Society casually dismissive of Humanae Vitae

Bishop defends relevance of 1968 papal encyclical

Bishop Ronald Fabbro

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Ottawa

Pope Paul VI's controversial 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae has often been dismissed because of its unpopular stand against contraception.

Forty years later, however, when fresh eyes examine the document in light of present realities, Paul VI's document has gained a new relevance.

In Ottawa Feb. 28-29, biotechnology experts and representatives of family groups gathered for a seminar organized by the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) to reexamine Humanae Vitae in light of developments biotechnology, human reproduction, sexuality and the plight of marriage and the family.

Prescient pope

"What came out was the inspiration and vision that someone like Pope Paul VI had 40 years ago in writing Humanae Vitae," said London Bishop Ronald Fabbro in an interview following the seminar.

Fabbro is COLF's past president and one of two bishops on its board.

Paul VI's key insights are still relevant, he said.

"We've seen the impact of many of the things he was foreseeing, if you don't respect this plan God has for us as human beings," he said.

Pope Paul warned of destructive influences on marriage, families and sexuality if the unitive and procreative aspects of "the marriage act" were separated, the bishop said.

Fabbro said the seminar also addressed the way Pope John Paul II's teachings on the Theology of the Body built on Humanae Vitae to provide "a language for talking about sexuality and the body for this day and age."

On the reproductive technology side, the seminar touched on how human beings are "commodified" when procreation is separated from the unitive dimension of marriage love, he said.

Dignity dismissed

"Now we're making decisions about (reproductive technology) that seem to deal with it in a very utilitarian way that is missing the dignity of the persons behind it," he said.

Participants talked about young people "being inundated" with a view of sexuality "that doesn't respect them as persons," he said.

"Our young people are hungering for an alternative and for a vision, for something they can believe in that they are not getting from the society that they live in," he said.

Catholics need to share the Church's vision for sexuality and marriage in public debate, Fabbro said.

The challenge is to announce it in a way that makes it understandable to contemporary society - not only for the people within the Church who are trying to live it out, but also for the good of wider society.

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