Monsignor Gilfredo Marengo’s new book, “La nascita di un’enciclica. Humanae vitae alla luce degli Archivi Vaticaniˮ (Birth of an encyclical. Humanae vitae in the light of the Vatican Archives), reveals that in 1967, Pope Montini asked for an opinion on contraception: few answered and most of them were in favor of an opening.
Paul VI, during the first Synod of Bishops held in the Vatican, had the Cardinal Secretary of State ask for an opinion on contraception in view of the publication of the encyclical. Only 26 of the 200 bishops present produced a written response. Of these, most said they were in favor of some opening to the pill, while 7 were against. But Pope Montini, who had already removed the subject from the Council discussion and had listened to the opinions of a commission of experts (the majority of whom were in favor), did not believe that there was any reason to change the position held up to that moment by his predecessors and promulgated a few months after his Humanae vitae, which came out in July – fifty years ago – lacking however the chrism of infallibility, as some would have liked.
“The news of the Pope’s desire to consult all the members of the synodal assembly is very important – Marengo points out- because one of the most repeated accusations, after the publication of Humanae vitae, was that the Pope had decided in solitude, in a non- collegial way”.
The speakers
Favorable to the opening were more than 18 cardinals and bishops.
There were 7 opponents in all: the American Fulton Sheen, Bishop of Rochester; Cardinal Santos (Manila); Cardinal Tappouni, Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians: Cardinal Siri (Genoa); Bishop Attipetty (Verapoly, India); Apostolic Vicar Hartl (Araucanìa, Chile); Bishop Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, later Pope John Paul II.
The pro-pill reasons
Among the many interventions that in various ways called for a change in the terms of the Church’s teaching on birth regulation, the author of the book notes that the most outstanding were those of Cardinals Suenens and Döpfner. The Belgian cardinal, great electorate of Paul VI (the new Pope had him standing next to him at the window, at the end of his first Angelus, Sunday 23 June 1963) had sent three texts. “Knowing well Paul VI’s concern to keep in line with the Magisterium of his predecessors, in the first text he tried to show how Pius XII’s decision to judge lawful the use of the Ogino-Knaus method, while introducing an element of novelty with respect to Casti connubii, could not be understood as discordant with the Magisterium of Pius XI. The same would have happened if the thesis claiming that, under certain conditions, the spouses could use the contraceptive pill, had been accepted.
…and those of the opponents
Among those who, instead, had spoken in harmony with the intention of Paul VI, only Wojtyła had gone beyond “the simple request that a future document of the Magisterium reaffirm what Pius XI and Pius XII had already affirmed”. The future John Paul II had in fact sent, presented as a Votum in the name of the bishops of Poland, the so-called “Memorial of Cracoviaˮ. “The annoyance towards the conservative positions – Marengo writes – emerges in the first part of the Memoir, where he shows his dissatisfaction with the way in which they argued about the value of the ecclesial magisterium with regard to natural law, with a special emphasis on the infallible continuity of his teaching. Two critical elements have been expressed. The first was of a methodological nature: “that the refusal of contraception belonged definitively to the infallible ordinary Magisterium of the Church could not be taken for granted, precisely because the Pope had considered it necessary to re-examine the problem (through the Pontifical Commission itself).
The paper grasped the limits of the positions of the minority that, taking for granted the authoritative profile of the ecclesial teachings already produced, considered useless any approach to the question that went beyond the mere repetition of the data traditionally present in the doctrinal patrimony of the church. For this reason, the theologians of Krakow highlighted the limit of this position which, invoking the authority of the Magisterium, did not care to develop an argument supporting the theses, with particular regard to the philosophical and theological profile of the category of natural law”.
Full story at La Stampa.
In the new FrancisChurch the past doesn’t matter. Only the present and the future, as those in power want it to be.
The birth control issue has been decided by many lay Catholics- they just leave the Catholic Church and join a Protestant denomination. One of my former Catholic friends observed recently: If the purpose of NFP is to regulate (control) births, than the intent of those using NFP is the same as those using artificial birth control. Why is one form acceptable and the other form not when the intent is the same? He has a point!
No, he doesn’t. Anyone who has read Humanae Vitae knows the difference. In NFP every marital act is open to the possibility of conceiving life. Using artificial contraception closes the marital act to the possibility of conceiving life. Yes, there is an intent to space out births, but the former comports with God’s design while the latter doesn’t. If your friend is so clever, why not propose that if the purpose of studying is to pass a class then the intent of those who study is the same as those who cheat. Why is one way acceptable and the other way not when the intent is the same? Please, people… can we have serious moral reasoning?
Paul, folks should only resort to using NFP for serious reasons. Using it just to avoid pregnancy, end of story, is a contraceptive mentality that should be adjusted. NFP is commonly introduced at Catholic marriage prep as an “approved” way of birth control and couples are often left believing that their fertility should and must be controlled. That is an issue NFP fans often ignore.
Birth control is contrary to natural law while NFP isn’t. When one contracepts, they are directly blocking the natural result of the reproductive act. The sperm is prevented from ever being able to fertilize the egg because of the contraceptives (or an abortion in caused in other cases). NFP, on the other hand, simply takes advantage of the body’s natural cycle to allow the couple to have sex when the wife cannot become pregnant. They are still open to life, but not every instance of the conjugal act results in pregnancy. There is no interference with the body’s natural functions by abstaining from sex for a while. There is an interference with the body’s natural functions with the use of contraception. Another example of this would be…
Be a little bit wiser baby, put it on, put it on
‘Cause tonight is the night when two become one
No sugar tonight
Catholics need more respect for Our Lord! The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is not at all like a civil marriage ceremony! It is a holy Sacrament, in which the Living Christ is present! It is a pathway to purification and preparation for Heaven! Marriage requires loving sacrifice and self-control — and obedience to Our Lord! Dedicated Protestants (such as the Evangelicals) who love Jesus, believe as Catholics do– they believe contraception is wrong. St. Gianna Beretta Molla, pray for us!
Our beloved Ven. Abp. Fulton J. Sheen wrote a famous book, “Three to Get Married.” There are always three persons, in the Catholic Sacrament of Holy Matrimony– you, your spouse, and Christ!