St. Mary of the Assumption

Maple Park, Illinois

 

On July 25, 1968, Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Catholic teaching that artificial contraception is seriously sinful in his encyclical Humanae Vitae.  This surprised many Catholics who were expecting that the Church would accept artificial contraception because Pope John XXIII had appointed a commission to study the issue, doing this because he didn’t want Vatican II discussions to be bogged down by the contraception question.  Pope John XXIII had no intention of changing the traditional teaching of the Church about the authority of the Pope and the bishops in matters of faith and morals.  He intended the ultimate decision about contraception to come from the authority of the Church, not from a vote by members of the appointed commission.  His successor, Pope Paul VI, was of the same mind.

Of course in 1968 the secular culture had embraced contraception and its daughter abortion as part of the “sexual revolution,” and many Catholics expected the Church to go along with them.  What did Pope Paul VI see that led him to reject a change in the Church’s teaching?  Why did the teaching stand as it had for all of Christian history?

He said the Church’s teaching respects the gift of human life and shows married couples how to relate to each in a respectful, loving manner.  If the Church’s teaching was not followed, he predicted the following:
 

• an increase in unfaithfulness in marriages (adultery is taken for granted in ourculture today; we have “no fault” divorce);
• the lowering of moral standards (now sexual activity is basically “adult entertainment,” and we rebel against so-called “out-of-date” morality);
• lack of respect for life (60 million-plus abortions in 46 years in the U.S., an epidemic of violence and murder in our cities, hate crimes, etc.)’
• lack of respect for women (#MeToo movement; sexual assault by clergy and celebrities, a “war against women” attitude by hard feminists);
• the breakdown of the family (thousands of children growing up without both birth parents, numerous “but-no-children!” marriages in our society, a concern about today’s low birth rate in our country).

Why blame all this on contraception?  Because contraception breaks the connection between the two purposes which God intends for human sexual intercourse: the procreation of the human race, and the lifelong bonding in love of husband and wife for their own good and the good of their children.  Contraception gives the message that the primary purpose of sexual activity is the pleasure of those doing it.  Thus we hear much today about the “hookup” culture on college campuses.

Contraception is highly vulnerable to the practice of using another person for one’s own personal pleasure.  This undermines authentic love, which is the gift of oneself for the good of the one loved, not mainly for oneself.  What much of our society calls “love” today is not love, but lust.  Lust is treating someone as an object to bring me pleasure, not as a person to be respected for himself/herself.  Contraception easily opens the door to lust, and then to abortion when contraception fails.

The “sexual revolution” of the 1960s has caused immense damage to our society as it opened the door to seeing people as objects for our pleasure rather than as persons to be respected.  The evidence of this is all around us, as noted above.

Is the Church then against birth control? No, the Church points out that God has given us a way to regulate births within the boundaries of authentic love and morally correct behavior.  It is called “Natural Family Planning” and has many forms today. Natural Family Planning is as effective as artificial contraception and operates within the boundaries of both God’s intention for sexuality and a healthy, satisfying union in marriage.  Is this just “Church talk” against what people want?  No.  Consider that the divorce rate for couples using Natural Family Planning is less than 7%...as opposed to 40-50% of couples who contracept.  Does that not tell us something?