Vatican Bishop: ‘Humanae Vitae’ Foresaw Today’s Technological Dangers

Pope Paul VI published the groundbreaking encyclical 45 years ago yesterday

by ANDREA GAGLIARDUCCI

On its 45th anniversary, Pope Paul VI’s encyclical that upheld the Church’s teaching on birth control is “incredibly up-to-date,” especially because it raises “the problem of a technocracy” which is “the main problem of our culture and our society,” says Bishop Mario Toso.

Bishop Toso, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said in a July 25 interview that the problems raised by technology is “a global social question. It goes beyond the relation of mankind with creation and the manipulation of life.”

Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae (On the Regulation of Birth) on July 25, 1968, in the midst of rapid social and moral changes that were brought on by the widespread availability of contraceptives and the sexual revolution that swept through Western societies.

The encyclical created a strong reaction, particularly in the United States.

Many expected that Paul VI would follow the suggestion of the majority of the experts on the panel he assembled and approve the use of contraception, at least for married couples.

Instead, Paul VI reaffirmed the Church’s teaching that new life and love, the two fruits of the conjugal union, cannot be separated.

Bishop Toso pointed out that, after 45 years, the debate is still focused on the contraception issue, but the real issue being discussed is the nature of human beings.

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