Humanae Vitae 10

HUMANAE VITAE

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PAUL VI
ON THE REGULATION OF BIRTH

JULY 25, 1968

Responsible Parenthood

10. Hence conjugal love requires in husband and wife an awareness of their mission of "responsible parenthood," which today is rightly much insisted upon, and which also must be exactly understood. Consequently it is to be considered under different aspects which are legitimate and connected with one another.

In relation to the biological processes, responsible parenthood means the knowledge and respect of their functions; human intellect discovers in the power of giving life biological laws which are part of the human person. (9)

In relation to the tendencies of instinct or passion, responsible parenthood means that necessary dominion which reason and will must exercise over them.

In relation to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised, either by the deliberate and generous decision to raise a numerous family, or by the decision, made for grave motives and with due respect for the moral law, to avoid for the time being, or even for an indeterminate period, a new birth.

Responsible parenthood also and above all implies a more profound relationship to the objective moral order established by God, of which a right conscience is the faithful interpreter. The responsible exercise of parenthood implies, therefore, that husband and wife recognize fully their own duties towards God, towards themselves, towards the family and towards society, in a correct hierarchy of values.

In the task of transmitting life, therefore, they are not free to proceed completely at will, as if they could determine in a wholly autonomous way the honest path to follow; but they must conform their activity to the creative intention of God, expressed in the very nature of marriage and of its acts, and manifested by the constant teaching of the Church." (10)

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Again, this section and the last are so crucial. The question of "responsible parenthood" should be the question of every parent, really every person. The world goes as the family goes and responsible parenthood is what sets the family on the right course. Oh how I wish every Christian, every person of good will could read, understand, and put into practice the teaching of the Church.

We exercise responsible parenthood when we prudently and generously decide to have more children. We exercise responsible parenthood when we prudently in obedience to God's designs decide to postpone or space children. What is the connection? Obedience, every aspect of responsible parenthood and responsible childhood demands obedience. All of humanity falls in either, or both of these two categories. As Adrian Rogers, a famous S. Baptist preacher would say, "you are free to choose, but you are not free not to choose."

Knowing that obedience is the key, everyone must ask themselves if this is truth or not. How do we keep a right order of priorities and recognize our duties to God? Does the Church actually make it clear in its teaching? At least examine what the Church actually says in regard to responsible parenthood. However, this Encyclical is about the responsible transmission of life, being only one aspect of responsible parenthood. "The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World", or Familiaris Consortio, speaks to other aspects of the Church's teaching about marriage and family. It is an Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II.