In The School of Mary

(Papal documents condensed by Deacon William Wagner)

First Published in the St. Bartholomew Bulletin: February, 2009

Pope Paul VI
Humane Vitae, The Lay Members of Christ’s Faithful People, July 25, 1968.

INTRODUCTION
Modern Society at the advent of the second half of the twentieth century was convulsed with reckless
abandon of a cultural heritage that had weathered the storms of many centuries of attacks, admittedly
some more successfully met than others. However, the assault in this moment of time was unique in its
pervasive intensity as It ushered in a rejection of morally “restrictive” authority and its ultimate source. It
thus planted the insidious seeds of society’s self-destruction that has become ever more evident with the
passage of time, all in the name of freedom of the individual who is answerable to himself alone.
Nowhere did this become more explicit than within the “sexual revolution”. Amidst this dark night of self-
indulgence flickered one small flame, Humanae Vitae. It is the watershed document of the age. If a
culture of life is to be re-constructed, it begins here.

The Transmission of Life

Pope Paul VI begins by saying that married persons were God the Creator’s free and responsible
collaborators in the transmission “of human life”, often despite inherent difficulties. However, with the
changes in the evolution of society that had begun to take place, the Pope says that the Church could not
but confront these matters, so closely touching upon the life and happiness of men.

I. NEW ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM AND

COMPETENCY OF THE MAGISTERIUM

New Formulation of the Problem

In the first instance there was the rapid demographic development. Many feared the growth of the
world’s population would accede its available resources. In developing countries, the temptation might be
great to counter this threat by radical measures. The needs within the fields of economics and education
posed daunting problems. A change became evident in the manner of considering the person of the
woman in society, the value to be attributed to conjugal love in marriage, the appreciation for the meaning
of the conjugal acts and their relationship with that love.
Finally, man had made stupendous progress in the domination of the forces of nature. As a result he
began to extend that domination to his own total being: to his body, to his physical and social life, even to
the laws that regulate the transmission of life.
This new state of things created new questions. Granted the conditions of life today, it was
questioned whether or not a revision of the ethical norms might not seem advisable, especially when, at
times, they could not be observed without some considerable sacrifice.
Perhaps the so-called “principle of totality” could be admitted here so that a less abundant but
perhaps more rationalized fecundity could be applied to a licit and wise control of birth? Could it be that
the ends of procreation pertained to the whole of the conjugal life, rather than to its single acts?
Additionally, in view of the “increased sense of responsibility of modern man” could he not now entrust to
his reason and will, rather than to the biological rhythms of his organism, the task of regulating birth?
Competency of the Magisterium
Such questions required that the Church reflect more deeply upon the principles of its moral teaching
on marriage, founded on natural law, but illuminated by divine revelation. Surely the Church is competent
in this area. Christ gave to Peter and the Apostles his divine authority. He sent them to teach all nations
his commandments. He constituted them as guardians and authentic interpreters of all the moral law, not
only of the Gospel but of the natural law as well. This natural law is also the expression of God’s will and
compliance with it is necessary for salvation. Faithful to this mission, the Church has always provided a
coherent teaching on the nature of marriage and the correct use of conjugal rights and duties.
Special Studies
Paul VI’s predecessor, Pope John XXIII, in 1963 had instituted a commission of experts as well as
married couples. Its scope was to gather opinions on the new questions regarding conjugal life,
especially the regulation of births. This information the magisterium felt might be helpful to adequately
inform the faithful and the wider world concerning these matters. The work of these experts, and that of
others, would permit the magisterium to measure more exactly all aspects of this complex issue.
Reply of the Magisterium
Nevertheless, the conclusions of the commission could not be considered as definitive. Pope Paul VI
felt that a personal investigation was still required. Above all, he deemed it necessary because certain
criteria had emerged that departed from the Church’s moral teaching on marriage, teaching that she had
constantly and firmly taught. Having carefully studied the documentation, the Pope now proposed, in
virtue of his mandate from Christ, to give his reply to these grave questions.
II. DOCTRINAL PRINCIPLES
A Total Vision of Man
The problem of birth is to be considered beyond partial perspectives and in the light of an integral
vision of man and of his vocation, not only natural and earthly but also supernatural and eternal. In an
attempt to justify artificial methods of birth control, many have appealed to the demands both of conjugal
love and of “responsible parenthood.” Vatican Council II in its pastoral constitution, Gaudium et Spes,
speaks very precisely of these two great realities. Conjugal love reveals its true nature when it is
considered in its supreme origin, God, who is love.
Marriage is neither the effect of chance nor of the evolution of unconscious natural forces. It is the
wise institution of the Creator. In the reciprocal, proper and exclusive, personal gift of self,
husband and wife tend towards the communion of their beings to collaborate with God in the
generation and education of new lives. For baptized persons, marriage invests the dignity of a
sacramental sign of grace because it represents the union of Christ and the Church.
Its Characteristics
It is supremely important to have an exact idea of the characteristic marks and demands of conjugal
love. This love is fully human simultaneously in terms of the senses and of the spirit, the result of an act
of the free will intended to endure and grow through the joys and sorrows of daily life. In this the husband
and wife become one of heart and soul and together attain their human perfection.
This is a total love in which the husband and wife generously share everything without undue
reservation or selfish calculations. The partners rejoice in that each can enrich the other with the gift of
self. This love is faithful and exclusive until death as they conceived it from the day that they freely and
with full awareness assumed the duty of the marriage bond. Down through the centuries this fidelity has
been shown to be in accord with the very nature of marriage. This love is fecund, destined to raise up
new lives. Once again, Guadium et Spes declares that marriage and conjugal love are by their nature
ordained toward the begetting and educating of children, the supreme gift of marriage.

Responsible Parenthood
 “Responsible parenthood” today is rightly insisted upon but it must also be exactly understood. In
terms of the biological processes, responsible parenthood means the knowledge and respect for their
functions. In the power to give life the biological laws are part of the human person. With regards to
instinct and passion, responsible parenthood pertains to the necessary dominion that reason and will
must exercise over them.
Paul VI, continuing his thought introduced last week concerning this topic, says that responsible
parenthood is exercised also by the deliberate and generous decision to raise a numerous family. It
would also include the decision, for grave motives and in respect of moral law, to avoid a new birth.
Responsible parenthood above all implies the place of a right conscience as its faithful interpreter.
Responsible parenthood implies that husband and wife recognize their own duties towards God, towards
themselves, towards the family and towards society in a correct hierarchy of values. They are not free to
proceed completely at will. Nor may they act autonomously. They must conform their activity to the
creative intention of God expressed in the very nature of marriage and its acts, and as manifested by the
constant teaching of the Church.
Respect for the Nature and Purpose of the Marriage Act
These acts of chaste intimacy by which human life is transmitted are noble and worthy. They do not
cease to be lawful even if, for causes independent of the will of husband and wife, they are foreseen to be
infecund, since they always remain ordained towards expressing and consolidating their union. As
experience bears witness, not every conjugal act is followed by a new life. God has wisely disposed the
natural laws and rhythms of fecundity, of themselves, to cause a separation in the succession of births.
The Church, calling man back to the observance of the natural law, teaches that each and every marriage
act must remain open to the transmission of life.
Two Inseparable Aspects: Union and Procreation
The magisterium’s teaching of the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitive and the procreative
meaning, is founded upon their inseparable connection willed by God and is unable to be broken by man.
By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves
in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its ordination towards man’s most high calling to
parenthood. Men of our day are capable of seizing the deeply reasonable and human character of this
fundamental principle.
Faithfulness to God’s Design
Justly, a conjugal act imposed upon one’s partner without regard for his or her condition and lawful
desires is not a true act of love and so denies the requirements of right moral order. It also must be
recognized that a reciprocal act of love that jeopardizes the responsibility to transmit life is likewise
contradictory to the constitutive design of marriage as willed by the Author of Life.
To use the divine gift of conjugal love, destroying even partially its meaning and purpose, is to contradict
the nature both of man and woman and of their most intimate relationship. It is to contradict the plan of
God and his will. To use this gift properly is to acknowledge that we are not the arbiters of the source of
human life but rather the ministers of the design established by the Creator. Man does not have unlimited
dominion over his body, much less over his generative faculties as such, since intrinsically they are
ordered towards raising up life, of which God is the principle.

Illicit Ways of Regulating Birth

The direct interruption of the generative process already begun, and above all directly willed, and
procured abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as licit means of
regulating birth.
Equally to be excluded, as the Magisterium has frequently declared, is direct sterilization, either
perpetual or temporary, of man or of woman. Similarly, every action that, either in anticipation of the
conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes,
whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible is excluded.
 To justify conjugal acts made intentionally infecund, one cannot invoke as valid reasons the lesser
evil, or the fact that such acts would constitute a whole together with the fecund acts already performed or
to follow later, and hence that they would share in the same moral goodness. It is never licit, even for the
gravest reasons, to do evil so that good may follow therefrom. We cannot make into the object of a
positive act of the will something that is intrinsically disordered. Consequently it is an error to think that a
conjugal act that is deliberately made infecund, and so, is intrinsically dishonest could be made honest
and right by the ensemble of a fecund conjugal life.

Licitness of Therapeutic Means

The Church, on the contrary, does not at all consider illicit the use of those therapeutic means truly
necessary to cure diseases of the organism, even if an impediment to procreation, that may be foreseen,
should result, provided such impediment is not, for whatever motive, directly willed.

Licitness of Recourse to Infertile Periods

It is the prerogative of the human intellect to dominate the energies offered by irrational nature and direct
them towards the good of man. Yet, some may ask whether it is not reasonable to have recourse to
artificial birth control if, by it, we secure the harmony and peace of the family and better the conditions for
the education of children already born? The Church affirms that the intervention of intelligence is praise
worthy but it must be done with respect for the order established by God.

If there are serious motives to space out births, the Church teaches that it is licit to take into account the
natural rhythms immanent in the generative functions, for the use of marriage, in the infertile periods only,
without violating the moral principles recalled earlier. The Church is consistent when she considers
recourse to the infertile periods to be licit, while condemning, as being always illicit, the use of means
directly contrary to fecundation, even for reasons that appear honest and serious.

There are differences in the two cases. In the first, married couples make legitimate use of a natural
disposition. In the second, they impede the development of natural processes. In the first case, they are
able to renounce the use of marriage in the fertile periods when, for just motives, procreation is not
desirable. Yet, they legitimately may use the infertile periods to manifest their affection and to safeguard
their mutual fidelity. In doing so, they give proof of a truly and integrally honest love.

Grave Consequences of Methods of Artificial Birth Control

The Church’s teaching is based on solid grounds. If upright persons reflect upon the consequences of
methods of artificial birth control they will be convinced of the validity of the Church’s reasoning. How
wide and easy a road would thus be opened towards conjugal infidelity and a general lowering of
morality. Human weakness, being what it is, the young rather need encouragement to be faithful to the
moral law. They must not be offered some easy means of eluding its observance. It is likewise to be
feared that in using anti-conceptive practices, men will lose respect for women. They would come to the
point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer as his respected and
beloved companion.
Artificial birth control could easily become a dangerous weapon in the hands of those public authorities
who take no heed of moral exigencies. Who will stop rulers from favoring, even imposing upon their
peoples, the method of contraception that they judge to be most effective? In attempting to avoid family
and social difficulties, sometimes encountered in observance of divine law, public authorities would come
to intervene in the most personal and most reserved sector of conjugal intimacy.
We must necessarily recognize insurmountable limits to the possibility of man’s domination over his own
body and its functions. These are limits that no one, whether a private individual or one invested with
authority, may licitly surpass. Such limits cannot be determined except by the respect due the integrity of
the human organism and its functions, according to principles recalled before and the “principle of totality”
elaborated earlier by Pope Pius XII.

The Church, Guarantor of True Human Values

It can be foreseen that all will not readily receive this teaching. Numerous are the voices, amplified by the
media and others, that are contrary to the voice of the Church. Though the Church is not surprised to be
made, as was her divine founder, a sign of contradiction. Yet, she proclaims the entire moral law, both
natural and evangelical. Of such laws the Church was not the author, nor consequently can she be the
arbiter. She is only their depositary and their interpreter. In defending conjugal morals, the Church
knows that she contributes towards the establishment of a truly human civilization. Faithful to both the
teaching and the example of the Savior, she defends the dignity of man and wife.

III. PASTORAL DIRECTIVES

The Church, Mater et Magistra

The church, mother and teacher of all peoples, not only recalls men to the observance and respect of the
divine law regarding matrimony, but she strengthens them in the path of honest regulation of birth, even
amid difficult conditions. With the Redeemer, the Church knows human weakness, has compassion on
the crowd, and receives sinners. However, she cannot renounce the teaching of the law proper to human
life restored to its original truth and guided by the spirit of God.
Possibility of Observing the Divine Law
The teaching of the Church on the regulation of birth that promulgates the divine law, may appear to
many to be difficult or even impossible. Indeed, it does demand serious engagement and much effort.
Furthermore, it may not be practical without the help of God. Yet, to anyone who reflects well, it cannot
but be clear that such efforts ennoble man and are beneficial to the human community.

Mastery of Self
The regulation of birth demands first of all that husband and wife acquire and possess solid convictions
concerning the true values of life and of the family. They need to pursue a path that tends towards
securing perfect self mastery. The Pope notes that the discipline that is proper to the purity of married
couples confers a higher human value. It does demand continual effort. Yet under its influence, husband
and wife fully develop their personalities, being enriched with spiritual values. Such discipline bestows
upon family life fruits of serenity and peace. It favors attention to one’s spouse, helps both parties to drive
out selfishness and deepens their sense of responsibility. Thus, parents acquire the capacity of having a
deeper and more efficacious influence in the education of their offspring. Their children will grow up with
a more just appraisal of human values

Creating an Atmosphere Favorable to Chastity

Pope Paul VI wishes to draw the attention of educators and all those responsible for the common good of
society to the need for chastity, to the need for the triumph of healthy liberty over license by means of a
respect for the moral order. There is so much in the modern media that leads to a sense of excitation and
unbridled customs, to every form of pornography and licentious performance. These must arouse a
response in all those solicitous for the progress of civilization and the common good of the human spirit.
Vainly should one seek to justify such depravity under the pretext of artistic or scientific necessity.
Appeal to Public Authorities
Public officials must not allow the morality of their peoples to be degraded. They should not permit,
by legal means, practices contrary to the natural and divine law to be introduced into that fundamental
cell, the family. These public authorities must, on the contrary, contribute to the solution of demographic
problems by way of a provident policy towards the family, a wise education of peoples in respect of moral
law and liberty of citizens.
Pope Paul VI says that with his predecessor, Pope John XXIII, he wants to repeat that no solution to
the difficulties of demographic problems is acceptable that does violence to man’s essential dignity. The
only possible solution is one that respects and promotes true human values. Neither can we consider
divine providence to be responsible for what depends, instead, on a lack of wisdom in government, on an
insufficient sense of social justice, on blame-worthy indolence in confronting the efforts and the sacrifices
necessary to ensure the raising of living standards. The Pope’s desire is that mutual aid between all the
members of the great human family never cease to grow. There is limitless opportunity for the generous
activity of great international organizations.

To Men of Science
The Holy Father seeks to encourage the men of science who can so advance the welfare of marriage
and the family by pooling their efforts and laboring to explain the various conditions favoring a proper
regulation of births. Pope Pius XII had previously expressed a desire that medical science provide a
sufficiently secure basis for the regulation of birth, founded on the observance of natural rhythms. In this
way, especially, Catholic scientists could demonstrate that no real contradiction can exist between the
divine laws pertaining to the transmission of life and those fostering an authentic conjugal love.

To Christian Husbands and Wives

To her own children, the Church announces the tidings of salvation that by means of the sacraments
it opens up the paths of grace. Thus, man is made a new creature capable of corresponding to love and
true freedom in the design of his Creator and Savior. In this way the Pope says that man will find the
yoke of Christ to be sweet.
Christian married couples, docile to the voice of the Church, must remember that their Christian
vocation is further specified and reinforced by the sacrament of matrimony. By it husband and wife are
consecrated for the faithful accomplishment of their proper duties, even to perfection. The Pope says that
to them the Lord entrusts the task of making visible to men the holiness of the law. In their mutual love,
husband and wife cooperate with the love of God, the author of human life.
Pope Paul VI says that he does not intend to hide the sometimes serious difficulties inherent in the
life of Christian married couples, for “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.”
Pope Paul VI encourages married couples to face up to the efforts needed in their vocation,
supported by the Holy Spirit who has been poured into their hearts. They are to implore divine assistance
in persevering prayer. He tells them to draw upon the Eucharist and if sin should still keep hold of them,
they should perseveringly then have humble recourse to God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. In
this way couples can achieve the fullness of the conjugal life described by the Apostle: “Husbands, love
your wife as Christ loved the Church. …Let each husband love his wife as himself, and let the wife see
that she respects her husband.”

Apostolate in Homes
The fruit of this generous effort of fidelity is that married couples themselves often desire to
communicate their experience to others. It is married couples themselves who become apostles and
guides to other married couples. The Pope sees this apostolate as most opportune today.
To Doctors and Medical Personnel
The Holy Father holds in the highest esteem those physicians and medical personnel who place their
Christian vocation above every other human interest. He urges them to persevere in promoting the
discoveries of solutions inspired by faith and right reason. Their professional duty should be to pursue all
the knowledge needed, assisting those who seek their wise counsel and healthy direction.

To Priests
Their first task, especially for those who teach moral theology, is to expound the Church’s teaching on
marriage without ambiguity. They are to be the first to give the example of loyal internal and external
obedience to the teaching authority of the Church. That obedience obliges, not only because of reasoned
argument, but also because of the light of the Holy Spirit given to pastors of the Church so that they may
illustrate the truth. It is of the utmost importance for peace of conscience and for the unity of the Christian
people. All should attend to the magisterium of the Church as Paul the Apostle notes: “I appeal to you…
by the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you,
but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” The saving teaching of Christ
constitutes an eminent form of charity for souls. He was intransigent with evil, but merciful toward
individuals.
The Pope seeks to animate his beloved sons, the priests, to speak with confidence. In doing so they
assist the magisterium to illumine the hearts of the faithful. They prepare them to seek the Eucharist and
Penance while not allowing discouragement because of weakness to enter in.
To Bishops
Pope Paul VI, speaking to the Bishops of the Church, says that working ardently and incessantly to
safeguard the holiness of marriage is one their most urgent responsibilities. It implies concerted pastoral
action in fields of human activity. Theirs is the task of rendering the life of parents and children easier and
more joyous, of making their life together in human society more fraternal and peaceful. All is to be done
in faithfulness to God’s design for the world.
Great is the work of education. The Pope says that he is convinced that it is so for both the world and for
the Church. Man cannot find true happiness except he respect the laws written by God in his very nature,
laws that he must observe with intelligence and love. The Holy Father then invokes upon all, and
especially upon married couples, the abundant graces of the God of holiness and mercy.
th
Given at Rome, from St. Peter’s, the 25 day of July, feast of St. James the Apostle, in the year 1968.