Catholic teaching: Still true after all these years

Paul VI made 'gesture of courage' in upholding immorality of contraception

- Design Pics Married love should always involve the whole person and be open to new life, Pope Benedict said in a recent talk upholding the Church's teaching on contraception.

From Catholic News Service
Vatican City

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's controversial encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) that upheld the Church's long-standing teaching that the use of artificial birth control is morally wrong.

The encyclical . . . and the pope were reviled in 1968 as being hopelessly out of step with the times and insensitive to the desires of couples who wanted to stop having children.

But this spring, instead of admitting Pope Paul was wrong, Pope Benedict said the truth of Humanae Vitae has become even clearer over the last four decades.

New scientific discoveries and social trends have shown the wisdom of the Church's teaching, Pope Benedict said in a May 10 talk.

Openness to life

In an age in which sexual activity can become like a drug, people need to be reminded that married love should always involve the whole person and be open to new life, the pope said.

Addressing participants of a Church-sponsored conference on Humanae Vitae, Pope Benedict said the encyclical was a "gesture of courage."

He acknowledged that its teachings have been controversial and difficult for Catholics, but he said the text expressed the true design of human procreation.

"What was true yesterday remains true also today. The truth expressed in Humanae Vitae does not change; in fact, in light of new scientific discoveries, its teaching is becoming more current and is provoking reflection," he said.

Self-giving

The pope said the encyclical correctly explained that married love is based on total self-giving between spouses, a relationship that goes far beyond fleeting pleasures or sentiments.

"How could such a love remain closed to the gift of life?" he said.

The pope said the Christian concept of marriage respects the unity of the person, in body and soul.

The alternative, he said, is a culture that considers the body an object that can be bought or sold and in which "the exercise of sexuality is transformed into a drug that wants to subject the partner to one's own desires and interests."

"As believers, we can never allow the dominion of the technical to invalidate the quality of love and the sacredness of life," he said.

The pope said this fundamental view of human life and procreation is something that goes back to the creation of man, and thus represents a paradigm for all generations. It is a key part of natural law that deserves universal respect.

Written in nature

"The transmission of life is inscribed in nature and its laws remain as unwritten norms to which everyone should refer."

Any attempt to move away from this principle is destined to remain sterile and without a future, he said.

It should also be remembered, the pope said, that true love involves a sense of sacrifice, which is part of a married couple's openness to life.

"No mechanical technique can substitute the act of love that two spouses exchange as a sign of a greater mystery, in which they are protagonists and co-participants in creation."

Risky implications

The pope said he is concerned that adolescents today are not receiving the kind of sexual formation they need in order to make proper decisions and avoid the "risky implications" of their behaviour.

He said it does no honour to free and democratic societies when they offer their young people "false illusions" about their own sexuality. Freedom must be tied to truth and responsibility.

Pope Benedict summed up his talk by saying that the 1968 encyclical should be looked at with a broader perspective.

"The teaching expressed in Humanae Vitae is not easy. However, it conforms to the fundamental structure through which life has always been transmitted from the creation of the world, in the respect of nature and in conformity with its demands."

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