Dear Parishioners,
According to Jesus, we can know whether or not a prophet is true by the fruit he produces. (see Matthew 7:15-20) This means that if a prophet makes predictions that come true, that prophet and his message can be trusted. Meanwhile, if a prophet makes predictions that are not true, then you cannot trust that prophet because that prophet does not represent God. So, using this litmus test, I would like to evaluate one of the most controversial documents produced by the Church in the 20th century and really evaluate it by the predictions it makes.
In 1968, Paul VI promulgates his encyclical Humae Vitae (on Human Life). This document declared the immorality of using artificial contraceptives with the primary intent of blocking conception. This teaching ran against the common wisdom of the day which still is very dominant to this day: that people should be able to choose whether or not their sexual acts can produce a child. However, as pointed out in the encyclical, using artificial contraceptives is still immoral because it runs contrary to the act itself. According to the Church’s teaching and natural law, sexual acts have two purposes: union of the people having sex and procreation. To willfully remove one of those purposes from the act radically changes its meaning and dehumanizes those involved. Without these purposes, all that is left over in sex is just pleasure and possibly a hollow sense of self-fulfillment. But, this does not appreciate that the sexual act is a means of reflecting God’s love by participating in the creation of new life and reverence for God who is the Lord of all life. Plus, when sex is reduced to pleasure, it can reduce people to being merely objects of pleasure.
In support of these claims, Paul VI made the following predictions that he said would happen if the use of artificial contraceptives becomes the norm. He predicts a general lowering of moral standards, an increase in marital infidelity, a lessening respect of women by men and the coercive use of reproductive technology by governments. (see HV 17) It does not take a wide investigation to see that all of these predictions have come true. We have seen the general laxing of morality in the ‘hook-up’ culture. We have seen a huge rise in the divorce rate to the point that even one out of every two Catholic marriages end in divorce. We have seen the degrading of women as exposed by the #MeToo movement and the wide spread use of pornography. We have seen people being coerced in the use of reproductive technology by governments throughout the world, especially when tied to aid to developing countries. On top of that, we also see over the last fifty years, less marriages in general and an increase of the abortion rate. So, by our Lord’s criteria, it seems that we have a true prophet. As Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia put well, “If Pope Paul VI was right about so many of the consequences driving from contraception, it is because he was right about contraception itself.”
This article is way too brief in order to get into the depth of the Church’s teaching in this matter. So, for those of you who want more information, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have put together a webpage of many resources that explain this teaching: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-andfamily/natural-family-planning/resources/humanae-vitae.cfm
I know that many people reject this teaching because it runs contrary to what our popular society says about sex. But, I invite you to pray over it and read what the Church teaches. I am bringing this all up because this is Humanae Vitae Awareness Week, and I believe that what has gone wrong in our society today centers around how we treat sex. I hope that if we can take this teaching seriously, our Church can fully support a culture of life and love and that she can be a shining example for all people of the fruits of self-less love.
God bless!
Fr. Carter