2
This year, as the Catholic Church celebrates the 50 th anniversary of the promulgation of the
encyclical Humanae Vitae, the world continues to find Blessed (soon to be Saint) Pope Paul VI’s
watershed document a “sign of contradiction,” 1 a “stumbling block,” 2 and a light to a world
overshadowed by the sexual revolution abetted by the use of artificial contraception. 3 Blessed
Pope Paul VI’s call for scientists led to the development of scientific methods of fertility
awareness endorsed by the Church as a moral means of birth regulation and natural family
planning (NFP). During the next pontificate following Vatican II, St. John Paul II continued the
legacy of Humanae Vitae, giving to the world a series of general audiences on marriage and
1
Dietrich von Hildebrand, The Encyclical Humanae Vitae, A Sign of Contradiction: An Essay on Birth
Control and Catholic Conscience (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1969), cover.
2
Michael Bradley, “The Stumbling Block of Blessed Paul,” Ethika Politicka, December 4, 2014, accessed
May 27, 2018, https://ethikapolitika.org/2014/12/04/stumbling-block-blessed-paul/.
3
Samuel J. Aquila, The Splendor of Love, Archdiocese of Denver, February 2, 2018, preface, accessed May
27, 2018, http://archden.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/splendor-of-love_web.pdf.