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.
