Insights on Humanae Vitae, Theology of the Body, and Birth Control
Delve into the teachings of Humanae Vitae and Theology of the Body, exploring their impact on marriage, family, and morality. Explore the historical context, individual struggles with childbirth, methods of parenthood limitation, and the ethical considerations surrounding birth control. Gain perspectives from influential figures like Margaret Sanger and the Lambeth Conference of 1930.
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The Pill and the Antidote: Humanae Vitae and Theology of the Body NCSU LYFE September 9, 2018
Humanae Vitae and TOB [The encyclical has] clarified a fundamental chapter in the field of marriage, family and morality. Still the Magisterium of the Church could and perhaps should return to this immense field with a fuller, more organic and more synthetic treatment. Blessed Paul VI, Wednesday Audience July 31, 1968 [The Theology of the Body] is a rereading of Humanae Vitae. St. John Paul II, General Audience, July 18, 1984
Schedule September 9 The Pill and the Antidote: HV and TOB September 16 Love and Responsibility ***Talley 4101 September 23 Introduction to Theology of the Body September 30 Original Man October 14 Historical Man October 28 Eschatological Man November 4 Celibacy for the Kingdom November 11 Sacramentality of Marriage November 18 Love and Fruitfulness December 2 TOB and the Culture of Death
Birth Control and the Sexual Revolution I was married when I was seventeen and am now twenty-eight. I have four living children and had two miscarriages. My last child is nine months old. I had no doctor for two hours after she was born and only the assistance of a neighbor; I laid on the bathroom floor until they could get a doctor and nearly got blood poison and am still suffering from milk leg as the result of my last baby s birth Is there much use, dear Margaret Sanger, in living for people like me? I have the fear of pregnancy on my mind all the time. If I try to stay away from my husband, he is terrible mean to me and says awful things to me. He doesn t seem to think what I have suffered, having my babies and what a terrible worry it is when they are sick and how hard it is to make over old clothing and I don t know what else..For God s sake please help me with your knowledge so I need not have any more as I have heart trouble and I would like to be here and raise these four than to have more and maybe die. Margaret Sanger, Motherhood in Bondage
Lambeth Conference 1930 Where there is a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood, the method must be decided on Christian principles. The primary and obvious method is complete abstinence from intercourse (as far as may be necessary) in a life of discipleship and self-control lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, in those cases where there is such a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood, and where there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence, the Conference agrees that other methods may be used, provided that this is done in the light of the same Christian principles. The Conference records its strong condemnation of the use of any methods of conception-control for motives of selfishness, luxury, or mere convenience.
Casti Connubii Since, therefore, openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian tradition some recently have judged it possible solemnly to declare another doctrine regarding this question, the Catholic Church, to whom God has entrusted the defense of the integrity and purity of morals, standing erect in the midst of the moral ruin which surrounds her, in order that she may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, raises her voice in token of her divine ambassadorship and through Our mouth proclaims anew: any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin. Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubii 54
Ordinary Magisterium Such a doctrine can be confirmed or reaffirmed by the Roman Pontiff, even without recourse to a solemn definition, by declaring explicitly that it belongs to the teaching of the ordinary and universal magisterium as a truth that is a truth of Catholic doctrine. Consequently, when there has not been a judgment on a doctrine in the solemn form of a definition, but this doctrine, belonging to the inheritance of the depositum fidei, is taught by the ordinary and universal magisterium, which necessarily includes the Pope, such a doctrine is to be understood as having been set forth infallibly. CDF, Doctrinal Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the Professio Fidei, 4
Natural Law and Marriage This kind of question requires from the teaching authority of the Church a new and deeper reflection on the principles of the moral teaching on marriage a teaching which is based on the natural law as illuminated and enriched by divine Revelation. No member of the faithful could possibly deny that the Church is competent in her magisterium to interpret the natural moral law In carrying out this mandate, the Church has always issued appropriate documents on the nature of marriage, the correct use of conjugal rights, and the duties of spouses. Blessed Paul VI, Humanae Vitae (HV), 4
Why New and Deeper? Combination oral contraceptives act by suppression of gonadotropins. Although the primary mechanism of this action is inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include changes in the cervical mucus, which increase the difficulty of sperm entry into the uterus, and changes in the endometrium which reduce the likelihood of implantation Physicians Desk Reference Abortifacient
Natural Law natural law is nothing else than the rational creature's participation in the eternal law St. Thomas, ST I-II q.94
Basic Human Goods 1) Preservation of its Own Being (i.e. Life) 2) Marriage between Man and Woman and bringing up of children 3) Living in society 4) Knowledge of the truth (specifically about the Transcendent/God) St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae I-II, q.94, a.2
End of Marriage Since, however, We have spoken fully elsewhere on the Christian education of youth, let Us sum it all up by quoting once more the words of St. Augustine: As regards the offspring it is provided that they should be begotten lovingly and educated religiously, - and this is also expressed succinctly in the Code of Canon Law The primary end of marriage is the procreation and the education of children. CC, 17
More Natural Law The sexual activity, in which husband and wife are intimately and chastely united with one another, through which human life is transmitted, is, as the recent Council recalled, noble and worthy. It does not, moreover, cease to be legitimate even when, for reasons independent of their will, it is foreseen to be infertile. For its natural adaptation to the expression and strengthening of the union of husband and wife is not thereby suppressed. The fact is, as experience shows, that new life is not the result of each and every act of sexual intercourse. God has wisely ordered laws of nature and the incidence of fertility in such a way that successive births are already naturally spaced through the inherent operation of these laws. The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life. HV, 11
Openness to Fertility This particular doctrine, often expounded by the magisterium of the Church, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act. The reason is that the fundamental nature of the marriage act, while uniting husband and wife in the closest intimacy, also renders them capable of generating new life and this as a result of laws written into the actual nature of man and of woman. And if each of these essential qualities, the unitive and the procreative, is preserved, the use of marriage fully retains its sense of true mutual love and its ordination to the supreme responsibility of parenthood to which man is called. Humane Vitae, 12
The Inseparability Principle Explained Though a male and female are complete individuals with respect to other functions for example, nutrition, sensation, and locomotion with respect to reproduction they are only potential parts of a mated pair, which is the complete organism capable of reproducing sexually. Even if the mated pair is sterile, intercourse, provided it is the reproductive behavior characteristic of the species, makes the copulating male and female one organism. Germain Grisez, The Christian Family as Fulfillment of Sacramental Marriage
Contraception Definition all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children. Equally to be condemned, as the magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary. Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation whether as an end or as a means. HV, 14
Answering the Objections The question of human procreation, like every other question which touches human life, involves more than the limited aspects specific to such disciplines as biology, psychology, demography or sociology. It is the whole man and the whole mission to which he is called that must be considered: both its natural, earthly aspects and its supernatural, eternal aspects. And since in the attempt to justify artificial methods of birth control many appeal to the demands of married love or of responsible parenthood, these two important realities of married life must be accurately defined and analyzed. HV, 7
Where Sanger Was Right Men rightly observe that a conjugal act imposed on one's partner without regard to his or her condition or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife. If they further reflect, they must also recognize that an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator, through specific laws, has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life. Hence to use this divine gift while depriving it, even if only partially, of its meaning and purpose, is equally repugnant to the nature of man and of woman, and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and His holy will. But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator.
A Hard Saying? Self-discipline of this kind is a shining witness to the chastity of husband and wife and, far from being a hindrance to their love of one another, transforms it by giving it a more truly human character. And if this self-discipline does demand that they persevere in their purpose and efforts, it has at the same time the salutary effect of enabling husband and wife to develop to their personalities and to be enriched with spiritual blessings.
How is NFP Different? 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 arbiters 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... This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. When, instead, by means of recourse to periods of infertility, the couple respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meanings of human sexuality, they are acting as ministers of God s plan and they benefit from their sexuality according to the original dynamism of total self-giving, without manipulation or alteration. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 32
What Are Just Reasons? takes into consideration their own good and the good of their children already born or yet to come, an ability to read the signs of the times and of their own situations on the material and spiritual level, and finally an estimation of the good of the family, of society and the Church. Gaudium et Spes, 50
The Prophetic Pope Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards...Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law HV, 17
