HUMANAE VITAE PROPHECY ON THE SACREDNESS OF HUMAN LIFE

HUMANAE VITAE PROPHECY ON THE SACREDNESS OF HUMAN LIFE


By Eric V. Encina


If God our Creator is all-holy, then life is indeed holy!


As pro-lifers, we might recall the Catholic Encyclical “Humanae Vitae” of Pope Paul VI. This July 25, 2007 will be the 39th anniversary of its promulgation. We could then recall that when Pope Paul VI wrote this contentious encyclical, notably on the 6th year of his pontificate, the document on its defense of human life from the moment of conception drew a number of criticism from many quarters of the Church, from the government officials, from the economic circles and bigwig professionals, from the scholars and from the bunch of medical men and women all over the world.

The Humanae Vitae Encyclical is known to be instructional and prophetic of its nature and origin rather than dictatorial from the infallibility of the Pope, and its sub-title is “On the Regulation of Births” or “the transmission of human life”.

When Pope Paul VI declared that human life is sacred from the moment of conception, and that artificial contraception is intrinsically evil, he immediately became the object of attack and denouncement by the liberal and modernist western world scholars and demographic experts, objecting the declaration and ideas of Pope Paul VI. They seemed to take for granted that prohibition of contraception and abortion had been the Traditional Teachings of the Catholic Church from the centuries old, dating back to Saint Augustine and to St. Clement of Alexandria.

When Anglican and some Christian churches began to be too lax on their own stand and position on the prohibition of artificial contraception early in the 1930’s, Pope Pius XI wrote the great Catholic Encyclical “Casto Connibii” or “On Christian Marriage”, solidly and clearly re-affirming the Traditional Catholic Church Teachings on sacramental marriage and human sexuality and its hard and long-standing position on the prohibition of artificial birth control methods as sinful and the wickedness of the murder of the innocent unborn children which we now called ‘abortion’.

Catholics especially Catholic couples, families and those concerned must appreciate the historical points in truths that “Humane Vitae” is neither being peculiar thing or teaching nor a counter-revolutionary scheme of the Church to a changing demographic trends and lifestyle patterns, but in fact a re-affirmation and clarification, or reiteration of centuries-old, long-held truths, wisdom and scholarship under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of Truths and Love.

With the emergence and promotion of artificial, chemical and oral contraceptives financed by wasteful Western-based taxpayers’ money, and or subsidized by the Western world population control imperialism and anti-life and anti-natal agencies because of the false alarm and preposterous threats of ‘population bomb or explosion in the 1960’s, some dissidents and voices in the Church urged a pressure and reconsideration of that pro-choice stand. In a response, Pope John XXIII has established in 1963 a commission of theologians to closely study the birth control issues and its significance in the framework of truths, morality and ethics. The successor, Pope Paul VI, expanded the commission membership to include the married couples to get their side and opinions. Expectedly, there were various opposing views and misunderstandings within the commission. And eventually it was left to the Pontiff to make a clear and definitive decision and stand for the best interest of the Catholic Church according to Church Tradition, to hold sacred the special dignity of man and to guide and lead the nature of and hierarchy of creation.

What is “Humanae Vitae” all about in recapitulation?

Among its theological premises is the supernatural aspect of human existence, now, alas, is ignored by modern philosophy and theology and other modern school of thoughts and fields of studies and expertise. According to Humanae Vitae: ‘THE PROBLEM OF BIRTH, LIKE EVERY OTHER PROBLEM REGARDING HUMAN LIFE, IS TO CONSIDER, BEYOND PARTIAL PERSPECTIVES—WHETHER OF THE BIOLOGICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL, DEMOGRAPHIC OR SOCIOLOGICAL ORDERS—IN THE LIGHT OF AN INTEGRAL VISION OF MAN AND OF HIS VOCATION, NOT ONLY HIS NATURAL AND EARTHLY, BUT ALSO HIS SUPERNATURAL AND ETERNAL VOCATION”. How great it is, isn’t it?

Another Humanae Vitae premise is the truth of the marital union as a means of reciprocal personal gift of the self for mutual personal perfection; hence it must be “collaborative or collaborate with God in the generation and education of new lives”.

Caring and raising up news lives---is the core of the Humanae Vitae Encyclical’s message. “MARRIAGE AND CONJUGAL LOVE ARE BY THEIR NATURE ORDAINED TOWARD THE BEGETTING AND EDUCATING OF CHILDREN. CHILDREN ARE REALLY THE SUPREME GIFT OF MARRIAGE AND CONTRIBUTE VERY SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE WELFARE OF THEIR PARENTS”.

Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical Humanae Vitae has introduced an appreciation of an exact understanding about “responsible parenthood” according to the norms of the Catholic Church Tradition. Accordingly, in contrast to PLANNED PARENTHOOD and UNPFA interpretations, “Responsible parenthood…implies a more profound relationship to the objective moral order established by God…of which a right conscience is the best and faithful interpreter. The responsible exercise of parenthood implies, therefore, that husband and wife recognize fully their own duties towards God, towards themselves, towards the family and towards society, in a correct hierarchy of values.”


Accordingly, many cannot simply be an arbiter of the sources of human life but rather “the minister of the design established by the Creator.” “In fact, just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, with particular reason, he has no such, because of their intrinsic ordination towards raising up life, of which God is the principle”.

Pope Paul VI has clearly affirmed: “HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED, FROM ITS VERY INCEPTION, IT REVEALS THE CREATING HAND OF GOD”. In Pope John Paul II’s Enclyclical Letter—Evangelium Vitae, he wrote: “LIFE FROM CONCEPTION UNTIL NATURAL DEATH”…FROM MOMENT… OVUM IS FERTILIZED, A NEW LIFE BEGINS…NOT OF THE FATHER OR OF THE MOTHER BUT A NEW BEING WHICH DEVELOPS OF ITS OWN ACCORD…NEVER BE MADE HUMAN IF IT WERE NOT HUMAN ALREADY…modern genetics offers confirmation”. Hence, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences/Life, Vatican City, Rome, has declared that: ‘LIVING HUMAN EMBRYO IS --- FROM THE MOMENT OF THE UNION OF GAMETES --- A HUMAN SUBJECT WITH A WELL DEFINED IDENTITY, WHICH FROM THAT POINT BEGINS ITS OWN COORDINATED, CONTINUOUS AND GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT, SUCH THAT AT NO LATER STAGE CAN IT BE CONSIDERED AS A SIMPLE MASS OF CELLS”. In other words, as soon as the sperm completely united with the ovum in cytoplasm, conditions right, God willing, God immediately infused a soul, a man was formed of body and soul; the woman conceived a Zygote Human Person. This is a tremendous miracle of human life that must be respected by all of us. This is how sacred we come from.

The Humanae Vitae Encylycal of Pope Paul VI was heavily influenced thus far by the participation of then Bishop of Krakow, Poland, Karol Wojtyla, who became the Pope Paul II—the Great, the great author of “Evangelium Vitae—which is similar to Humanae Vitae but more strong in its contents. Karol Wojtyla wrote a book in the 1960’s, and I can say this book has defended the Traditional Trachings of the Church from a philosophical down to theological standpoints and lately he wrote the great THEOLOGY OF THE BODY that definitively and clearly teaches the sacredness of sexuality in the procreation of human life.

The Catholic Church Who is no doubt, the Mystical Body of Christ though with the unfailing guidance of the Holy Spirit is, unfortunately, the scapegoat and target of the enemies of Christ, of anti-life and anti-family advocates both inside and outside the Church, here and abroad. The Catholic Church teachings are under attack most particularly the issues of human life and dignity of the family.


Many anti-lifers, and pro-choicers do not know the real and profound message of Humanae Vitae. Humanae Vitae is not only about prohibition of the sinfulness and anti-natural effects of artificial contraception and abortion but indeed a profound understanding and wisdom of the miracles of human life, on sexuality, of marriage life and the blessings of the family.

Please consider supporting the generously the pro-life and pro-family mission in the Philippines. The decline of pro-lifers is caused by the decline of holiness and virtues and the crisis of faith and morality in the Philippines and in the whole world.

We are called by the Lord of Life to steadfastly carry the mission for life without compromise but with courage for our own eternal salvation and for the greater glory of God forever!




Eric V. Encina
Filipino Pro-life/Family/Justice Activist
Activism Center For Life, Family & Justice
c/o Lito Alhambra Old House, Homesite,
Km2. Brgy. Lawa-n, PO Box 8, 5800 Roxas City, Capiz Province,
Philippines
eric_encina@yahoo.com
rc_encina@yahoo.com
reynalda_life@yahoo.com my wife’s email
New Email: eric.encina8@gmail.com