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June 15, 2018By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
A controversial papal encyclical, revisited for its 50th anniversary, generated talk about societal woes and how to respond Monday.
Christopher Klofft, a theology professor at Assumption College, was giving a talk about Humanae Vitae at his parish, Immaculate Conception in Worcester.
In this July 25, 1968 encyclical about married love and procreation, Pope Paul VI reaffirmed Catholic teaching that artificial birth control is immoral.
Professor Klofft called it one of the most controversial Church documents in the last 100 years, and said it is often criticized or ignored, but not often read.
In his talk titled “I Told You So,” he gave some background, touched on the encyclical’s content and suggested that it was prophetic.
Contraception was always considered immoral in Christian tradition, and was once illegal in the United States, he said.
But in 1930 the Anglican Lambeth Conference allowed for it “where there is a clearly-felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood.” The Conference said abstinence was “the primary and obvious method in a life of discipleship and self-control lived in the power of the Holy Spirit,” but other methods were permitted. It condemned the use of any methods for “selfishness, luxury, or mere convenience.”
Pope Pius IX reaffirmed Catholic teaching in an encyclical on Christian marriage, Casti Connubii.
Contraception was legalized in the United States and in 1960 the FDA approved the first birth control pill, Professor Klofft said.
Also in the 1960s, Pope John XXIII established a commission to study population and birth control. Pope Paul VI added theologians and married couples to the commission. The majority decided that the Church should change its teaching on contraception. Pope Paul VI prayed and studied the reports, then wrote Humanae Vitae reiterating Church teaching, Professor Klofft said.
He said theologians protested and many priests didn’t talk about this unpopular teaching.
The encyclical is really about “married love,” which is human, total, faithful and exclusive, and fruitful, Professor Klofft said. Understanding this is essential to understanding the Churchуs teaching on contraception.
Humanae Vitae calls for “responsible parenthood,” for spouses prayerfully evaluating how many children they can raise as good human beings, he said. Spouses do not need to be trying to conceive each time they have intercourse, but its unitive and procreative meanings can never be separated. The unitive is to help spouses love each other and the procreative is open to new life.
Impermissible methods of preventing procreation include abortion, sterilization, IUDs, pills, condoms, spermicidal jellies and withdrawal, Professor Klofft said. But couples trying to avoid or achieve pregnancy can morally use the woman’s fertile times to refrain from or engage in intercourse. This refers to natural family planning, which has come a long way since the unreliable rhythm method, he said.
Consequences of using artificial birth control which Pope Paul VI predicted were an increase in infidelity, a lowering of morality, a loss of respect for women by men and governments forcing family planning, Professor Klofft said.
He listed subsequent problems: marital infidelity, moral relativism, the proliferation of pornography, and governments imposing family planning.
“If a contraceptive mentality is not responsible for the cultural changes of the last 50 years, what is?” Professor Klofft asked, and said he hasn’t gotten a satisfactory answer.
Still, he called for living in hope.
“No matter how bad things get, Christ has already won,” he said. So people do not need to get depressed.
The positive effects of practicing the teaching of Humanae Vitae are quickly observable, he said; couples will see changes in their relationship with each other and others.
“Humanae Vitae invites us to be a community of people who live the joyful witness of married love in fidelity to the God who has made us for himself,” he pointed out. ”Let’s allow ourselves to be truly happy.”
A listener said he wasn’t taught this in Catholic school or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. He asked about presenting it to adversarial audiences, unlike the one Professor Klofft had Monday.
Professor Klofft said there is a need for more people to speak boldly. But he expressed concern about people trying to put others down in a way contrary to the Gospel, and not really seeking the truth. He said witnesses are needed.
“When people can see what we’re about, they’ll more likely say,’I want that,’” he said. “Then we can say, ‘Let’s talk.’” Millennials (teenagers and young adults) want you to demonstrate that you are worth trusting before they will listen to your teaching, he said.
An uncatechized Catholic community will follow the culture; there’s no difference between Catholics and non-Catholics in the use of artificial birth control, he said, in response to another listener.
Responding to another point, he said it is regularly reported that people have better sexual experiences with pornography than with people.
“We need to cultivate this ability to be human actually care about one another,” he said.
Sean Sullivan told The Catholic Free Press that he and another audience member were familiar with the material in the talk, having had Professor Klofft at Assumption College. A recent graduate who attends St. Gabriel, the Archangel Parish in Upton, he said the talk was a good refresher. He said topics raised in the question and answer period showed how far-reaching Humanae Vitae implications are.
“The fact that he’s speaking in public – that’s very encouraging,” audience member Arsenio Vargas said of Professor Klofft. A ninth-grade religious education teacher at St. Anne Parish in Shrewsbury, he said he wants to spread the message and incorporate it into his lessons.
Steven Rust said illuminating Humanae Vitae content was a wonderful way to celebrate its 50th anniversary and help people share it with others. A member of St. Paul Parish in Warren and principal of St. Thomas Aquinas School there, he said he talks about it with Protestant ministers in his area.
