Fifty years ago today, on July 25, 1968, Blessed Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical that would send a shockwave across the Western world by restating the Catholic Church’s long-held teaching that contraception (in all forms) was contrary to natural law or God’s plan for humanity.
With “Humanae Vitae,” the Holy Father postulated several bone-chilling predictions he feared would come to pass as the Christian West accepted contraception, specifically artificial contraception, as a way of life. Flash-forward to the 21st Century, few can disagree with him:
- Objectification of women
- Skyrocketing divorce rates
- Legalized abortion
- Demographic winters
- Sexual promiscuity
- Devaluation of children
The list goes on, the damaging effects of which can be felt in the millions of broken homes that permeate America’s inner-cities, where churches have now been replaced by Planned Parenthood clinics and where abortion is now a rite-of-passage into womanhood.
Despite Pope Paul VI’s prophetic premonition, the Western Church largely rejected “Humanae Vitae,” with some, as in the case of the Canadian bishops issuing the Winnipeg Statement, openly defying it. In fact, recent polls show that some 89% of practicing U.S. “Catholics” (the quotation marks on purpose) have no issue with contraception, with many either completely in the dark about or utterly rebellious of “Humanae Vitae.”
Though mountains of evidence show that the Church’s approved method of spacing out births for “serious reasons,” Natural Family Planning (NFP) has yet to be regarded as something other than a pseudoscience just one step above the superstitious “Rhythm Method.” That’s a real shame, because advancements in Napro technology and fertility monitors have made the practice as easy as a click of a button. If only people knew the truth . . .
As the old adage goes, “what’s popular is not always right and what’s right is not always popular.” No matter how many times the liberal Catholics wave around the “statistics” showing contraception’s popularity among the ill-informed laity, Church teaching is going nowhere. Forever, the words of Pope Paul VI will always be that lighthouse shining out onto a darkened culture mercifully guiding it back to shore.
For that, the few who heeded the warnings of their Holy Father and courageously stood against the cultural tide, have much to celebrate and take joy in as “Humanae Vitae” enters its 50th year of life.