‘Humanae Vitae’ is a ‘circular’ or ‘encyclical’ from 1968 by the then Pope Paul VI, ‘head’ of the Catholic Church (1). In this authoritative letter to the clergy and other members of the Church and “to all people of good will,” the Pope gives his views on human reproduction and birth control. If there is one subject at the intersection of (human) biology and faith that is delicate, it is this. Few themes make as much of a stop as human sexuality and fertility. The position taken by Pope Paul VI here, that (hormonal) contraception is not morally acceptable, has strongly divided minds within the Catholic world. Beyond that, people shrug their shoulders to a large extent and do what they think is right. On this page some references to this problem.
Texts:
- The full text of the encyclical.
- Speech at an ‘Audience’ of Pope Paul VI, shortly after the publication of the encyclical Humanae Vitae, on the positive image of marriage morality, sketched from her vocation (1968).
- Paul VI on the resonance of the encyclical in the world (1968).
- A follow-up to this teaching in a letter by Pope John Paul II, ‘Familiaris Consortio‘, on the occasion of an extraordinary meeting (‘synod’) of bishops from all over the world on the family (1981).
- A speech by Pope John Paul II to students at two Roman university institutions on ‘responsible procreation’ (1983).
- A 1984 teaching (‘catechesis’) by John Paul II on natural methods as part of his series of lessons on the ‘theology of the body’ (1979-1984).
- A speech by Pope John Paul II to a congress commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the encyclical (1988).
- An ’empowering’ commentary by Pope Benedict XVI on the 40th anniversary of the publication of the encyclical (2008).
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Footnotes:
1. In fact, Jesus Christ is the “head” and the pope is the “first among equals” of the bishops of the Church that Christ founded and built on the Twelve Apostles under Peter’s leadership. The popes are thus the successors of Peter. Their authority goes back to the authority of Jesus Christ, who was not a good man, teacher, or prophet, but the second person of the “Divine Trinity,” Father, Son, and Spirit, one God who is a community of three divine persons. Thus, the authority of Peter’s successor is related to God himself, at least, when he makes “doctrinal” statements about “faith and morality.”
