Dignity of human life in Humanae Vitae

Dignity of Human Life

In the modern history of Catholicism, one of the most controversial and argued pronouncement from any contemporary Pope was the encyclical, issued by Pope Paul VI in 1968, entitled Humanae Vitae. In the forty years since its release, it is surprising that few Catholics have actually read and studied the document, and even fewer are familiar with the ecclesiastical arguments contained. However, from the day it was released it proved debate that is still afire in certain parts of the world and certain conservative organizations. In point of fact, in the introduction to a book on the subject written in 1991, Professor Janet Smith remarks: "Humanae Vitae was written to reassert the Church's unbroken condemnation of the use of contraception. Humanae Vitae is terse and compact; clearly it is not designed to present a full-scale defense of Church teaching on the proper means of regulating family size and related matters" (Smith, 1991, intro). Primarily because of its strict prohibition of all forms of artificial contraception, the encyclical remains controversial. In fact, in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI called this topic "so controversial, yet so crucial for humanity's future. . . . It is a sign of contradiction but also of continuity of the Church's doctrine and tradition. . . . What was true yesterday is also true today" (Benedict XVI, 2008).

Origins -- Dating back to the time of Saint Augustine, the early Church condemned contraception and abortion, but it was not until the 1930s that the Anglican Church allowed contraception under limited circumstances. In response to this, Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical Casti connubuii (On Christian Marriage) in 1930. This affirmed Catholicism's central belief in the traditional teachings of marriage, sexuality, and birth control even within marriage. It remains against contraception in any sort (Campbell, 1960, 131).

When oral contraceptives became available in 1960s, many in the Church argued for a new, more updated, position from the Church. Thus, in 1963 Pope John XXIII established a commission of six European non-theologians to study questions of birth control and population. Worldwide reception of the commission's opinion was neither positive nor decisive, which many attribute to the fact that one of the seminal thinkers on the subject, Karol Wojtyla, future Pope John Paul II, was prohibited from attending by the Polish authorities. His writings on the subject were philosophical, and while they upheld the Church's position, were more humanist in their consideration (McClory, 1995).

Summary of Humanae Vitae -- Paul VI used the encyclical to reaffirm the Church's basic position on marriage and reproduction, placing the responsibility for conception solely within the bounds of "God's Will." The views he expressed were historical in nature, documents from Popes Pius XI, Pius XII, and John XXIII, all of who maintained that there were divine obligations in marriage within the constructs of their partnership with God (Weigel, 1999).

Within the paradigm of marriage, sexual relations are much more than a union of two physical bodies. For Catholics, they constitute a union of a loving couple with a loving God, in which God's blessing is passed to humans through the gift of conception -- the two bodies contribute the physical, God adds the soul. This transmission of human life is a responsibility of marriage, and must be held sacred (Humanae Vitae, 1968, 1; hereafter HV). Because this is a divine partnership, and each soul the responsibility of God, there is no leeway or human discussion about whether a new person should or should not be brought into the world. Marriage, Paul agrees, is difficult, but the notion of conception moves far beyond biology, demography, sociology, or even psychology and remains in the realm of the divine -- married love takes its origin from God, who is love (HV, 9).

Love is total -- that very special form of personal friendship in which husband and wife generously share everything, allowing no unreasonable exceptions and not thinking solely of their own convenience. Whoever really loves his partner loves not only for what he receives, but loves that partner for the partner's own sake, content to be able to enrich the other with the gift of himself (HV, 8-9).

Any human action that is intended to prevent conception is absolutely forbidden, except in certain medical circumstances. These circumstances are permissible only if infertility is not directly intended (e.g. cancerous reproductive organs, for instance." Any chemical or barrier means to prevent sperm and egg from realizing their natural function, though is never allowed. The only form of birth control possible, then, is family planning (abstaining from intercourse during certain phases of menstruation) because it is a part of a "faculty provided by nature." Acceptance of any method of artificial birth control specifically designed to prevent conception will result in several negative consequences: a general lowering of morality (sex without consequence), a danger that men may reduce women to "being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of their own desires," and an abuse of power by public, rather than religious, authority and a false sense of autonomy (HV, 16-18).

In an acknowledgement to the problem of overpopulation, particularly in the Developing World, Paul notes that it is the societal desire to accumulate material goods rather than focus on human values that cause the debate. Governments should work to improve conditions, not prevent a natural process. Social justice demands that the choice of the next soul be left in the hands of God, not man (Ibid.).

Thus, for the Church, the purpose of marriage is to enter into Holy matrimony, in the sight of God, to procreate as God sees fit. Marriage without the capability of procreation is not marriage, if conception is prohibited due to a physiological defect, then it is something that was in God's hands. In fact, humans are"

. . . not free to act as they choose in the service of transmitting life, nor are they free to decide for themselves what is the right course to follow. On the contrary, they are bound to ensure that what they do corresponds to the will of God the Creator. The very nature of marriage and its use makes this clear, while the constant teaching of the Church affirms it" (Viladesau and Massa, 1991, 251).

Contemporary Implications -- Certainly, in the decades since the pronouncement there have been vast changes in technology, demography, women's rights, sexuality, and even perception of birth control. To many Catholics, the Pope's predictions have come true -- sexual morality, according to Church principles, is far more lax than ever -- many people cohabitant prior to marriage, and most young adults report at least one sexual experience prior to age of 19. The use of birth control and condoms have, for many, diminished the concern that the purpose of sexual intercourse is procreation. Instead, many have become blinded by the pleasure of the now, and cast off the moral responsibilities inherent in achieving adulthood (post-puberty) (Wojtyla, 1978).