Timely Reflections on "Humanae Vitae"

By David Martin

While the canonization of Pope Paul VI has been used as a political tool to try to "canonize" the Vatican II revolution, it stands that Pope Paul nonetheless demonstrated an unusual degree of personal sanctity in the works that he himself produced.

A good example of this is his encyclical on the regulation of human birth, Humanae Vitae, which is the most authoritative statement ever issued on human life. With the pope having been raised to the altars of Holy Mother the Church, it is appropriate to reflect on this superlative encyclical, since it gives us a closer look at the "heroic virtues" that Pope Benedict XVI cited as the grounds for his canonization.

Prophet of our Time

Pope Paul VI was a prophet of our time for the way he stood up before the world and declared that artificial contraception is a sin that ruins our relationship with God and with one another. He made it clear in Humanae Vitae that contraception is forbidden and will never be accepted by the Church under any circumstances. His encyclical letter was a historic milestone that laid the foundation for the international pro-life movement of these latter times.

                                      

Consequently, it triggered hostile repercussions throughout the world, both within and without the Church. It brought upon him all the spittle and hatred of feminists who were addicted to their shameful promiscuity, as well as the scorn of modern day “high priests” who were more committed to pacifying the shame of Eve than the injured heart of Christ.

Even so, Pope Paul remained unmoved by the backlash he received from the modern world, because he expected it. He knew what he was getting into when he issued the encyclical, which gave all the more merit to his action. He saw the scourge of divine justice coming upon humanity for its many crimes against life, and was therefore attempting to set bulwarks into place to hold back the rising tide of evil that was beginning to wash mankind out to Death Sea. Like the prophets of old he stood up on behalf of God and sounded a warning to the earth, stating that if God and his rule of law continued to be slighted there would follow divine repercussions in the very near future.

His prophecy was four-fold, and is unfolding in our time. Paul VI said that if society accepted contraception as a way of life, several consequences would inevitably result. First, it would lead to "conjugal infidelity and a general lowering of morality." This certainly has come to pass. The marital union that was created for bringing children into the world has been reduced to a farce in many homes, with decadent behavior and even sodomy being condoned. The Divine Founder of the marital institution has been blocked from couples’ lives, thus giving reign to the devil. The Sacrament of Marriage that was instituted for our sanctification has, for many couples, become an occasion of sin.

What the Archangel Raphael said in Scripture directly applies to those who practice artificial birth control: "I will show thee who they are, over whom the devil can prevail. For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule, which hath not understanding, over them the devil hath power." (Tobias 6:17)

It is this very spirit of fornication that artificial birth control has fostered, as predicted by Pope Paul, so that fornication (pre-marital and extra-marital) has skyrocketed in our time. Sadly, the sins of the parents have been visited upon the children who think nothing of feasting their eyes on MTV and Internet porn. Being inflamed therewith, they're driven to go out and fornicate with the aid of rock-music and drugs, so that the ubiquitous fire of sin burns out of control throughout society. The pope said the pill would ignite this infernal fire, whereby there would ensue this "general lowering of morality." This indeed has come to pass.

Secondly, Paul VI said that contraception would lead men to cease from respecting the honor of women, thus leading them to treat women as "mere instruments of selfish enjoyment." Clearly, his prophecy has been fulfilled many times over by pornography alone, which is the most lucrative business in the modern world today. The entire industry is singularly dedicated to the abuse of women.

Thirdly, the Holy Father said that the widespread acceptance of contraception by couples would lead to a massive imposition of contraception by godless governments, which was bellicose during the Obama Administration, though Trump, thankfully, is in the process of reversing this. Even so, the deadly poison of contraception has taken its toll. Pregnancy is now treated like a disease that needs to be cured, so that under the whip of global elite-masters the agents of death are working incessantly to break into every facet of life with their intrusive antilife agenda.

Finally, the pope said that artificial contraception would lead man to feel that he can rule as a little god and exercise a limitless "domination over his own body and its functions." This hubris is perfectly expressed in such modern bio-tech horrors as invitro-fertilization, cloning, the creation of hybrid organisms, embryonic stem cell research, and the like.

The pill is largely to blame for these terrible evils in our modern world. It is a prolific seed that has helped society grow into the godless jungle it has become. It is a deadly poison that has helped to spawn this Apocalyptic culture of death, which is threatening the very existence of mankind.

“The Pill” Designed to Weaken Women

For the pill was a key part of the devil’s strategy to start weakening the will of women by defiling their conscience and fostering contempt for life, thus paving the way for abortion, through which Satan would be strengthened and glorified on earth. For abortion is the negative current that charges the devil’s battery and gives him power over man. It is a sacrifice to the devil that gives him the needed strength to bring about the fall of nations, thus facilitating his plan for the enslavement of mankind under a communistic one-world government. Pope Paul saw this coming, so as a good prophet he spoke the truth for God, that we "may have life, and may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

This truth issuing forth from the Chair of Peter must be adopted and echoed throughout the churches of the world, especially by the clergy. If today's bishops and priests have any interest in renewing their faith, they must read "Humanae Vitae" so that they will have the zeal to warn people of contraception's destruction of the integrity of the marital act—as unitive and procreative—and how it is a degrading venom that withers life and love both in marriage and in society.

In 2008, Fr. George Welzbacher, Professor at St. Thomas University, stated publicly: "The fruits of the contraceptive revolution point persuasively to the conclusion that Pope Paul VI was right and the world was wrong when he warned in Humanae Vitae that evil is evil and will bring forth evil, which 40 years later has come to pass." Amen to that! "By their fruits you shall know them." (Matthew 7:20)

Padre Pio’s Tribute to Paul VI

None less than the saintly Padre Pio paid tribute to Pope Paul VI in a letter to His Holiness, dated September 12, 1968. Therein he pledged his unwavering allegiance to the pope in the face of demonic persecutions he was receiving because of Humanae Vitae. The late stigmatist said:

"I know that your heart is suffering much these days on account of the happenings in the Church, for peace in the world, for the great needs of its peoples; but above all, for the lack of obedience of some, even Catholics, to the high teaching that you, assisted by the Holy Spirit and in the name of God, are giving us.... I thank you for your clear and decisive words that you especially pronounced in the last encyclical "Humanae Vitae"; and I reaffirm my faith, my unconditional obedience to your illuminated directions."

In his letter, St. Padre Pio addressed Paul VI as "The Supreme Teacher of all Christianity," acknowledging that he was speaking ex-cathedra in declaring the essential point of Humanae Vitae. It behooves us to focus on Article 14 where he states:

The direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children. Equally to be condemned, as the Magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary.

Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation.

Hence women who take birth control pills sin grievously, and as such, cannot be admitted to Holy Communion. The same applies to husbands who consent to the pill or who use condoms. As with divorced and civilly remarried couples, contraceptive couples place themselves outside the Church, making it morally wrong for them to enter the Church unless their intention is to go to confession and reform.

As a wholesome recourse for travailing couples that are not able to birth children at a given time, the pope benevolently recommends that they adopt the natural rhythm method of regulating birth. There are those who criticize this recommendation, arguing that it encourages couples to deliberately duck-and-hide from God so that the marital act is habitually used for non-procreative purposes.

However, this is not the pope’s design, and he makes this very clear. The point of Humanae Vitae is to say that God must be allowed to work procreatively through a couples' marriage so that God is the very heart and center of their union.

The rhythm method is only prescribed for couples who cannot make ends meet at a given moment, or who for reasons of health or scandal decide they must defer the birthing of children to a later date. They are given this option to preserve their union with God and with each other. The pope is pointing out that this is an acceptable path they can take for the preservation of their marital bond, provided it is temporary and not motivated by a desire to not have children.

Not Truly Pro-life

On that note, we might point out that couples who practice this ‘natural family planning’ as a regular means of avoiding pregnancy are essentially no different than those who use the pill, since the intention is the same. It is only when the rhythm method is temporary and goes against their truest desire to have children that it is acceptable.

The bottom line is that artificial contraception is forbidden in the Christian life, which means that couples may never resort to the use of birth control pills, preventative or abortive, or to sterilization, or to surgical abortions. Such methods of regulating birth only ruin their relationship with God and plague their marriage with guilt, leading to discord and divorce, and contribution to the growing culture of death on earth. Birth control feeds the infernal monster and gives him power over man, whereas the birthing and raising children is the victorious path that delivers us from Satan’s power, this being especially applicable to the woman. St. Paul spells it out in clear, unambiguous terms:

"She shall be saved through child bearing; if she continue in faith, and love, and sanctification, with sobriety." (1 Timothy 2: 15)

If even a sector of today's contraceptive women heeded Pope Paul's directive to renounce artificial birth control of every kind, it no doubt would stay the hand of divine execution that is poised to strike the world for its many executions against life. Faithful Catholics are encouraged to read Pope Paul VI's encyclical on human life and to ponder his words well, for his prophecy is unfolding in our time.