John
Paul II - Theology of the Body |
Responsible Parenthood
Linked to Moral Maturity
General Audience, September 5, 1984
1. We have previously spoken of the
right and lawful regulation of fertility according to the doctrine
contained in the Encyclical Humanae Vitae (HV 19), and in the
Exhortation Familiaris Consortio. The description of "natural,"
attributed to the morally correct regulation of fertility (following
the natural rhythms, cf. HV 16), is explained by the fact that that
manner of conduct corresponds to the truth of the person and
therefore to his dignity. This dignity by "nature" belongs to man as
a rational and free being. As a rational free being, man can and
must reread with discernment that biological rhythm which belongs to
the natural order. He can and must conform to it so as to exercise
that responsible parenthood, which, according to the Creator's
design, is inscribed in the natural order of human fecundity. The
concept of a morally correct regulation of fertility is nothing
other than the rereading of the language of the body in truth. The
"natural rhythms immanent in the generative functions" pertain to
the objective truth of that language, which the persons concerned
should reread in its full objective content. It is necessary to bear
in mind that the body speaks not merely with the whole external
expression of masculinity and femininity, but also with the internal
structures of the organism, of the somatic and psychosomatic
reaction. All this should find its appropriate place in that
language in which husband and wife dialogue with each other, as
persons called to the communion of the union of the body.
At the cost of a precise self-denial
2. All efforts directed to an ever more precise knowledge of
those natural rhythms which are manifested in relation to human
procreation, all efforts of family counselors and indeed of the
couple themselves, are not aimed at making the language of the body
merely biological (at reducing ethics to biology, as some have
mistakenly held). But they are aimed exclusively at ensuring the
integral truth of that language of the body in which husband and
wife should express themselves in a mature way before the demands of
responsible parenthood.
The Encyclical Humanae Vitae stresses several times that responsible
parenthood is connected with a continual effort and commitment, and
that it is put into effect at the cost of a precise self-denial (cf.
HV 21). All these and other similar expressions show that in the
case of responsible parenthood, or of a morally correct regulation
of fertility, it is a question of the real good of human persons and
of what corresponds to the true dignity of the person.
Right conscience is true interpreter
3. The use of the infertile periods for conjugal union can be an
abuse if the couple, for unworthy reasons, seeks in this way to
avoid having children, thus lowering the number of births in their
family below the morally correct level. This morally correct level
must be established by taking into account not only the good of
one's own family, and even the state of health and the means of the
couple themselves, but also the good of the society to which they
belong, of the Church, and even of all mankind.
The Encyclical Humanae Vitae presents responsible parenthood as an
expression of a high ethical value. In no way is it exclusively
directed to limiting, much less excluding, children. It means also
the willingness to accept a larger family. Above all, according to
Humanae Vitae, responsible parenthood implies "a deeper relationship
with the objective moral order instituted by God—the order of which
a right conscience is the true interpreter" (HV 10).
Moral maturity
4. The truth of responsible parenthood and its implementation is
linked with the moral maturity of the person. Here, the divergence
is very frequently revealed between what the encyclical explicitly
regards as of primary importance and the general viewpoint on the
subject.
The Encyclical places in relief the ethical dimension of the
problem, by underlining the role of the virtue of temperance
correctly understood. Within the scope of this dimension there is
also an adequate method for acting. In the common viewpoint it often
happens that the method, separated from the ethical dimension proper
to it, is put into effect in a merely functional and even
utilitarian way. By separating the natural method from the ethical
dimension, one no longer sees the difference between it and the
other methods (artificial means). One comes to the point of speaking
of it as if it were only a different form of contraception.
5. From the point of view of the true doctrine expressed by the
Encyclical Humanae Vitae, it is therefore important to present this
method correctly, and the encyclical refers to this (cf. HV 16).
Above all it is important to examine in depth the ethical dimension.
For it is in reference to this that the method, as natural, acquires
its significance as a morally correct, upright method. Therefore
within the framework of the present analysis, it is fitting that we
should turn our attention principally to what the encyclical states
on the subject of self-mastery and on continence. Without a
searching interpretation of that subject we shall not arrive either
at the heart of the moral truth, or at the heart of the
anthropological truth of the problem. It was already pointed out
that the roots of this problem lie deep in the theology of the body.
When it becomes, as it ought to, the pedagogy of the body, this
constitutes in reality the morally right and lawful method of the
regulation of births, understood in its deepest and fullest sense.
Lawful regulation
6. Later when describing the specifically moral values of the
natural regulation of fertility (that is, lawful or morally right),
the author of Humanae Vitae writes as follows: "This
self-discipline...brings to family life abundant fruits of
tranquillity and peace. It helps in solving difficulties of other
kinds. It fosters in husband and wife thoughtfulness and loving
consideration for each other. It helps them to repel the excessive
self-love which is the opposite of charity. It arouses in them a
consciousness of their responsibilities. And finally, it confers
upon parents a deeper and more effective influence in the education
of their children. For these latter, both in childhood and in youth,
as years go by, develop a right sense of values as regards the true
blessings of life and achieve a serene and harmonious use of their
mental and physical powers" (HV 21).
7. The passage cited completes the picture of what the Encyclical
Humanae Vitae means by "the right and lawful ordering of the births
of children" (HV 21). As can be seen, this is not merely a mode of
behavior in a specific field. It is an attitude which is based on
the integral moral maturity of the persons and at the same time
completes it.
Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 10
September 1984, page 10
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