Humanae Vitae at 50

Half a century after Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, church leaders in Eastern Europe continue to vigorously defend the encyclical, in contrast to many commentators in the U.S. and Western Europe.

Distinctly Catholic: Though it was reduced to "Pope Bans Pill" the second it was issued, Humanae Vitae is actually a powerful reflection on the dangers to human life posed by the lingering Malthusian temptation to view human life as something we can exert mastery over.

Documents in the Vatican Secret Archives and the archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prove it was a "myth" that Blessed Paul VI largely set out on his own in writing Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical on married love and the regulation of births.

Fifty years ago, Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical that shook the Catholic Church to its core by declaring that every use of artificial contraceptives is immoral.

Humanae Vitae at 50: Those who believe that that church's ban on artificial contraceptives does not matter need to hear this wake-up call: Untold numbers of women and children have died, will die and are dying right now as a direct consequence of Humanae Vitae.

Humanae Vitae at 50: The present situation rests on a significant difference between the official hierarchical teaching and the position of Catholics. The total church should be primarily concerned about moral truth, but the contemporary situation prescinds from this important issue of moral truth.

Humanae Vitae at 50: The encyclical unintentionally transformed Catholics' relationship to church authority, so that today two-thirds (66 percent) of American Catholics say that individuals should rely on their own authority in making decisions about contraception. 

Listen: NCR columnist Jamie Manson and theologian Todd Salzman discuss the encyclical Humanae Vitae and its effect on generations of Catholics.

Commentary: If the truth be known, and it is easily available to anyone who is willing to study the actual, traditional teachings, what was being put forth to save the traditional conclusions is anything but traditional reasoning.

Humanae Vitae: On July 29, 1968, Pope Paul VI published his encyclical on the regulation of birth, introducing what we call here the Humanae Vitae affair. Now approaching its golden jubilee, the encyclical was published at a time of twofold crisis, one theological, the other cultural.