BL . POPE PAUL VI ’ S ENCYCLICAL ON BIRTH REGULATION
Dr . Mark S . Latkovic
© CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
CONTRACEPTION AND THE 1960S ’ CULTURE OF PERMISSIVENESS
The Catholic Church had always taught contraception is morally wrong , as John T . Noonan ( 1926 – 2017 ) showed in his 1965 book , Contraception — even though he favored a change in that constant teaching . Blessed Pope Paul VI courageously affirmed this teaching when he promulgated his landmark but controversial encyclical Humanae Vitae on July 25 , 1968 .
Much of the dissent that occurred after the document ’ s release had its roots in the cultural and theological upheavals of that time , with figures such as anthropologist Ashley Montagu ( 1905 – 1999 ) rhapsodizing about the revolutionary wonders of the Pill . Although legal abortion would be integral to the Sexual Revolution , contraception made the movement possible in the first place .
With even many Catholic theologians encouraging a change in the teaching , the expectation was the Church would accommodate herself to the Sexual Revolution and “ adapt ” her teaching . Many argued Vatican Council II ( 1962 – 1965 ) had called on Catholics to dialogue with and learn from the modern world . What better way for the Church to show humility than to countenance use of the Pill to help couples “ plan ” their families and solve many of society ’ s most challenging problems , from poverty to overpopulation ?
Further , many argued the Holy Spirit was speaking to the Church through the experience of those who found the Church ’ s teaching onerous and simply out-of-touch in a world where poverty and population were increasing , where women were entering the workforce in greater numbers , and where greater attention was being given to sexual pleasure in and outside of marriage .
THE POPES , THE MORALITY OF THE PILL , AND THE PONTIFICAL BIRTH CONTROL COMMISSION
In the late 1950s , Pope Pius XII was faced with judging the morality of the newly invented birth control pill . He determined the Pill was no different in moral character than any other form of contraception . But because it did not interfere with the physical integrity of marital intercourse — often taken to be the chief criterion for determining the morality of the sexual act — many thought it possible for the Church to accept chemical contraception as morally licit . For Pius XII , the Pill ( when used expressly for contraceptive purposes ) was morally wrong because it rendered the marital act closed to procreation .
Even though Pius XII had already condemned the Pill , St . Pope John XXIII established in the early 1960s the Pontifical
6 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Spring 2018