Humanae Vitae
ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE PAUL Vl
To the Venerable Patriarchs, Archbishops,
Bishops and other local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic
See, to Priests, the Faithful and all Men of Good Will
Venerable Brothers and Beloved Sons:
1. The most serious duty of transmitting human
life, for which married persons are the free and responsible collaborators of
God the Creator, has always been a source of great joys to them, even if
sometimes accompanied by not a few difficulties and by distress.
At all times the fulfillment of this duty has
posed grave problems to the conscience of married persons, but, with the recent
evolution of society, changes have taken place that give rise to new questions
which the Church could not ignore, having to do with a matter which so closely
touches upon the life and happiness of men.
2. The changes which have taken place are in
fact noteworthy and of varied kinds. In the first place, there is the rapid
demographic development. Fear is shown by many that world population is growing
more rapidly than the available resources, with growing distress to many
families and developing countries, so that the temptation for authorities to
counter this danger with radical measures is great. Moreover, working and lodging
conditions, as well as increased exigencies both in the economic field and in
that of education, often make the proper education of a larger number of
children difficult today. A change is also seen both in the manner of
considering the person of woman and her place in society, and in the value to
be attributed to conjugal love in marriage, and also in the appreciation to be
made of the meaning of conjugal acts in relation to that love.
Finally and above all, man has made stupendous
progress in the domination and rational organization of the forces of nature,
such that he tends to extend this domination to his own total being: to the
body, to psychical life, to social life and even to the laws which regulate the
transmission of life.
3. This new state of things gives rise to new
questions. Granted the conditions of life today, and granted the meaning which
conjugal relations have with respect to the harmony between husband and wife
and to their mutual fidelity, would not a revision of the ethical norms, in
force up to now, seem to be advisable, especially when it is considered that
they cannot be observed without sacrifices, sometimes heroic sacrifices?
And again: by extending to this field the
application of the so-called "principle of totality," could it not be
admitted that the intention of a less abundant but more rationalized fecundity
might transform a materially sterilizing intervention into a licit and wise
control of birth? Could it not be admitted, that is, that the finality of
procreation pertains to the ensemble of conjugal life, rather than to its
single acts? It is also asked whether, in view of the increased sense of
responsibility of modern man, the moment has not come for him to entrust to his
reason and his will, rather than to the biological rhythms of his organism, the
task of regulating birth.
4. Such questions required from the teaching
authority of the Church a new and deeper reflection upon the principles of the
moral teaching on marriage: a teaching founded on the natural law, illuminated
and enriched by divine revelation.
No believer will wish to deny that the teaching
authority of the Church is competent to interpret even the natural moral law.
It is, in fact, indisputable, as our predecessors have many times declared,1
that Jesus Christ, when communicating to Peter and to the Apostles His divine
authority and sending them to teach all nations His commandments,2 constituted
them as guardians and authentic interpreters of all the moral law, not only,
that is, of the law of the Gospel, but also of the natural law, which is also
an expression of the will of God, the faithful fulfillment of which is equally
necessary for salvation.3
Conformably to this mission of hers, the Church
has always provided -- and even more amply in recent times -- a coherent
teaching concerning both the nature of marriage and the correct use of conjugal
rights and the duties of husband and wife.4
5. The consciousness of that same mission
induced us to confirm and enlarge the study commission which our predecessor
Pope John XXIII of happy memory had instituted in March, 1963. That commission
which included, besides several experts in the various pertinent disciplines
also married couples, had as its scope the gathering of opinions on the new
questions regarding conjugal life, and in particular on the regulation of
births, and of furnishing opportune elements of information so that the
magisterium could give an adequate reply to the expectation not only of the
faithful, but also of world opinion.5
The work of these experts, as well as the
successive judgments and counsels spontaneously forwarded by or expressly
requested from a good number of our brothers in the episcopate, have permitted
us to measure more exactly all the aspects of this complex matter. Hence with
all our heart we express to each of them our lively gratitude.
6. The conclusions at which the commission
arrived could not, nevertheless, be considered by us as definitive, nor
dispense us from a personal examination of this serious question; and this also
because, within the commission itself, no full concordance of judgments
concerning the moral norms to be proposed had been reached, and above all
because certain criteria of solutions had emerged which departed from the moral
teaching on marriage proposed with constant firmness by the teaching authority
of the Church.
Therefore, having attentively sifted the
documentation laid before us, after mature reflection and assiduous prayers, we
now intend, by virtue of the mandate entrusted to us by Christ, to give our
reply to these grave questions.
7. The problem of birth, like every other
problem regarding human life, is to be considered, beyond partial perspectives
-- whether of the biological or psychological, demographic or sociological
orders -- in the light of an integral vision of man and of his vocation, not
only his natural and earthly, but also his supernatural and eternal vocation.
And since, in the attempt to justify artificial methods of birth control, many
have appealed to the demands both of conjugal love and of "responsible
parenthood," it is good to state very precisely the true concept of these
two great realities of married life, referring principally to what was recently
set forth in this regard, and in a highly authoritative form, by the Second
Vatican Council in its pastoral constitution "Gaudium et Spes."
8. Conjugal love reveals its true nature and
nobility when it is considered in its supreme origin, God, who is love,6
"the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is
named."7
Marriage is not, then, the effect of chance or
the product of evolution of unconscious natural forces; it is the wise
institution of the Creator to realize in mankind His design of love. By means
of the reciprocal personal gift of self, proper and exclusive to them, husband
and wife tend towards the communion of their beings in view of mutual personal
perfection, to collaborate with God in the generation and education of new
lives.
For baptized persons, moreover, marriage invests
the dignity of a sacramental sign of grace, inasmuch as it represents the union
of Christ and of the Church.
9. Under this light, there clearly appear the
characteristic marks and demands of conjugal love, and it is of supreme
importance to have an exact idea of these.
This love is first of all fully human, that is
to say, of the senses and of the spirit at the same time. It is not, then, a
simple transport of instinct and sentiment, but also, and principally, an act
of the free will, intended to endure and to grow by means of the joys and
sorrows of daily life, in such a way that husband and wife become one only
heart and one only soul, and together attain their human perfection.
Then, this love is total, that is to say, it is
a very special form of personal friendship, in which husband and wife
generously share everything, without undue reservations or selfish
calculations. Whoever truly loves his marriage partner loves not only for what
he receives, but for the partner's self, rejoicing that he can enrich his
partner with the gift of himself.
Again, this love is faithful and exclusive until
death. Thus in fact do bride and groom conceive it to be on the day when they
freely and in full awareness assume the duty of the marriage bond. A fidelity,
this, which can sometimes be difficult, but is always possible, always noble
and meritorious, as no one can deny. The example of so many married persons
down through the centuries shows, not only that fidelity is according to the
nature of marriage, but also that it is a source of profound and lasting
happiness.
And finally this love is fecund for it is not
exhausted by the communion between husband and wife, but is destined to
continue, raising up new lives. "Marriage and conjugal love are by their
nature ordained toward the begetting and educating of children. Children are
really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute very substantially to the
welfare of their parents."8
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
11. These acts, by which husband and wife are
united in chaste intimacy, and by means of which human life is transmitted,
are, as the Council recalled, "noble and worthy,"11 and they do not
cease to be lawful if, for causes independent of the will of husband and wife,
they are foreseen to be infecund, since they always remain ordained towards
expressing and consolidating their union. In fact, as experience bears witness,
not every conjugal act is followed by a new life. God has wisely disposed
natural laws and rhythms of fecundity which, of themselves, cause a separation
in the succession of births. Nonetheless the Church, calling men back to the
observance of the norms of the natural law, as interpreted by their constant
doctrine, teaches that each and every marriage act (quilibet matrimonii usus)
must remain open to the transmission of life.12
12. That teaching, often set forth by the
magisterium, is founded upon the inseparable connection, willed by God and
unable to be broken by man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of
the conjugal act: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning. Indeed, by
its intimate structure, the conjugal act, while most closely uniting husband
and wife, capacitates them for the generation of new lives, according to laws
inscribed in the very being of man and of woman. By safeguarding both these
essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves
in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its ordination towards man's
most high calling to parenthood. We believe that the men of our day are
particularly capable of seeing the deeply reasonable and human character of
this fundamental principle.
13. It is in fact justly observed that a
conjugal act imposed upon one's partner without regard for his or her condition
and lawful desires is not a true act of love, and therefore denies an exigency
of right moral order in the relationships between husband and wife. Likewise,
if they consider the matter, they must admit that an act of mutual love, which
is detrimental to the faculty of propagating life, which God the Creator of
all, has implanted in it according to special laws, is in contradiction to both
the divine plan, according to whose norm matrimony has been instituted, and the
will of the Author of human life. To use this divine gift destroying, even if
only partially, its meaning and its purpose is to contradict the nature both of
man and of woman and of their most intimate relationship, and therefore it is
to contradict also the plan of God and His will. On the other hand, to make use
of the gift of conjugal love while respecting the laws of the generative
process means to acknowledge oneself not to be the arbiter of the sources of
human life, but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator.
In fact, just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general,
so also, with particular reason, he has no such dominion over his generative
faculties as such, because of their intrinsic ordination towards raising up life,
of which God is the principle. "Human life is sacred," Pope John
XXIII recalled; "from its very inception it reveals the creating hand of
God."13
14. In conformity with these landmarks in the
human and Christian vision of marriage, we must once again declare that the
direct interruption of the generative process already begun, and, above all,
directly willed and procured abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons, are to
be absolutely excluded as licit means of regulating birth.14
Equally to be excluded, as the teaching
authority of the Church has frequently declared, is direct sterilization,
whether perpetual or temporary, whether of the man or of the woman.15 Similarly
excluded is every action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act, or
in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences,
proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible.16
To justify conjugal acts made intentionally
infecund, one cannot invoke as valid reasons the lesser evil, or the fact that
such acts would constitute a whole together with the fecund acts already
performed or to follow later, and hence would share in one and the same moral
goodness. In truth, if it is sometimes licit to tolerate a lesser evil in order
to avoid a greater evil or to promote a greater good,17 it is not licit, even
for the gravest reasons, to do evil so that good may follow therefrom;18 that
is, to make into the object of a positive act of the will something which is
intrinsically disorder, and hence unworthy of the human person, even when the
intention is to safeguard or promote individual, family or social well-being.
Consequently it is an error to think that a conjugal act which is deliberately
made infecund and so is intrinsically dishonest could be made honest and right
by the ensemble of a fecund conjugal life.
15. The Church, on the contrary, does not at all
consider illicit the use of those therapeutic means truly necessary to cure
diseases of the organism, even if an impediment to procreation, which may be
foreseen, should result therefore, provided such impediment is not, for
whatever motive, directly willed.19
16. To this teaching of the Church on conjugal
morals, the objection is made today, as we observed earlier (no. 3), that it is
the prerogative of the human intellect to dominate the energies offered by
irrational nature and to orientate them towards an end conformable to the good
of man. Now, some may ask: in the present case, is it not reasonable in many
circumstances to have recourse to artificial birth control if, thereby, we
secure the harmony and peace of the family, and better conditions for the
education of the children already born? To this question it is necessary to
reply with clarity: the Church is the first to praise and recommend the
intervention of intelligence in a function which so closely associates the
rational creature with his Creator; but she affirms that this must be done with
respect for the order established by God.
If, then, there are serious motives to space out
births, which derive from the physical or psychological conditions of husband
and wife, or from external conditions, the Church teaches that it is then licit
to take into account the natural rhythms immanent in the generative functions,
for the use of marriage in the infecund periods only, and in this way to
regulate birth without offending the moral principles which have been recalled
earlier.20
The Church is coherent with herself when she
considers recourse to the infecund periods to be licit, while at the same time
condemning, as being always illicit, the use of means directly contrary to
fecundation, even if such use is inspired by reasons which may appear honest
and serious. In reality, there are essential differences between the two cases;
in the former, the married couple make legitimate use of a natural disposition;
in the latter, they impede the development of natural processes. It is true
that, in the one and the other case, the married couple are concordant in the
positive will of avoiding children for plausible reasons, seeking the certainty
that offspring will not arrive; but it is also true that only in the former
case are they able to renounce the use of marriage in the fecund periods when,
for just motives, procreation is not desirable, while making use of it during
infecund periods to manifest their affection and to safeguard their mutual
fidelity. By so doing, they give proof of a truly and integrally honest love.
17. Upright men can even better convince
themselves of the solid grounds on which the teaching of the Church in this
field is based, if they care to reflect upon the consequences of methods of
artificial birth control. Let them consider, first of all, how wide and easy a
road would thus be opened up towards conjugal infidelity and the general
lowering of morality. Not much experience is needed in order to know human
weakness, and to understand that men -- especially the young, who are so
vulnerable on this point -- have need of encouragement to be faithful to the
moral law, so that they must not be offered some easy means of eluding its
observance. It is also to be feared that the man, growing used to the
employment of anti-conceptive practices, may finally lose respect for the woman
and, no longer caring for her physical and psychological equilibrium, may come
to the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and
no longer as his respected and beloved companion.
Let it be considered also that a dangerous
weapon would thus be placed in the hands of those public authorities who take
no heed of moral exigencies. Who could blame a government for applying to the
solution of the problems of the community those means acknowledged to be licit
for married couples in the solution of a family problem? Who will stop rulers
from favoring, from even imposing upon their peoples, if they were to consider
it necessary, the method of contraception which they judge to be most
efficacious? In such a way men, wishing to avoid individual, family, or social
difficulties encountered in the observance of the divine law, would reach the
point of placing at the mercy of the intervention of public authorities the
most personal and most reserved sector of conjugal intimacy.
Consequently, if the mission of generating life
is not to be exposed to the arbitrary will of men, one must necessarily
recognize insurmountable limits to the possibility of man's domination over his
own body and its functions; limits which no man, whether a private individual
or one invested with authority, may licitly surpass. And such limits cannot be
determined otherwise than by the respect due to the integrity of the human
organism and its functions, according to the principles recalled earlier, and
also according to the correct understanding of the "principle of totality"
illustrated by our predecessor Pope Pius XII.21
18. It can be foreseen that this teaching will
perhaps not be easily received by all: Too numerous are those voices --
amplified by the modern means of propaganda -- which are contrary to the voice
of the Church. To tell the truth, the Church is not surprised to be made, like
her divine Founder, a "sign of contradiction",22 yet she does not
because of this cease to proclaim with humble firmness the entire moral law,
both natural and evangelical. Of such laws the Church was not the author, nor
consequently can she be their arbiter; she is only their depositary and their
interpreter, without ever being able to declare to be licit that which is not
so by reason of its intimate and unchangeable opposition to the true good of
man.
In defending conjugal morals in their integral
wholeness, the Church knows that she contributes towards the establishment of a
truly human civilization; she engages man not to abdicate from his own
responsibility in order to rely on technical means; by that very fact she
defends the dignity of man and wife. Faithful to both the teaching and the
example of the Savior, she shows herself to be the sincere and disinterested
friend of men, whom she wishes to help, even during their earthly sojourn,
"to share as sons in the life of the living God, the Father of all
men."23
19. Our words would not be an adequate
expression of the thought and solicitude of the Church, Mother and Teacher of
all peoples, if, after having recalled men to the observance and respect of the
divine law regarding matrimony, we did not strengthen them in the path of
honest regulation of birth, even amid the difficult conditions which today
afflict families and peoples. The Church, in fact, cannot have a different
conduct towards men than that of the Redeemer: She knows their weaknesses, has
compassion on the crowd, receives sinners; but she cannot renounce the teaching
of the law which is, in reality, that law proper to a human life restored to
its original truth and conducted by the spirit of God.24
20. The teaching of the Church on the regulation
of birth, which promulgates the divine law, will easily appear to many to be
difficult or even impossible of actuation. And indeed, like all great
beneficent realities, it demands serious engagement and much effort, individual,
family and social effort. More than that, it would not be practicable without
the help of God, who upholds and strengthens the good will of men. Yet, to
anyone who reflects well, it cannot but be clear that such efforts ennoble man
and are beneficial to the human community.
21. The honest practice of regulation of birth
demands first of all that husband and wife acquire and possess solid
convictions concerning the true values of life and of the family, and that they
tend towards securing perfect self-mastery. To dominate instinct by means of
one's reason and free will undoubtedly requires ascetical practices, so that
the affective manifestations of conjugal life may observe the correct order, in
particular with regard to the observance of periodic continence. Yet this
discipline which is proper to the purity of married couples, far from harming
conjugal love, rather confers on it a higher human value. It demands continual
effort yet, thanks to its beneficent influence, husband and wife fully develop
their personalities, being enriched with spiritual values. Such discipline
bestows upon family life fruits of serenity and peace, and facilitates the
solution of other problems; it favors attention for one's partner, helps both
parties to drive out selfishness, the enemy of true love; and deepens their
sense of responsibility. By its means, parents acquire the capacity of having a
deeper and more efficacious influence in the education of their offspring;
little children and youths grow up with a just appraisal of human values, and
in the serene and harmonious development of their spiritual and sensitive
faculties.
22. On this occasion, we wish to draw the
attention of educators, and of all who perform duties of responsibility in
regard to the common good of human society, to the need of creating an
atmosphere favorable to education in chastity, that is, to the triumph of
healthy liberty over license by means of respect for the moral order.
Everything in the modern media of social
communications which leads to sense excitation and unbridled customs, as well
as every form of pornography and licentious performances, must arouse the frank
and unanimous reaction of all those who are solicitous for the progress of
civilization and the defense of the common good of the human spirit. Vainly
would one seek to justify such depravation with the pretext of artistic or
scientific exigencies,25 or to deduce an argument from the freedom allowed in
this sector by the public authorities.
23. To Rulers, who are those principally responsible
for the common good, and who can do so much to safeguard moral customs, we say:
Do not allow the morality of your peoples to be degraded; do not permit that by
legal means practices contrary to the natural and divine law be introduced into
that fundamental cell, the family. Quite other is the way in which public
authorities can and must contribute to the solution of the demographic problem:
namely, the way of a provident policy for the family, of a wise education of
peoples in respect of moral law and the liberty of citizens.
We are well aware of the serious difficulties
experienced by public authorities in this regard, especially in the developing
countries. To their legitimate preoccupations we devoted our encyclical letter
Populorum Progressio. But with our predecessor Pope John XXIII, we repeat: no
solution to these difficulties is acceptable "which does violence to man's
essential dignity" and is based only on an utterly materialistic
conception of man himself and of his life. The only possible solution to this
question is one which envisages the social and economic progress both of
individuals and of the whole of human society, and which respects and promotes
true human values.26 Neither can one, without grave injustice, consider divine
providence to be responsible for what depends, instead, on a lack of wisdom in
government, on an insufficient sense of social justice, on selfish
monopolization, or again on blameworthy indolence in confronting the efforts
and the sacrifices necessary to ensure the raising of living standards of a
people and of all its sons.27
May all responsible public authorities -- as
some are already doing so laudably -- generously revive their efforts. And may
mutual aid between all the members of the great human family never cease to
grow: This is an almost limitless field which thus opens up to the activity of
the great international organizations.
24. We wish now to express our encouragement to
men of science, who "can considerably advance the welfare of marriage and
the family, along with peace of conscience, if by pooling their efforts they
labor to explain more thoroughly the various conditions favoring a proper
regulation of births."28 It is particularly desirable that, according to
the wish already expressed by Pope Pius XII, medical science succeed in
providing a sufficiently secure basis for a regulation of birth, founded on the
observance of natural rhythms.29 In this way, scientists and especially
Catholic scientists will contribute to demonstrate in actual fact that, as the
Church teaches, "a true contradiction cannot exist between the divine laws
pertaining to the transmission of life and those pertaining to the fostering of
authentic conjugal love."30
25. And now our words more directly address our
own children, particularly those whom God calls to serve Him in marriage. The
Church, while teaching imprescriptible demands of the divine law, announces the
tidings of salvation, and by means of the sacraments opens up the paths of
grace, which makes man a new creature, capable of corresponding with love and
true freedom to the design of his Creator and Savior, and of finding the yoke
of Christ to be sweet.31
Christian married couples, then, docile to her
voice, must remember that their Christian vocation, which began at baptism, is
further specified and reinforced by the sacrament of matrimony. By it husband
and wife are strengthened and as it were consecrated for the faithful
accomplishment of their proper duties, for the carrying out of their proper
vocation even to perfection, and the Christian witness which is proper to them
before the whole world.32 To them the Lord entrusts the task of making visible
to men the holiness and sweetness of the law which unites the mutual love of
husband and wife with their cooperation with the love of God the author of
human life.
We do not at all intend to hide the sometimes
serious difficulties inherent in the life of Christian married persons; for
them as for everyone else, "the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that
leads to life."33 But the hope of that life must illuminate their way, as
with courage they strive to live with wisdom, justice and piety in this present
time,34 knowing that the figure of this world passes away.35
Let married couples, then, face up to the
efforts needed, supported by the faith and hope which "do not disappoint .
. . because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,
who has been given to Us"36; let them implore divine assistance by
persevering prayer; above all, let them draw from the source of grace and
charity in the Eucharist. And if sin should still keep its hold over them, let
them not be discouraged, but rather have recourse with humble perseverance to
the mercy of God, which is poured forth in the sacrament of Penance. In this
way they will be enabled to achieve the fullness of conjugal life described by
the Apostle: "husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church . . .
husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife
loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes
it, as Christ does the Church . . . this is a great mystery, and I mean in
reference to Christ and the Church. However, let each one of you love his wife
as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."37
26. Among the fruits which ripen forth from a
generous effort of fidelity to the divine law, one of the most precious is that
married couples themselves not infrequently feel the desire to communicate
their experience to others. Thus there comes to be included in the vast pattern
of the vocation of the laity a new and most noteworthy form of the apostolate
of like to like; it is married couples themselves who become apostles and guides
to other married couples. This is assuredly, among so many forms of apostolate,
one of those which seem most opportune today.38
27. We hold those physicians and medical
personnel in the highest esteem who, in the exercise of their profession, value
above every human interest the superior demands of their Christian vocation.
Let them persevere, therefore, in promoting on every occasion the discovery of
solutions inspired by faith and right reason, let them strive to arouse this
conviction and this respect in their associates. Let them also consider as
their proper professional duty the task of acquiring all the knowledge needed
in this delicate sector, so as to be able to give to those married persons who
consult them wise counsel and healthy direction, such as they have a right to
expect.
28. Beloved priest sons, by vocation you are the
counselors and spiritual guides of individual persons and of families. We now
turn to you with confidence. Your first task -- especially in the case of those
who teach moral theology -- is to expound the Church's teaching on marriage
without ambiguity. Be the first to give, in the exercise of your ministry, the
example of loyal internal and external obedience to the teaching authority of
the Church. That obedience, as you know well, obliges not only because of the
reasons adduced, but rather because of the light of the Holy Spirit, which is
given in a particular way to the pastors of the Church in order that they may
illustrate the truth.39 You know, too, that it is of the utmost importance, for
peace of consciences and for the unity of the Christian people, that in the
field of morals as well as in that of dogma, all should attend to the
magisterium of the Church, and all should speak the same language. Hence, with
all our heart we renew to you the heartfelt plea of the great Apostle Paul:
"I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that all
of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united
in the same mind and the same judgment."40
29. To diminish in no way the saving teaching of
Christ constitutes an eminent form of charity for souls. But this must ever be
accompanied by patience and goodness, such as the Lord himself gave example of
in dealing with men. Having come not to condemn but to save,41 he was indeed
intransigent with evil, but merciful towards individuals.
In their difficulties, may married couples
always find, in the words and in the heart of a priest, the echo of the voice
and the love of the Redeemer.
And then speak with confidence, beloved sons,
fully convinced that the spirit of God, while He assists the magisterium in
proposing doctrine, illumines internally the hearts of the faithful inviting
them to give their assent. Teach married couples the indispensable way of
prayer; prepare them to have recourse often and with faith to the sacraments of
the Eucharist and of Penance, without ever allowing themselves to be
discouraged by their own weakness.
30. Beloved and venerable brothers in the
episcopate, with whom we most intimately share the solicitude of the spiritual
good of the People of God, at the conclusion of this encyclical our reverent
and affectionate thoughts turn to you. To all of you we extend an urgent
invitation. At the head of the priests, your collaborators, and of your
faithful, work ardently and incessantly for the safeguarding and the holiness
of marriage, so that it may always be lived in its entire human and Christian
fullness. Consider this mission as one of your most urgent responsibilities at
the present time. As you know, it implies concerted pastoral action in all the
fields of human activity, economic, cultural and social; for, in fact, only a
simultaneous improvement in these various sectors will make it possible to
render the life of parents and of children within their families not only
tolerable, but easier and more joyous, to render the living together in human
society more fraternal and peaceful, in faithfulness to God's design for the
world.
31. Venerable brothers, most beloved sons, and
all men of good will, great indeed is the work of education, of progress and of
love to which we call you, upon the foundation of the Church's teaching, of
which the successor of Peter is, together with his brothers in the episcopate,
the depositary and interpreter. Truly a great work, as we are deeply convinced,
both for the world and for the Church, since man cannot find true happiness --
towards which he aspires with all his being -- other than in respect of the
laws written by God in his very nature, laws which he must observe with
intelligence and love. Upon this work, and upon all of you, and especially upon
married couples, we invoke the abundant graces of the God of holiness and
mercy, and in pledge thereof we impart to you all our apostolic blessing.
Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, this 25th day
of July, feast of St. James the Apostle, in the year 1968, the sixth of our
pontificate.
