This article began as a response to priests’ and deacons’ requests for a model homily on a moral means of family planning. On July 25, 2013, the Church marked the 45th anniversary of the promulgation of the encyclical Humanae Vitae. Over … [Read more...]
“Humanae Vitae” and Sacred Scripture: A Missed Opportunity
July 20, 2013 by Rev. Ray E. Atwood
While prophetic in many ways, the most controversial encyclical of the twentieth century might have been better received had a stronger biblical argument been made in its favor. This July 2013 we commemorate the 45th anniversary of Pope … [Read more...]
Celebrating “Humanae Vitae” 45 Years Later
July 6, 2013 by David Vincent Meconi
The one night stand may not have been born in the 60s, but it was granted acceptance and serial permanence. ... the Holy Father saw how a general lowering of overall morality would be the result of such self-centeredness. Humanae Vitae … [Read more...]
Fifty Years Later–Vatican II’s Unfinished Business
April 22, 2013 by Fr. Regis Scanlon, OFMCap
Today, 50 years after the opening of Vatican II, the misinterpretation of one of its most salient documents, Lumen Gentium, continues to drive a number of Catholics in the United States into one of two camps, the “right” or the “le … [Read more...]
Revisiting Humanae Vitae
January 25, 2013 by Rob Agnelli
What has been summarized as his most profound theological contribution, Theology of the Body, John Paul II labeled the entire work a “rereading of Humanae Vitae.” Two days after the publication of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI remarked dur … [Read more...]
Pornography, Masturbation, and the Confessor
November 29, 2012 by Dr. John M. Grondelski
The spread of pornography is a new pastoral challenge for confessors, but I want to suggest that there is another moral issue...deserving to be taken seriously, which is often overlooked in the discussion over pornography. That issue is … [Read more...]
Refilling the Empty Pews: Can an NFP course be an agent of evangelization?
August 19, 2012 by John F. Kippley
The problem of the rare use of NFP is not a lack of information. The basic problem is a two-fold lack of faith, and faith-based love. Catholics may never hear this teaching from the pulpit, or see it in the parish bulletin. But the … [Read more...]
Pope John Paul II, Humanae Vitae, and the Theology of the Body
February 3, 2012 by Dr. Charles W. Norris, M.D.
Humanae Vitae, correctly understood and followed, could change the world. In September 2010, Fr. Matthew Habiger, OSB, Associate Director of Natural Family Planning (NFP) Outreach visited made a presentation to adults and teenagers here … [Read more...]
Humanae Vitae at Forty
Humanae Vitae not only contains the truth about the right ordering of the marital act but it has much to teach us about the right ordering of society.
March 25, 2009 by Msgr. Robert J. Batule
Moral issues are always being influenced by cultural patterns. And the Church’s official teaching is always being understood through cultural filters. Contraception and Humanae Vitae are no exceptions to these two general maxims. In this a … [Read more...]
NFP: A Defense and an Explanation
What are the conditions according to which one may use NFP without offending Almighty God?
March 25, 2009 by Thomas Storck
When is it licit for a married couple to use natural family planning (NFP)? What are the conditions according to which we may use this method without offending Almighty God? This will be my subject in this article both with reference to … [Read more...]
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