THE EMERGENCE OF CONTRACEPTION continued.
The “Prophesies” of Pope Paul VI as contained in his encyclical Humanae Vitae
To be sure, the encyclical was not written to be a prophetic document. Rather, it was written to be a clarifying document, intending to explain what the Church teaches about contraception. The encyclical does present this teaching clearly, but it has been little heeded. Statistics show that few Catholics live by these teachings, and it seems safe to suppose that few Catholics have read <Humanae Vitae>.
Christians understand marriage as an elevated calling, whereby God enlists spouses in the all-important enterprise of bringing forth new human life. The Church teaches that to use contraception is to reject God and his life-giving blessings. The Church teaches not merely that contraception is wrong, but that because contraception is wrong, it will have bad consequences.
Four Prophecies
Pope Paul VI made four rather general “prophecies” about what would happen if the Church’s teaching on contraception were ignored.
- Conjugal Infidelity (Unfaithfulness within Marriage)
The Pope first noted that the widespread use of contraception would “lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality.” That there has been a widespread decline in morality, especially sexual morality, in our time, is very difficult to deny. The increase in the number of divorces, abortion, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and venereal diseases should convince any sceptic that sexual morality is not the strong suit of our age.
- Irresponsibility Rewarded
There is no question that contraception is behind much of this trouble. Contraception has made sexual activity a much more popular option than it was when the fear of pregnancy deterred a great number of young men and women from engaging in premarital sexual intercourse. The availability of contraception has led them to believe that they can engage in premarital sexual activity “responsibly.” But teenagers are about as responsible in their use of contraception as they are in all other phases of their lives-such as making their beds, cleaning their rooms and getting their homework done on time.
(To be continued). (By Dr Janet Smith with slight adaptation)