1. Today we continue our
reflections which are directed toward linking the Encyclical Humanae
Vitae to our whole treatment of the theology of the body. This
encyclical is not limited to recalling the moral norm concerning
conjugal life, reconfirming this norm in the face of new
circumstances. In making a pronouncement with the authentic
Magisterium through the encyclical (1968), Paul VI had before his
eyes the authoritative statement of the Second Vatican Council
contained in the Constitution Gaudium et Spes (1965).
The Encyclical is not only found to be along the lines of the
Council's teaching. It also constitutes the development and
completion of the questions contained there, especially regarding
the question of the "harmony of human love with respect for life."
On this point, we read the following words in Gaudium et Spes: "The
Church issues the reminder that a true contradiction cannot exist
between the divine laws pertaining to the transmission of life and
those pertaining to the fostering of authentic conjugal love" (GS
51).
Moral norm does not contradict reason
2. The pastoral constitution of Vatican II excludes any true
contradiction whatsoever in the normative order. On his part Paul VI
confirms this order by seeking at the same time to shed light on
that "non-contradiction," and thus to justify the respective moral
norm by demonstrating its conformity to reason.
Nevertheless, Humanae Vitae speaks not so much of the
non-contradiction in the normative order as of the inseparable
connection between the transmission of life and authentic marital
love. It speaks from the point of view of the "two significances of
the conjugal act: the unitive significance and the procreative
significance" (HV 12), which we have already dealt with.
3. We could pause for some time here analyzing the norm itself, but
the character of both documents leads rather to reflections that are
at least indirectly pastoral. In fact, Gaudium et Spes is a pastoral
constitution, and Paul VI's encyclical—with its doctrinal
value—tends to have the same orientation. It is intended to be a
response to the questions of modern man. These questions are of a
demographic nature, and consequently of a socioeconomic and
political nature, in relation to the population increase throughout
the world. These questions begin from the field of particular
sciences, and at the same rate are questions of modern moralists
(theologians-moralists). They are above all questions of spouses
which are already found at the center of attention in the conciliar
constitution and are taken up again in the encyclical with all
desirable precision. In fact, we read there: "Granted the conditions
of life today and taking into account the relevance of married love
to the harmony and mutual fidelity of husband and wife, would it not
be right to review the moral norms in force till now, especially
when it is felt that these can be observed only with the gravest
difficulty, sometimes only by heroic effort?" (HV 3)
Pastoral argument
4. In the above text it is evident with what solicitude the
encyclical's author tries to face the questions of modern man in all
their import. The relevance of these questions presupposes a
response that is proportionately thought out and profound.
Therefore, if on the one hand it is right to expect a keenly
sensitive treatment of the norm, on the other hand it can also be
expected that no small weight be given to the pastoral arguments.
These more directly concern the life of man in the concrete, of
precisely those who are posing the questions mentioned in the
beginning.
Paul VI always had these people before his eyes. The following
passage of Humanae Vitae is evidence of this, among other things:
"The teaching of the Church regarding the right ordering of the
increase of a man's family is a promulgation of the law of God
himself. And yet there is no doubt that to many it may appear not
merely difficult but even impossible to observe. Now it is true that
like all good things which are outstanding for their nobility and
for the benefits which they confer on men, so this law demands from
individual men and women, from families and from human society a
resolute purpose and great endurance. Indeed it cannot be observed
unless God comes to their help with that grace by which the good
will of men is sustained and strengthened. But to those who consider
this matter diligently it will indeed be evident that this endurance
enhances man's dignity and confers benefits on human society" (HV
20).
Rule of understanding
5. At this point there is no more mention of the normative
non-contradiction, but rather of the "possibility of observing the
divine law," that is, of an argument that is at least indirectly
pastoral. The fact that the law must be possible to observe belongs
directly to the very nature of law and is therefore included in the
framework of the normative non-contradiction. Nevertheless the
possibility, understood as the feasibility of the norm, belongs also
to the practical and pastoral sphere. In the text quoted, my
predecessor speaks precisely from this point of view.
6. We can here arrive at a consideration of the fact that the whole
biblical background, called the theology of the body, offers us,
even though indirectly, the confirmation of the truth of the moral
norm contained in Humanae Vitae, prepares us to consider more deeply
the practical and pastoral aspects of the problem in its entirety.
Were not the principles and general presuppositions of the theology
of the body all taken from the answers Christ gave to the questions
of his actual audience? And are not Paul's texts—as, for example, in
the Letter to the Corinthians—a small manual on the problems of the
moral life of Christ's first followers? In these texts we certainly
find that rule of understanding which seems so indispensable in the
face of the problems treated in Humanae Vitae and which is present
in this Encyclical.
Whoever believes that the Council and the Encyclical do not
sufficiently take into account the difficulties present in concrete
life does not understand the pastoral concern that was at the origin
of those documents. Pastoral concern means the search for the true
good of man, a promotion of the values engraved in his person by
God. That is, it means observing that rule of understanding which is
directed to the ever clearer discovery of God's plan for human love,
in the certitude that the only true good of the human person
consists in fulfilling this divine plan.
One could say that, precisely in the name of the aforementioned rule
of understanding, the Council posed the question of the "harmony of
human love with respect for life" (GS 51). Humanae Vitae then not
only recalls the moral norms that are binding in this area, but is
also fully concerned with the problem of the possibility of
observing the divine law.
The present reflections on the nature of the document Humanae Vitae
prepare us to deal then with the theme of responsible parenthood.
Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 30 July
1984, page 1
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