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Humanae Vitae Week

by Brian Caulfield 

It was love at first sight.

In the Fordham University library, in the corner stacks that few frequented, I found the book that offered a fresh perspective on the world. A compilation of papal encyclicals may not sound like a book that would draw the heart of a college student, but I was taking a theology class at the time and was frustrated over the professor’s constant chipping away at Church teaching. If I was going to have anything intelligent to say in class, I thought, I needed to get to the sources, such as encyclicals.

The first thing that amazed me about the volume was that it existed. I had gone to Catholic school from K through college and I had never seen this simple-covered, oversize reference book, and had never been asked by any teacher to actually read or refer to a papal encyclical. If someone had asked me where to find an encyclical, I probably would have said to go to the Vatican and ask some cardinal to open a big vault. Well, I’m exaggerating a little, but I certainly didn’t think that encyclicals were easily accessible, right on the library shelf.

I opened the book and turned to Humanae Vitae, the teaching on contraception that one professor told me was “bad theology – not even theology at all.” So I decided to read the document. I didn’t know whether it was good or bad theology, but it certainly made a lot of sense to a 20-something student trying to live a sane life in the midst of a sexually crazed New York City of the 1980s.

From the first paragraph, I had the sense that Pope Paul VI was speaking to me personally. His voice had the authority of truth not by the thunder and lightning of Mount Sinai, but through calm reasoning – laying out what we know to be true, and drawing certain conclusions that urged themselves upon the mind, and the soul. The encyclical provided more than intellectual arguments – it touched me on a deeply emotional level. Through a combination of stubborn rectitude and concern for health, I had managed to remain a virgin, and the Holy Father was telling me what no one else at the time was telling me – you’ve made the right decision in terms of your own life and health, and in terms of women whom you would have led, or who would have led you, into temptation. Finally, someone understood me! I was affirmed and accepted by the highest authority in the Church, whose voice was that of a father concerned for his son.

I bring all this up because July 25th marks the 42nd anniversary of the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, and next week is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. Over at the Fathers for Good website, we have a whole section on NFP, including an article about couples who see the benefits as well as the very human difficulties of using NFP. There is a telling Q&A with the head of the U.S. bishops’ NFP office, who said that the most frequent question she hears from couples is, “What is NFP?” What an indictment of us all, clergy and laity alike, for not getting the word out about this wonderful method of “responsible parenthood” that is available to every married couple! We have all been swallowed to some degree by the contraceptive culture. We fail to mention NFP when we have the opportunity to help someone out of sin and set him or her on the road to a better life.

Let’s make a firm resolution to step out of the muck of our culture and offer a fresh perspective to a world that is clearly lost and exhausted by its indulgence in illicit sex. This Sunday, I think, should also begin “National Read Humanae Vitae Week.” You won’t even have to go to a quiet part of the library, as I did more than 20 years ago. You can find it online. Click the link and take a few minutes to review it or read it for the first time. Treat it like it was meant to be treated – a breath of fresh air for those suffocating in the smog of contraception.

Let’s tell the world to start a true sexual revolution. Humanae Vitae will set you free.

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(The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Headline Bistro or the Knights of Columbus.)