Ever True

Another anniversary of Humanae Vitae (HV) has come and gone. It seems like just yesterday when so many of us gathered in Ontario, in the San Bernardino region, for our HV50 Conference. It was 2018 and we marked the 50th anniversary of the watershed encyclical promulgated by Pope Paul VI on July 25th, 1968. In this context, “watershed” is “an event or period marking a turning point in a course of action or state of affairs”. Humanae Vitae’s promulgation was an event that marked a turning point in the state of affairs not only for the Catholics, but also for folks of all faiths and for all peoples.Pope Paul VI clarified and re-affirmed that the task given to married couples to beget new life, in collaboration with the Creator, is always to be carried out in such a way that temporary or permanent sterilization has absolutely no part in the marital embrace. HV boldly, clearly and beautifully proclaimed that this has always been true, was true then and will always be true in the future. If Catholics and others could ignore this fact before HV, the clarity of the explanation of the encyclical’s truth made it difficult to ignore after HV. In many ways, HV’s promulgation was a watershed moment in history.

In the encyclical, Pope Paul VI presciently noted:

“Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.” (HV, 17)

In other words, without the God-given moral law and without the God-given authority, and the accompanying grace, to hold us to living the law faithfully, it becomes “easy…to break the law”.

During COVID-19, we saw an example of how easy it can be to break the law. For those of us who have been raised Catholic, we were always taught that you never missed attending Sunday Mass, unless, to name a couple of examples, you were really sick or were on a hike in the wilderness. Going to church on Sunday was ingrained in us as children. During COVID, when Catholic bishops all over the world, dispensed the faithful from attending Mass in-person, many faithful became confused. They asked: “If going to Mass is so important, how can it be dispensed from so easily?” Many wondered if Church goers would return to parishes when the obligation to attend Mass in-person was re-instated. True, the comparison I present is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. While recourse to contraception and sterilization is what is called an “intrinsic evil,” that is, it will always be wrong, one can miss Mass for a good reason. Still, the principle holds: The truth is the truth is the truth. And, if it’s true, it needs to be lived.

During COVID, we witnessed how confusing it can be when something (the Sunday obligation) is modified. I think Catholics need to be told to go to church every Sunday. And, that’s not a bad thing. It’s a rock you can hang onto, no matter what. One can think of a number of excuses to skip church, but if one has in mind that one’s salvation depends on following the law, one is less likely to break the law. Maybe I should never say never, but I will: the teaching of Humanae Vitae will never be changed. And, somehow if it were to be changed, it would not only sow confusion, but also it would be a disaster in countless ways. Humanae Vitae will always be true. And, the more we live and proclaim that truth, even when its truth is challenged and challenging to live, the more we will be true and faithful to God’s design.