Catholic teaching on
the natural moral law reveals that man does not have unlimited dominion over
his body or his sexual faculties, as Paul VI reminded us in Humanae vitae, for both of these must be
used within the limits of the order of reality established by God (HV 16). When
these limits are ignored, rejected or exceeded, horrifying consequences result.
Here we are brought to Pope Paul's prophetic words:
"Let [responsible men] first consider how easily [artificial birth control] could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings . . . need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”
"Let [responsible men] first consider how easily [artificial birth control] could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings . . . need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”
Recently it has come
to my attention that one more fruit of disregarding the truth of Humanae vitae (specifically, “reduce her to being a mere instrument for the
satisfaction of his own desires”) is on the increase: domestic sexual violence. I intend to write more on the Pope as prophet as the beatification of Paul VI approaches....
