Home Catechetical Corner Living Our Faith: ‘Humanae Vitae’ at 50 years

Living Our Faith: ‘Humanae Vitae’ at 50 years

1876
This is the cover of a 50th anniversary edition of "Humanae Vitae" with related papal texts and published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Blessed Paul VI's 1968 encyclical reaffirmed the church's moral teaching on the sanctity of life, married love, the procreative and unitive nature of conjugal relations, responsible parenthood and its rejection of artificial contraception. (CNS)

Fifty years after its promulgation, the encyclical “Humanae Vitae” has been labeled “prophetic.”
Pope Paul VI understood that the quality of marital and parental love has social consequences.
Among other topics, the encyclical spells out the church’s teaching on responsible parenthood.
It beautifully states that the love between a man and a woman can be an act of co-creation with God and an image of divine love.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

For information on natural family planning, visit the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website: www.usccb.org/nfp/index.cfm
To learn about the sympto-thermal method, visit the Couple to Couple League’s website: https://ccli.org/
To learn about the Billings Ovulation Method and take online classes, visit: https://learnnfponline.com/
To learn the Creighton Model and find fertility care centers, visit: http://www.fertilitycare.org/
To read about NFP methods that use hormonal tests (sympto-hormonal) like the Marquette method, see: http://nfp.marquette.edu
To watch a video series on marital love and responsible parenthood, available in Spanish and English, visit: http://www.loveandparenthood.com/
For a summary of Catholic teaching on the moral prohibition of some assisted reproductive technologies see: www.usccb.org/nfp/catholic-teaching/upload/Life-Giving-Love-in-an-Age-of-Technology-2009-2.pdf