ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PAUL VI
ON THE REGULATION OF BIRTH
Observing the Natural Law
11. The sexual activity, in which husband and wife are intimately and chastely united with one another, through which human life is transmitted, is, as the recent Council recalled, "noble and worthy.'' (11) It does not, moreover, cease to be legitimate even when, for reasons independent of their will, it is foreseen to be infertile. For its natural adaptation to the expression and strengthening of the union of husband and wife is not thereby suppressed. The fact is, as experience shows, that new life is not the result of each and every act of sexual intercourse. God has wisely ordered laws of nature and the incidence of fertility in such a way that successive births are already naturally spaced through the inherent operation of these laws. Nonetheless the Church, calling men back to the observance of the norms of the natural law, as interpreted by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life. (12)
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This last statement is again so crucial I don't have adequate words right now to express it. It speaks for itself. When these encyclicals are translated into another language like English, the power of the statement is often felt more acutely by a better translation, just like different scripture translations have a different impact on the reader while either will mean the same thing. I used the translation I am used to for this last sentence. The one in the link to the Vatican is slightly different. I'd love to know what someone else might think of the different versions of the last sentence.
Now ask yourselves, is this true? Must each and every marriage act remain open to the transmission of life? Is it legitimate to reject life, or "disinvite" the One who creates life in our sexual union? Should any marriage act be closed to life?
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