Humanae Vitae
by Father Paul A. Duffner, O.P.
 On July 25, 1993 there was celebrated
the 25th anniversary of the publication of the encyclical Humanae
Vitae by Pope Paul VI, the encyclical giving the Catholic
doctrine on the regulation of birth, and condemning the use
of contraceptives in that regard. There has perhaps never been a papal document that has
met with as much opposition and has caused as much controversy as this encyclical.
It was not because the Church has taught something that was not true, but
because it has taught something that was not popular,...something that calls for sacrifice....something that our pleasure-seeking
world flatly rejects .... something that some Catholics with weak faith have not accepted.
The Basis of the Church's Teaching
Pope John Paul II, speaking to an International
Congress on Moral Theology on the twentieth anniversary of Humanae
Vitae, explained: "It
is not a doctrine invented by man; it is stamped on the very nature of the human person by
the Creator's hand, and confirmed by Him in revelation." This encyclical confirms the doctrine expressed by Pope
Pius XI in his encyclical on Christian
Marriage: "Any use whatever of Matrimony
exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural purpose to
generate life is an offense against the law of God and of Nature."
Pope Paul VI explained the basis of the doctrine of
Humanae
Vitae as follows:
"That teaching, often set forth by the magisterium, is
founded upon the inseparable connection, willed by God and unable to be broken by
man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitive
meaning and the procreative meaning" (12).
Commenting on this teaching of Paul VI, Pope
John Paul II declared in his Apostolic Exhortation "Familiaris
Consortio":
"When couples, by means of recourse to contraception,
separate these two meanings that God the Creator has inscribed in the being of man and
woman and in the dynamism of their sexual communion, they act as judges of the divine
plan, and they manipulate and degrade human sexuality (and with it themselves and their
married partner) by altering its value of total self-giving." (32)
 As to the Scriptural
basis of this doctrine, the Lord referred to the 'unitive' meaning of the conjugal
act when He said in the beginning: "A man leaves
his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5). He referred to its 'procreative'
meaning when He
said to our first parents: "Increase and multiply,
fill the earth..." (Genesis 1:28)
Yet, we must not misunderstand the Church's
teaching in this respect. As the noted moral
theologian Monsignor William Smith points out, "while the Church declares that these two dimensions of the
conjugal act are inseparable, that does not mean that the two must be realized in every
single instance, but rather that one must never act against them in any single instance.
Why? Because this is God's design, God's plan; and we are meant to be cooperators with
God's plan, not its judge."
This doctrine, the Monsignor declared, "comes
to us from three sacred sources: the Sacred Scriptures revealed by God, Sacred
Tradition guided by the Holy Spirit, and the Magisterium which has been endowed
with the gift by Jesus Christ to teach in His Name."
Of these three sources the second Vatican Council declared in its decree
on Revelation:
 "It is clear that Sacred
Tradition, Sacred Scriptures, and the teaching authority of the Church (the Magisterium),
in accord with God's most wise design, are so linked together that one cannot stand
without the others, and that all together and each one in its own way under the action of
the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls." (n.10)
Every situation involving human sexuality that
has been rejected by the Church as immoral because contrary to God's design, involves an attempt in one way or another to
separate these two fruits of married love (unitive & procreative) that God has put together. To
mention a few of them:
 |
 artificial
insemination, |
| in vitro
fertilization (test
tube reproduction), |
| surrogate
motherhood, |
| sperm banks, |
| cloning, |
| artificial
birth control, etc. |
While the following words of Christ were spoken in reference to divorce, they are equally
applicable to the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative
meaning of the conjugal act: "What
God has joined together, let no man separate." (Matthew
19:6)
 Peter, the Rock
It is important to see the role of the Pope in
these difficult times of dissent and crisis of faith on the part of many within the Church. Christ founded His
Church on Peter:
"Upon this rock I will build my Church" (Matthew 16:18). He entrusted His message to the apostles headed by Peter,
and gave them the authority to teach and to bind:
"He who hears you, hears Me. He who rejects you rejects Me, and he
who rejects Me, rejects Him Who sent Me." (Luke
10:16).
"What you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 16:19)
Christ gave to His Church a twofold source of unity ....
a twofold
guide. One is
an interior guide, the Light of
Faith; the other is an exterior guide, the Voice of
Peter. For Catholics those two guides must always go together. One without the other will not stand.
the light of faith (if the voice of Peter is rejected) will go
out.
the voice of Peter (without the light of faith)
will be rejected.
Conscience - Not Always a True Guide
Once one rejects this twofold
source of guidance that God has given, he is no longer guided by the light
of faith, but only by human reason which has been obscured
by original sin.
Such a one (whether he knows it or not) is given to wishful thinking, for that is
one of the weaknesses of our fallen nature. That is, we easily justify doing what we want
to do, or not doing what we do not want to do. This is because our judgments
are colored or slanted by our desires. And the greater our attachment to some created good, some satisfaction, the more our bodily and rational appetites tend to
obscure our reason, and the more we are given to this self-deception.
That is why our conscience, which is simply a practical judgment of
the intellect,
is not always a reliable guide. This is the root
of the problem
of many in the Church today who reject this or that teaching of
the Church. "I
am following my conscience," they
say, "which allows me to reject this teaching of the
Church (e.g. regarding contraception), and do what common sense tells me." What they are saying amounts to this: "My conscience allows me to reject what the Spirit of Christ
dictates, and follow what the spirit of the world suggests."
Pope John Paul II, speaking on this topic in a general
audience August 17, 1983, said:
"It is not sufficient to say to man: 'always follow your
conscience.' It is necessary to add immediately and always: 'Ask yourself if your
conscience is telling you the truth or something false, and seek untiringly
to know the truth. If we were not to make this necessary clarification, man would risk to
find in his conscience a force which is destructive of his true humanity, rather than that
holy place where God reveals to him his true good."
 Once one rejects the wisdom of Christ handed down by the Church (that wisdom which includes the cross), he will invariably
accept the wisdom of the world. There is no middle course, no neutral zone. "He
who is not with Me, is against Me" (Matthew
12:30).
Once one
rejects the teaching of the Church on any key issue, it is easy to
reject other basic teachings of
the Church. We read of those who consider themselves
Catholic, and
yet favor abortion..."Catholics pro-choice" as they like to call themselves. In all probability, a great
percentage of these first began their
rejection of Church authority by joining the ranks of those who
rejected Humanae
Vitae. Once one is no longer guided by the light of divine faith, the spirit of the world takes over.
Pope John Paul II, on the twentieth anniversary
of the publication of Humanae
Vitae, commented:
"It cannot be said that the faithful have embarked on a diligent
search for truth if they do not take into account what the Magisterium teaches, or if, by
putting it on the same level as any other source of knowledge, makes oneself judge; or if
in doubt, one follows one's own opinion or that of theologians, preferring it to the sure
teaching of the Magisterium.......
"Closely connected with the theme of moral conscience, is that of the
binding force of the moral norm of HUMANAE VITAE. By teaching that the contraceptive act
is intrinsically illicit, Paul VI meant to teach that it does not admit exceptions.
No personal or social circumstance could ever, can now, or will ever, render such an act
lawful in itself. This is the constant teaching of Tradition and of the Church's
Magisterium which cannot be called into question by the Catholic theologian."
(That is, it cannot be done lawfully; and where it happens, you
have the blind leading the blind. "If a blind guide
leads the blind, both fall into the pit." (Matthew
15:14)
The Garden of Eden Today
It will be helpful to consider briefly how all that we are
speaking of ties in with what happened at the very beginning of the human race. You recall
the story of Genesis, how Adam and Eve rebelled against God's command not to eat of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil deceived them. "You will not die. God knows
that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing
good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). 
Instead of recognizing God's authority and sovereignty, God's dominion over all creation,
they rebelled against the restriction He had placed on them; and we know the consequences.
The devil, who knows our human nature so well, uses the same tactics
today, the same strategy that
deceived our first parents. "Reject that
teaching of the Church. Those who issue these decrees are far behind the times. You know
the world better than they do. They don't experience the same problems as you. Do whatever
you feel is right for you."
So suggests the Evil One. Once Adam and Eve had
sinned, the kingdom of Satan
was
established, and they came under his
dominion. Every descendent of Adam
(with the sole exception of the Immaculate Mother of
God) comes into this world under the dominion
of Satan, and remains under his dominion until baptism. And even after baptism, the baptized Christian who
falls away from the state of grace comes again under the power of
Satan; and the
greater the rebellion against the authority that God has established, the more he comes under Satan's power and influence and furthers his cause.
Garden of Eden - by MICHELANGELO di Lodovico
Buonarroti Simoni - from Cappella Sistina, Vatican
 |
Mary, child Jesus and saints
around Tree of Knowledge. |
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil
How many today, in the use of their marriage, has the devil enticed to partake
of that forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had allowed our first
parents to partake of every kind of fruit in the Garden of Eden
with one single exception. What precisely was God withholding from them? What was He not allowing the head of the human race by His
command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil? A note in the Jerusalem bible explains this as follows:
"It is the power of deciding for himself what is good
and what is evil, and of acting accordingly, a claim of complete moral independence by
which man refuses to recognize his status as a created being. This first sin was an attack
on God's sovereignty, a sin of pride."
Speaking of this verse in Genesis, Pope
John Paul II says in his new encyclical on Christian morality Veritatis
Splendor, that "it
teaches that the power to decide what is good and what is evil does not belong to man, but
to God alone..... Man's freedom is not unlimited. It must halt before the 'tree of the
knowledge of good and evil,' for it is called to accept the moral law given by God"
(n.35).
Yet, how many today, rejecting God's warning handed down by the Church, have partaken of that forbidden
fruit! How many have claimed for themselves (as did Adam
& Eve) a moral independence, refusing to acknowledge the restrictions
placed on them by their Creator. How many, no longer guided by the light of faith but following
their own selfish inclinations, have convinced themselves that they know better than the Church. How many are
gradually coming more and more under the influence of the Evil
One, following his suggestions rather than the voice of
Christ speaking through His Church. "He who hears you, hears Me; He who rejects you, rejects Me" (Luke 10:16).
"Pro-Choice" Catholics
 Those who reject the teaching of the Church put forth in Humanae
Vitae join the ranks of "Pro-Choice" Catholics.
I have a right to choose. "But," some will object, "that term
'pro-choice' refers to abortion."
That is precisely the point; it does apply to abortion. And the expression
fits perfectly those who use contraceptives, for many forms of contraception are abortifacient; that is, they cause abortions. Janet E. Smith, who has published two books upholding
the doctrine of Humanae
Vitae, explains this point:
"There is much evidence to
show that not all contraceptive pills work by stopping ovulation. With many forms of the Pill
a woman may still be ovulating and thus may be conceiving. If she conceives when on the Pill,
she will most likely self-abort. Since the contraceptive has made the
uterine wall hostile to a fertilized egg, the fertilized ovum, the new young life, does
not implant and dies an early death. The IUD, it is believed, nearly
always works this way. Thus, IUDs and some forms of the Pill
not only contribute to abortion, they in fact cause abortions;
they are abortifacients. Is it not clear, then, that contraception is a leading cause of abortions?" ("Why Humanae Vitae was Right" p.
523)
 |
Ultra-sound image above shows
the uterus outlined in blue and the "triple stripe" uterine lining (landing pad
for the embryos) outlined in yellow. |
How does the IUD Work?
Although doctors claim they aren't quite sure how the IUD
works, it is clear that the IUD does not prevent
ovulation, which means that the woman's body will still produce an egg during her monthly
cycle.
When the IUD is put in place, it and the
chemical it contains alters the fluids in the womb, and the lining of the womb. The
presence of the IUD irritates the lining. This is not necessarily painful
to the woman, but it can have negative effects on a tiny human being.
After this new life begins at fertilization, the tiny boy or girl
must travel to the wall of the womb and implant.
Because the IUD
inflames the wall of
the uterus, this tissue becomes inhospitable
to the new human being.
The tiny child
cannot attach to the wall of the womb and get nourishment, so he or she
dies. This is abortion!
Abortion is an act
of direct killing
that takes the life of a tiny human being;
a life that begins at fertilization (conception).
  At
conception the father’s sperm fertilizes the mother’s egg cell. From the moment
of conception, 46 chromosomes with
30,000 genes combine to determine all
of your physical characteristics: sex; facial features; body type and the color of your
hair, eyes and skin. Even more amazing, intelligence and personality - the way you think
and feel, your talents, tastes, athletic abilities and more - were already in place within
your genetic code.
At the moment
of conception you receive your own unique DNA code, you
were already essentially and uniquely you - a minute body no bigger than a grain of sugar.
Also at the moment
of conception, God
creates your immortal
soul and fuses it to your
minute
body, where it
remains until you
die.
Only God knows how many human lives have been conceived and then
snuffed out by those who use contraceptives. It is all so minute and so hidden, but it is the
destruction of
innocent human life. "Let them remember,"
warns Pope Pius XI in his encyclical
on
Christian
Marriage, "that God is the Judge and Avenger
of innocent blood which cries out from earth to heaven."
Independently, however, of the fact that abortion often follows the
use of contraceptives, the deliberate use of artificial means
to
frustrate what God and nature intends
is intrinsically wrong, and
can
never be
justified.
Such a one claims the right to
negate God's plan, to interfere with the natural process
established
by the Creator.
 |
 |
 |
Mother of God |
Mother of the
Church |
Mother of all
mankind |
Let us pray:
"O Mother of God, Mother of the Church,
Mother of all mankind,
obtain for your children the grace to recognize the rights of God ...
the plan of God ... a plan that requires sacrifice ...
a plan that involves the carrying of a cross in the footsteps of Your divine Son.
Obtain for them the light of faith to see that plan with the sacrifices it requires,
and the love to embrace it,
that they may experience that interior peace
that all the satisfactions and pleasures of the world can never bring."
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