Father Shenan J. Boquet, President, Human Life International
shares some thoughts ahead of
Thursday’s anniversary of Humanae
Vitae. He focuses on some of Father Paul Marx’s comments derived from
his autobiography of 1997. Fr. Marx was the founder of Human Life International
(HLI).
One of the most powerful observations recorded by Fr. Marx
in the excerpt below is sad and shocking but in my experience has proved true
as well. It reminds us of the true and high price of fellowship with Christ: We
must walk in the light. (I John 1:7)
To militantly reject “Humanae
Vitae” is really to reject the Church's moral authority, and such rejection, I
have noticed, color's a priest's whole theological outlook and performance. In
the first twenty-five years of my priesthood, whenever I met a priest for the
first time I could sense an immediate rapport, because we were in total theological
agreement. Today the same kinship is felt only when one learns that the newly
met priest accepts “Humanae Vitae”.
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With Pope Paul VI's prophetic Humanae Vitae turning 45 next Thursday, we wanted to revisit how
HLI's founder, Father Paul Marx, took the Holy Father's teaching "On Human
Life" to heart. The encyclical would soon inspire the priest who became
the first leader of the international pro-life movement. In this excerpt from
his 1997 autobiography, Faithful for Life,
Father Marx recalls the initial struggle among clergy with the encyclical's
teachings. Although he too struggled with the teaching at first, it wasn't long
before Fr. Marx fully embraced Humanae
Vitae, and realized "what a tragedy the rejection and contradiction of
that encyclical would induce."
Excerpt from Faithful for Life, Father Paul Marx
An ancient wise man once said,
"God always forgives, men sometimes, Nature, never"; she is jealous
of her fertility; she strikes back. And no generation should know that better
than today's people. Widespread legal euthanasia is threatening. Daily the line
between contraception and abortion becomes ever thinner, while new chemical
abortifacients are being added to the arsenal of death and may soon obscure the
high visibility of surgical abortion.
Theologians who dissented [from] Humanae Vitae do not realize how heavily
they contributed to the unleashing of the sexual instinct to the destruction of
youth and family; to the proliferation of out-of-wedlock births; to the increased
number of single-parent families; and to the massive escalation of venereal
(now sanitized as "sexually transmitted") disease, divorce, that
"alternative lifestyle" we used to call "shacking up,"
marital unhappiness, and a host of other evils, including child and spousal
abuse.
You will recall that my older
brother Joseph became a Benedictine monk (Father Michael) at St. John's Abbey.
Roman-trained, he taught theology and Scripture for years there. He died 5 May
1993. He and three confreres, Fathers Godfrey Diekmann, Aelred Tegels, and
Kieren Nolan, joined Father Charles Curran in officially dissenting to Humanae Vitae in 1968, a subject Father
Michael and I could hardly ever discuss thereafter; he persisted in his false
view to the end. From all four I learned from what flimsy grounds and
inexperience this sad dissent stemmed. To militantly reject Humanae Vitae is really to reject the
Church's moral authority, and such rejection, I have noticed, color's a
priest's whole theological outlook and performance. In the first twenty-five
years of my priesthood, whenever I met a priest for the first time I could
sense an immediate rapport, because we were in total theological agreement.
Today the same kinship is felt only when one learns that the newly met priest
accepts Humanae Vitae.
Humanae Vitae was issued by Paul VI on 25 July 1968. I did not
sleep that night. After having tried to help so many couples with the
then-available methods of NFP [Natural Family Planning], I yielded to my doubts
about the encyclical; I took the dissenting theologians too seriously; I even
sponsored some of them. But before long I saw the consequences of contraception
and how far they would extend -- that contraception, with its abortifacient
tentacles was already devastating Church and society. I sensed, too, from an
abundance of NFP counseling, teaching, and promotion, what a tragedy the
rejection and contradiction of that encyclical would induce.
But now we know that the
prophetic Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae
was entirely right in making his amazing three predictions[*]: that the
practice of contraception would lower general morality; cause men to use and
abuse women; and put a weapon into the hands of the government, which then
would enter the sanctuary of the home and there dictate to the couple how many
children they may have. All of these predictions have subsequently been fully
verified in the estimation of all who have eyes to see. Every day the message
of that controversial document resounds more convincingly. After all, Humanae
Vitae means "Of Human Life," and you cannot defend human life unless
you defend its source, which is God's great gift of human sexuality, whereby he
invites the truly loving married couple to intimately cooperate with Him in the
mysterious act of creation.
* Today writers generally refer to Humanae Vitae's four predictions,
all of which have come to pass -- here Father Marx combines two of them into a
single prediction, which some did in the wake of the encyclical’s release.
Father Marx's witness and faithfulness to the Humanae Vitae's beautiful teachings
inspired many to be engaged in pro-life work, and has saved countless lives. In
spite of the losses and setbacks we've faced from legal and judicial decisions
around the world, there have been tremendous strides made on behalf of life,
faith and family. We must never lose heart or give up hope. Though bombarded by
strife and evil from every direction, we are a people of joy.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Shenan J. Boquet
President, Human Life International
From Catholic Medical Quarterly:
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