Humanae vitae
Humanae Vitae (On the Right Order of Transmission of Human Life) was published on July 25, 1968 and is the seventh and final encyclical of Pope Paul VI.
introduction
With this encyclical, Pope Paul VI confirmed . the doctrine of his predecessors that, against the background of observing the natural law of morals, "every conjugal act of its own accord must remain related to the production of human life".
The foundation stone for this encyclical was laid by Popes Leo XIII. with the encyclical Arcanum divinae sapientia (on Christian marriage) of February 10, 1880 and Pius XI. with the encyclical Casti connubii (on Christian marriage with regard to the current living conditions and needs of the family and society and the errors and abuses existing in this regard) of December 31, 1930. The pastoral constitution of the Second Vatican Council Gaudium et Spes served as a further basis dated December 7, 1965, in which promoting the dignity of marriage and the family was an important individual issue. However, the question of the regulation of conception is not touched upon in Gaudium et Spes .
The promulgation of the encyclical Humanae Vitae was followed by extensive deliberations by Pope John XXIII. appointed papal study commission on questions of population growth and birth control in the years 1963 to 1966. The majority of the study commission came to the conclusion that contraceptives in themselves were not objectionable. One of Pope Paul VI came to this view. bishops commission set up in the same matter. The majority of them were in favor of leaving the choice of the method of controlling conception to the spouses themselves.
The history of the “pill encyclical” includes the discussion towards the end of the Second Vatican Council, in which three of the Council Fathers, Cardinals Leger from Canada and Suenens from Belgium and Patriarch Maximos in 1964 vehemently advocated a “development” of Catholic teaching on sinfulness advocated “artificial” contraception in the light of new scientific findings. They turned against the biblically unfounded distinction between the “main purpose” of marriage (procreation) and the secondary purposes (love and fellowship of partners). Patriarch Maximos asked "whether certain attitudes are not the product of outdated ideas and perhaps a bachelor psychosis of people who are not familiar with this part of life?" He warns against the denial of the cardinal virtue of prudence, by which all morality is to be measured.
A group of five cardinals - one of which was Karol Wojtyła (later Pope John Paul II ) - put Paul VI. a little later presented an opinion that supported the conservative position. This report, which was sent to the encyclicals of Pius XII. Casti conubbii and Sempiternus rex Christ , finally flowed into the encyclical Humane vitae .
Cardinal Josef Frings wrote to Pope Paul VI in May 1967. a post-conciliar “authoritative decision” on the issue of birth control and thus gave an impetus or contribution to the encyclical.
Basics
What was new about the justification was that the prohibition of contraception is no longer derived from a contradiction in human activity, as was previously the case, but finds its justification in interference with biological law. The biological laws are an expression of the divine plan of creation and realize a personal encounter between man and woman as a holistic togetherness. This relativizes the previous theory that the primary purpose of marriage is procreation. Rather, the conjugal love community is seen as a sensual-spiritual life unit that is supposed to fulfill the fertility mandate given by the biological laws.
content
Christian marriage
According to the teaching of the Catholic Church , marriage is a divine institution and, within its doctrine of salvation, a sacrament :
“Far from being the mere product of chance or the result of the blind course of natural forces, marriage is in reality arranged by the Creator God with wise foresight in such a way that it realizes his plan of love in people. That is why man and woman, through their mutual devotion, which is their own and unique in marriage, strive for that personal communion in which they complete one another in order to work together with God in awakening and educating new human life. Moreover, for the baptized, marriage has the high dignity of a sacramental sign of grace, and in it expresses Christ's union with his Church. "
Against this background, conjugal love has four essential characteristics (No. 9):
- It is "fully human love", that is, in it a sensual and a spiritual dimension are inseparably linked.
- It is based on "total surrender". The spouses give each other completely and love their partner for his own sake, not for what they get from him.
- She is "faithful and exclusive" until the end of her life.
- It is "fertile". In its essence, conjugal love is geared towards the transmission and maintenance of human life.
Inseparability from loving union and procreation
According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, two symbolic meanings are firmly linked in the marital act (HV 12): the loving union (significatio unitatis) and procreation (significatio procreationis) . With the loving union, the spouses confirm their love for one another. At the same time, according to the teaching of the Church, this love is always oriented towards procreation. According to the teaching of the Church, separating these two dimensions of sense does not correspond to the nature of man and the meaning of conjugal love.
The conjugal act could be morally permissible even in foreseeable times of sterility, since experience teaches that new life does not result from every conjugal intercourse. God had "arranged the natural laws and times of fertility in his wisdom in such a way that they automatically create gaps in the succession of births."
Responsible parenting
Church teaching requires parents to correctly recognize and understand the task of responsible parenthood and to control drives and passions.
Finally, with regard to the health, economic, emotional and social situation, responsible parenting means that one either, after careful deliberation, generously decides to have a larger number of children, or when there are serious reasons and under observation of the moral law, a decision is made, temporarily or to constantly do without further children. "
The family and contraception
The conjugal act is only responsible if both meanings of conjugal love are preserved, the loving union and the orientation towards procreation. In addition, conjugal love should always be fully human, physically and spiritually. Therefore the Church allows spouses to abstain from the fertile phase of the cycle , but forbids their believers to use any form of artificial contraception :
Paul VI writes:
"Likewise, any act is reprehensible which, either in foresight or during the performance of the conjugal act or after it during the course of its natural effects, aims to prevent reproduction, be it as an aim or as a means to the end."
In No. 16 Paul VI. from the fact that the Church remains true to herself and her teaching if, on the one hand, she considers that the spouses are allowed to take into account the non-pregnancy period, and on the other hand, rejects the use of direct contraceptive means as "always forbidden".
“In fact, there are two very different behaviors: in the first, the couple make legitimate use of a natural possibility; in the other, however, they hinder the process of procreation in its natural course. No doubt in both cases the spouses agree that there are good reasons why they want to avoid children, and they want to be safe in doing so. It should be noted, however, that only in the first case the spouses can abstain from marital intercourse during fertile times when, for legitimate reasons, no further children are desirable. In the times of non-conception, however, they then have marital intercourse in order to show mutual love and to maintain the promised fidelity. If the married couple behave like this, they really give a testimony of true love. "
Against the background of the principles of human and Christian marriage, Paul VI rejects. “Any termination of a begun conception, especially direct abortion ”, and also declares permanent or temporary sterilization to be reprehensible (HV 14). In the event that a medicinal product administered for therapeutic purposes could lead to temporary sterility, the Church, with reference to earlier statements of Pius XII, considers that the not forbidden as long as it is not directly sought. (HV 15).
Consequences of the methods of artificial birth control
In paragraph 17, Paul VI describes. serious consequences of the methods of artificial birth control and leads to the slight induction of increased marital infidelity, general weakening of moral discipline, especially among young people, and the loss of respect for women when men get used to the use of contraceptives. These could "without taking into account their physical well-being and mental balance, humiliate them to a mere tool of their instinct satisfaction and no longer see them as a partner to whom one owes respect and love." Paul VI expressly goes. At this point also on the possibility of abuse by state authorities who defied moral principles. If one does not want to leave the transmission of human life to human arbitrariness, "one must recognize insurmountable limits for the power of man to dispose of one's own body and its natural functions, which must not be violated by anyone, be it a private person or public authority."
Family and society
The encyclical concludes with a few remarks on pastoral care. Pope Paul admits that accepting the doctrine presented can be demanding and difficult for believers. He appeals not only to the self-control of the married couple, but also to society to create the necessary conditions for this. At this point the Pope praises the family apostolate, in which married couples in the same situation meet each other in a helping and supportive manner. The priests and bishops are encouraged to present ecclesiastical marriage doctrine unadulterated and openly. At this point Paul VI. the protection and sanctity of marriage as "the greatest and most responsible task" entrusted to them. (No. 20-30)
reception
The more critical-minded part of the papal commission criticized
- that the natural law justification of Humanae Vitae is not convincing,
- their concept of nature is naive, static, narrow and unhistorical,
- man is only dissected from an abstract level
- and the whole work is caught up in an outdated Aristotelian - Stoic and medieval conception of natural law.
The theologian Johannes Neumann said in a radio interview that the worldview represented in Humanae Vitae was "anachronistic". The Church's Magisterium does not preach the good news, but sees itself as a “teacher of the nations” and also ignores medically or sociologically recognized facts.
The Catholic theologian Hans Küng criticized the reasoning of Humanae Vitae, the predominantly magistral argumentation, that is, based on teaching texts. He missed arguments from the Scriptures. Twenty-five times reference is made to “doctrine” and “Magisterium of the Church”, twenty times the “law” and its preservation by the Church are mentioned, and forty times papal pronouncements are cited. The Gospel is referred to only twice and the Bible is only referred to sixteen times, which is also done in moralizing contexts and not to support the main thesis. Küng comes to the opinion that Paul VI. had shied away from changing the existing prohibition of contraception because it would have given up the Aristotelian natural law doctrine of conception, which had been advocated by the popes for centuries, and thus implicitly admitted the errors of his predecessors. In this way, doubts about the dogma of infallibility would have been reinforced. According to Küng, the Pope believed that this was the only way to maintain the continuity of the Magisterium.
The German moral theologian Alfons Auer sees the encyclical as a turning point for the Catholic teaching profession. With Humanae vitae a certain form of binding teaching official speaking about questions of the moral way of life “unmistakably reached its limit” and thus questioned oneself.
After the public criticism that the encyclical received, the German bishops commented on it in the Königstein Declaration of August 30, 1968, in Austria with the Mariatroster Declaration and in Switzerland with the Solothurn Declaration .
American university professor Brooks Holifield said that the Promulgation Humanae Vitaes had been a profound crisis for the Church in the United States . The confusion among the bishops, the contradicting statements of church leaders and the contrast to the sexual licentiousness of secular circles made it difficult for many Catholics to get their bearings. Many lay people neglected to receive the sacrament of penance because they refused to admit the use of contraceptives. At the same time, many priests refused to regard contraception as a sin. Such a polarization had arisen that many bishops had chosen to remain silent. Many pastors were overwhelmed with the question.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the publication of the encyclical, the chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conference , Cardinal Schönborn , criticized the Austrian bishops of 1968. In a sermon in March 2008 in Jerusalem, he described the Mariatroster Declaration as the “sin of the European episcopate” by the present Bishops should be repented.
The Chur Episcopal Vicar Christoph Casetti declared on the 40th anniversary of the encyclical that the predictions made there by Paul VI. regarding consequences of freely accessible contraception more would have to be fulfilled: "High divorce rates, destabilized families, great suffering in divorce orphans dying peoples due to lack of children, high abortion figures, experimentation with embryos." The encyclical Humanae Vitae can thus be described as prophetic document. The separation of sexuality, love and procreation has not proven successful.
The Nordic Bishops' Conference, which includes the Roman Catholic bishops of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, clearly backed the encyclical in a pastoral letter in 2010 and emphasized its relevance for the present, especially with regard to the experience with the individualistic View of sexual freedom that "neither made people happier nor strengthened marriages".
literature
Source texts
- Gaudium et Spes (GS), Pastoral Constitution of the Second Vatican Council on the Church Today, Main Part II, Important Individual Questions, Chapter 1: Promotion of Dignity and the Family
Secondary literature
- Elizabeth Anscombe : Contraception and Chastity ( online )
- Federal Association of the Catholic Workers' Movement in Germany (Hrsg.): Texts on Catholic social teaching. The social circulars of the popes and other church documents , Ketteler, Bornheim 1992, ISBN 3-927494-01-1 ; Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1992, ISBN 3-7666-9789-7
- Christoph Casetti : Secrets of conjugal love: Humanae vitae - 40 years later. Christiana, 2008, ISBN 3717111469
- Dietrich von Hildebrand : The encyclical Humanae Vitae - a sign of contradiction , Josef Habbel, Regensburg 1968
- Konrad Hilpert and Sigrid Müller (eds.): Humanae vitae - the offensive encyclical. A critical appraisal , Herder: Freiburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-451-38256-7
- Michael F. Hull: Marriage and Family in Casti Connubii and Humanae Vitae ( online )
- Reinhard Lettmann: For the discussion of questions about responsible parenthood , in: Reinhard Lettmann (Ed.): We need staying power. Contributions to the current situation of church and society , Kevelaer 1989, pp. 84–89
- Martin Lintner : From Humanae vitae to Amoris laetitia. The history of a controversial teaching , Tyrolia: Innsbruck 2018 ISBN 978-3702-237219
- Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Herder, Freiburg i.Br. 2004, ISBN 3-451-29078-2 .
- Giovanni B. Sala : The encyclical “Humanae vitae” - a plea for human dignity and responsibility , in: Forum Catholic Theologie 21, 2005, pp. 17–35, pp. 113–126 ( online ).
- Christian Schulz: The encyclical “Humanae vitae” in the light of “Veritatis splendor” - responsible parenting as an application of the fundamentals of Catholic moral teaching , in: Moraltheologische Studien Neue Zusammenarbeit , Volume 6, St. Ottilien 2008, ISBN 978-3-8306-7327 -9
- Karol Wojtyła : The Truth of the Encyclical 'Humanae Vitae'. In: L'Osservatore Romano. from January 16, 1969 ( online ) (English)
- Josef Spindelböck : 50 years of Humanae Vitae - the vocation of conjugal love and the passing on of life. ( online )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Humanae vitae , No. 11
- ↑ Andrea Gagliarducci: Why the creation of Humanae Vitae is important - 50 years after its appearance. Catholic News Agency (CNA), August 1, 2017, accessed September 5, 2017 .
- ↑ DIE WELT: How the topic of sex divided the church
- ↑ World: How the topic of sex divided the church ( Memento of December 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b To the previous: Gerfried W. Hunold: "Humanae vitae". In: Lexicon for Theology and Church. 3rd edition Herder 2006. Vol. 5.
- ↑ On the traditional doctrine of the purpose of marriage, see the essay by Wigand Siebel / Bernhard Schach: Die Ehe Zwecklehre. A sociological analysis of moral theological theories ( Memento from June 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (as of August 11, 2015).
- ↑ Hans Küng: Infallible? - a question from Ullstein, 1980, p. 28f.
- ↑ Johannes Neumann, radio interview, in: The encyclical in discussion, an orienting documentation on Humanae Vitae. F. Böckle and C. Holenstein (eds.), Zurich, Einsiedeln, Cologne, 1968
- ↑ Hans Küng: Infallible? - a question from Ullstein, 1980, p. 38f.
- ↑ Hans Küng: Infallible? - a question from Ullstein, 1980, pp. 41-50.
- ↑ Silvio Cajiao: 'Infallible' - What answer to Hans Küng's book? Lecture from March 28, 2003 in Bogotá at a further education event for priests on the subject of The Primacy of Peter , translation: kath.net , April 26, 2003, accessed on November 26, 2016.
- ↑ after Wolfgang Nethöfel: Moraltheologie after the council, people, programs, positions Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1987, p. 87.
- ↑ Word of the German bishops on the pastoral situation after the publication of the encyclical Humanae Vitae ("Königstein Declaration") (PDF; 124 kB)
- ↑ E. Brooks Holifeld: God's Ambassadors. A History of the Christian Clergy in America . Eerdmans, Grand Rapids 2007, ISBN 978-0-8028-0381-8 , pp. 307 (English).
- ↑ No to life three times. ( Memento from July 26, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Sexual Revolution - Vatican Right
- ↑ The Pastoral Letter of the Nordic Bishops to the Congress of the Family in Jönköping ( Memento from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 19 kB)
