possesses.”

Recalling that the Encyclical was published by Pope Paul VI on 25 July 1968, the Pope highlighted how the document soon became “a sign of contradiction.”

“That text, often misunderstood and distorted, caused much discussion, also because it was set at the dawn of [an age of] strong dissents which marked the life of entire generations,” he said. “Forty years after its publication that teaching not only manifests its truth unchanged, but also reveals the vision with which the problem was addressed.”

Pope Paul VI made several predictions about what impact the widespread use of contraceptives would do to society and families, all of which have come true.

First, he predicted that the use of contraceptives would open the way for marital infidelity and the lowering of moral standards. Since the advent of the pill in the 1950’s, the divorce rate jumped from 25 percent in 1960 to 48 percent by 2006 while the unwed childbearing rate increased by 600 percent in the same time period.

Second, Pope Paul predicted that the use of the pill would cause men to lose respect for women and to use them as a “mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires.” According to the United Nations Study on The Status of Women, as of the year 2000, somewhere in America a woman is battered, usually by her intimate partner, every 15 seconds.

Third, he warned about the possibility of government authorities imposing the use of contraceptives on their populations. This prophecy has also come true in a variety of ways, from the one-child policies imposed by the Chinese authorities to the fact that almost all world governments now support the widespread distribution of contraceptives.

Lastly, he predicted that once we allowed the possibility of creating life to enter the realm of technology, we would soon cross the line between the ethical and unethical creation of life. This prediction has come true in a myriad of ways, from cloning and embryonic stem cell research to in vitro fertilization practices that have left more than 400,000 American children frozen  in laboratories across the country.

Pope Benedict XVI repeated the warnings of Pope Paul VI when he said: “If the practice of sexuality becomes a drug that seeks to enslave the partner to one’s own desires and interests without respecting the times of the beloved, then what must be defended is no longer just the concept of love but, primarily, the dignity of the person. As believers we could never allow the power of technology to invalidate the quality of love and the sacredness of life.”

He added, “No mechanical technique can replace the act of love that husband and wife exchange as a sign of the mystery greater than themselves, in which they are protagonists and co-participants of creation.”

He also expressed his concern for adolescents whose actions sometimes display an “incorrect appreciation of the mystery of life and of the dangerous implications of their actions.” He hopes that young people “may learn the true meaning of love and prepare for it with appropriate sexual education, not allowing themselves to be distracted by superficial messages that prevent them appreciating the essence of the truth at stake.

Freedom must be joined to truth, and responsibility to dedication to others. “Without these principles the community of man does not develop and there is a risk of being trapped in oppressive selfishness.”

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Women of Grace Study Questions:

1) What’s the difference between regulating births through the use of contraceptives or by employing natural family planning methods? (See No. 16 in Humanae Vitae, available in its entirety at http://www.womenofgrace.com/documents/chdocbirth.htm)

2) What is the fundamental reason why the Church prohibits the use of contraceptives? (See No. 11-12 in Humanae Vitae)