To the
participants in a Conference for the Family on the anniversary of the Humanae Vitae
THE ENTIRE TRUTH OF “HUMANAE VITAE”
PASTORS ARE TO TEACH IT
WITHOUT CALLING IT INTO QUESTION
On Monday, 14 March,
the Holy Father received in audience the participants in the Fourth
International Conference for the Family of
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. It is with great joy that I welcome
you to this special audience which I have gladly reserved for you, qualified
representatives, on the occasion of the International Conference convoked to
recall the twentieth anniversary of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae. I greet you most
cordially, with particular thanks to Professor Bausola
for his opening address, and I wish to congratulate most heartily the directors
of the “Centre for Study and Research on the Natural Regulation of Fertility”
of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, who have sponsored this
initiative, which will be repeated in the city of Bologna within a few days.
2.
2.
The twentieth anniversary of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae offers the whole Church a fitting occasion for serious
reflection on the doctrine taught in it, a doctrine which I have taken up again
in the Exhortation Familiaris Consortio and
on numerous other occasions. It is a
question, in fact, of a teaching which belongs to the permanent patrimony of
the Church's moral doctrine.
The
uninterrupted continuity with which the Church has taught it derives from her
responsibility for the true good of the human person, of the human person of
the spouses, first of all. In fact,
conjugal love is their most precious good.
The interpersonal communion established between two baptized Christians
in virtue of that love is the real symbol of Christ's love for his Church. The doctrine expounded in the Encyclical Humanae Vitae thus constitutes the necessary
defence of the dignity and truth of conjugal love.
As with every ethical value, man has a grave
responsibility with regard to conjugal love.
It is first of all married couples themselves who are responsible for
their conjugal love, in the sense that they are called to live it in its entire truth. The Church assists them in this task, enlightening
their consciences and assuring them, with the sacraments, of the strength
necessary for the will to choose good and avoid evil.
3.
Still, I cannot pass over in silence the fact that many today do not aid
married couples in this grave responsibility of theirs, but rather place
significant obstacles in their path.
In
this regard, no man or woman who has perceived the beauty and the dignity of
conjugal love can remain indifferent in the face of the attempts being made to
equate, in every respect, the conjugal bond with mere cohabitation. To equate
the two is unjust and destructive of one of the fundamental values of all civil
society - esteem for marriage. It is
also harmful for the upbringing of the young generations who are thus tempted
to embrace a concept of freedom and a way of experiencing it which are
radically distorted.
In
addition, in their effort to live their conjugal love correctly, married
couples can be seriously impeded by a certain hedonistic mentality widespread
today, by the mass media, by ideologies and practices contrary to the gospel.
This can also come about, with truly grave and destructive consequences, when
the doctrine taught by the Encyclical is called into question, as has sometimes
happened, even on the part of some theologians and pastors of souls. This attitude, in fact, can instil doubt with
regard to a teaching which for the Church is certain; in this way it clouds the
perception of a truth which cannot be questioned. This is not a sign of “pastoral understanding”,
but of misunderstanding the true good of
persons. Truth cannot be measured by
majority opinion.
The
concern you have shown in your conference to situate the more technical and
scientific reflection on the natural monitoring of fertility within the context
of full theological, philosophical and ethical reflections must be emphasized
and praised. Another way to weaken the
sense of responsibility of married couples towards their conjugal love is, in
fact, to supply information on natural methods without accompanying it with the
necessary formation of consciences.
Technical knowledge does not resolve ethical problems, simply because it
is not able to make the person better.
Nothing can take the place of education to chastity. Only the man and woman who have attained a
true harmony in the depths of their own personalities can love one another
conjugally.
A real slaughter of
the innocents
4.
Twenty years after the publication of the Encyclical, one can see clearly that
the moral norm taught in it does not defend merely the goodness and dignity of
conjugal love, and thus the good of the person of the spouses. It has an even greater ethical significance.
In fact, the logical consequence and the ultimate root of the contraceptive
act, which Paul VI had already pointed out prophetically, have now become
manifest. What logic? What root?
The
anti-life logic; over the last twenty years, many states have renounced their
dignity as defenders of innocent human life, enacting laws permitting
abortion. A real slaughter of the
innocents is being carried out every day throughout the world.
What
root? It is the rebellion against God
the Creator, the one Lord of the life and death of human persons: it is the non-recognition of God as God; it is the
intrinsically absurd attempt to build a world to which God is completely
extraneous.
In
the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI expressed the
certainty that the document constituted a contribution, because of its defence
of conjugal morality, to the establishment of a truly human civilization (cf.
n. 18). Twenty years after its
publication, the foundation of that conviction is truly borne out in many
ways: in ways which can be verified not
only by believers, but by every man or woman who is thoughtful about the lot of
mankind, since anyone can view the consequences of man's disobedience to God's
holy law.
Your
efforts, as well as those of so many other persons of good will, are a sign of
hope not only for the Church, but for all humanity.
As I
invite each of you from my heart to persevere generously on the path you have
set out upon, I give all of you my blessing, invoking heavenly assistance upon
you.