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BRECKSVILLE, Ohio — In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the papal encyclical “Humanae Vitae,” given by Blessed Paul VI in 1968, the Marriage and Family Ministry of the Eparchy of Parma and the Tabor Life Institute co-sponsored a daylong conference May 12.
About 60 people attended the event, held in the hall of St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Parish, including laypeople and clergy of the Eparchy of Parma, the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat, and the Diocese of Cleveland.
The main speakers were Father Thomas J. Loya, director of Parma’s Marriage and Family Ministry, and Janet Smith, a world-renowned expert on “Humanae Vitae” and the varied responses to it over the past 50 years.
Father Loya began with a talk on two opposing worldviews: the contraceptive-utilitarian worldview and the sacramental-liturgical worldview. He said society has adopted the contraceptive mentality and focuses on how the material world is used for personal good and pleasure, rarely considering the good of others.
The sacramental-liturgical worldview insists on seeing one’s own life and the lives of others through a lens of beauty and service to one another. All are called to adopt the latter, he said.
Smith followed with a talk entitled, “The Spectacular Story of the Genesis of ‘Humanae Vitae.’” She provided a history of the social unrest in the 20th century and the rapid progression of approval for contraceptive devices by various Protestant church bodies, the Anglicans being the first in 1930 at the Lambeth Conference.
Smith said the Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception has been upheld consistently since the beginning of Christianity, by the Church Fathers and the Magisterium.
The “free-love” movement of the 1950s and 60s, which saw the rejection of previous generations’ morals, looked forward to a Catholic Church that would allow various forms of birth control, including the contraceptive pill.
Due to a papal advisory committee’s leaked documents that contradicted the church’s long-held teaching on contraception, many people assumed the church should and would change its position. Instead, Pope Paul VI released “Humanae Vitae,” which once again upheld church teaching.
Smith said that, with the publication of the encyclical, the church “would never be the same.” She covered the media’s reaction to the encyclical, including Time Magazine’s cover story that declared, “Rebellion in the Catholic Church” (Nov. 22, 1968).
Smith said the pope asked the bishops’ conferences worldwide to issue statements in support of the church’s teachings. While some bishops and conferences did, many others were vague in their statements, leaving the laity confused.
With the passing of years, support from church leaders for “Humanae Vitae” has increased and is strong today. However, statistics indicate the vast majority of Catholics do not accept the church’s teaching on this topic, choosing instead to use contraception regularly.
After lunch, Smith spoke on the theme, “Why do so many Theologians Dissent from Humanae Vitae?”
Smith spoke about the many theologians that disagreed with the encyclical over the years. Dissent has decreased among theologians in recent years, but some still persist in disagreeing with encyclical. She spoke at length about the contraceptive pill and the real-life consequences that have come to fruition.
The pill was tolled as a tool to achieve sexual freedom, advancing happiness and helping to decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies. It was also touted to help couples sustain better marriages. In reality, the pill had the opposite effect, she said. Statistics indicate that within the first 15 years of the pill being introduced, the number of divorces doubled.
The health of women who use the pill has been endangered, with at least 35 side effects — some lethal — that are listed with each prescription. However, most people, including doctors, do not bother to become educated about them, she said. Smith also argued that use of the pill has contributed to poverty worldwide and social chaos, as well as contaminated the water supply.
Father Loya closed the conference by presenting pastoral applications of “Humanae Vitae” and its context in the liturgy. He spoke about the union of the spiritual and the physical, and he called the attendees to become aware of this intangible dimension in their lives. He insisted that the life of the church flows from the liturgy.
He cited Pope Benedict XVI and said that if everything is right at the altar, the rest of the church will go right.
Smith, who is expected to give a series of other talks on the encyclical in various dioceses across the country this year, holds the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. She authored “Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later” and “The Right to Privacy,” co-authored “Life Issues, Medical Choices, Questions and Answers for Catholics,” and edited “Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader.” She has been published in academic journals and in Catholic media.
She is serving a third term as a consulter to the Pontifical Council on the Family and serves the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity as a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. More than two million copies of her talk, “Contraception: Why Not?” have been distributed.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of “Humanae Vitae,” the Eparchy of Parma has posted a link to the encyclical, as well as related monthly prayer suggestions and web links for more in-depth learning, at www.parma.org.
Caption 1: Janet Smith, an expert on the papal encyclical “Humanae Vitae” and church teaching on contraception, gives a conference in Parma May 12. (Photo: John Popp)
As published in Horizons, May 27,2018.
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