Janet Smith

John Paul II and Humanae Vitae

Her stuff is on www.mycatholicfaith.org. Introduction JPII a coauthor, shall we say. From his early experience in priesthood he is Adam in the plays The Jeweller and The Jewellers Shop he tells us about his interest in human sexuality; he says: this relationship between thought and life is really crucial. Looking at my own experience, I can see how my work with young people at University of Krakow helped me in my meditation on fundamental aspects of the Christian life. Daily life with the young and their desire to full their vocation helped me to understand that the human being grows and matures in love and that giving himself he nds his own fullment. One of the loftiest principles of this is found in marriage. Mutual gift of themselves and personal union in which they complement one another in order to cooperate with God in the generation and education of new livest (cfr Humane vitae 8: Married love particularly reveals its true nature and nobility when we realize that it takes its origin from God, who "is love," the Father "from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named." Marriage, then, is far from being the effect of chance or the result of the blind evolution of natural forces. It is in reality the wise and provident institution of God the Creator, whose purpose was to effect in man His loving design. As a consequence, husband and wife, through that mutual gift of themselves, which is specic and exclusive to them alone, develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives. The marriage of those who have been baptized is, in addition, invested with the dignity of a sacramental sign of grace, for it represents the union of Christ and His Church.). Love between spouses creates a community of persons. Love and Responsibility, 1964 Gaudium et spes, 1965 Gs is lled with JPIIs language. He wrote marriage and family section. 1

Janet Smith

Humanae vitae, 1968 Janet Smith wrote a retranslation of it with a commentary: A challenge to love. Finnis too recently. JPII was on the commission that advised Paul VI. There was a lot of false enthusiasm. The commission in the end were just advisory. They sent their reports to Paul VI in 1966. In 1967 someone got impatient and leaked the documents to Tablet and NCR in USA. In the mean time Wojtyla set up his own commission to write a report. He convened a commission in Krakow to write response to reports of the Special Commission. George Weigel thinks it is a better document than Hv. Paul VI would have used this as he wrote Hv. The minute Hv came out Wojtyla was one of the biggest defender of it. He wrote a rousing defence of Hv in 1969: The Truth of the Encyclical Hv He wrote a stirring defence of Hv on occasion of 10th year anniversary of Hv: Fruitful and Responsible Love. Wrote a scholarly article for Lateranum: The Anthropological Vision of Humanae vitae (1978). People are most messed up about sex in twentieth century, more than anything. Holy Spirit had a big reason to have JPII elected pope! The Acting Person, 1979 Familiaris consortio, 1981 big defence of family and Churchs teaching on contraception. TOB: intention of book is to defend Churchs teaching on contraception, he says. There, he is trying to nd a theological basis for Churchs teaching on contraception. They are trying to nd a basis in scripture for Churchs teaching Love and Responsibility is much more a philosophical personalism. TOB is a theological personalism. Mulieris dignitatem, 1988 Truth and Meaning of Human sexuality, 1995 Veritatis splendor, 1993 2

Janet Smith

Evangelium vitae, 1995 5th anniversary of Ev, he sees it as a direct fruit of Hv. Benedict XVI: noted that JPII was attacked at the audience at which he was to have announced the creation of your institute. Hv core teaching is Hv, 11-12: 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. 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. The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life. Union and Procreation 12. This particular doctrine, often expounded by the magisterium of the Church, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive signicance and the procreative signicance which are both inherent to the marriage act. The reason is that the fundamental nature of the marriage act, while uniting husband and wife in the closest intimacy, also renders them capable of generating new life and this as a result of laws written into the actual nature of man and of woman. And if each of these essential qualities, the unitive and the procreative, is preserved, the use of marriage fully retains its sense of true mutual love and its ordination to the supreme responsibility of parenthood to which man is called. We believe that our contemporaries are particularly capable of seeing that this teaching is in harmony with human reason.

Janet Smith

Note that this passage is not talking about purposes and ends of acts. Rather, it is about two meanings of the conjugal act. The unitive meaning and the procreative meaning. Only human beings speak. Actions and words have a meaning. The sexual act has two meanings: 1. Union of persons 2. Procreation of persons Its not simply reproduction of species. Love and Responsibility: Persons must respect the ends and purposes of the Order of Nature. TOB: argues that the human body is meant to express the gift of one person to another; the body speaks a language and only an openness to procreation can speak the language of the gift. Theres a difference here. Basics of Natural Law God made nature; Nature is good; Nature means the essence of things; Man is a rational and social animal by nature; Man must respect the natures that God made; The sexual act by nature is ordained to procreation (an inestimable good). Sex leads to babies. Sex leads to parenthood. These are absolutely essential yet today they are seen as optionals. Concerns about Personalism Moral thought must nd a place to feature the interiority of each person. This is what personalism is trying to do. Not just all human beings but you need to behave like this. Each man must commit himself to seeking and living in accord with the truth. This knowledge of his obligation is essential for JPII. Otherwise we fall into subjectivism. Personalism Lived experience: personal experience of foundational truths. i.e. Every man experiences good and evil. Every man experiences the fact that we have to choose between good and evil. JPII: says that we witness ourselves doing this. Which one will I choose? I watch myself determine what kind of person I am going to be. Every man is CONSCIOUS (very important word) of his own moral agency. I am conscious that when I make this choice I am going to shape myself in a certain way. Differences of terminology Natural law language: nature, essence, end, purposes, objective truth, procreative end. 4

Janet Smith

Personalism language: consciousness, self-gift, language of the body, meaning, freedom Comparison of terms

Tradition
Rational Free Social Virtue Man must live rationally Universal truths Objectivity of moral norms Actions in accord with moral norms

Personalism
Self-conscious Self-giving Self-giving Self-mastery Man must love and be loved Concrete particular person Subjective consciousness of moral norms Personal commitment to live in accord with the truth

Personalism is more descriptive. Natural Law theory is directed to establishing the truth. Personalism is directed to getting people to live it. Both methods are coming to same truth from different angles. Its like the Rich Young Man. Jesuss rst answer: Natural Law answer: follow the commandments. Personalist answer comes next: come follow me! Personalising the truth. Making a gift of oneself. Take example of counseling against abortion: one thing is to say the philosophical argument: When does human life begin? / Right to life versus right to choose. The personalist approach is more personal!: God loves you and your baby / Will you protect your baby? God wants you to take care of your baby. Indeed: You cant do the personalist approach without the understanding rst of all. So both approaches are needed. 5

Janet Smith

In Love and Responsibility: Dont use persons. Persons are not means to an end. This does violence to the very essence of the other, to what constitutes its natural right (27). Personalist norm in its negative aspect: other person is not the object of use. In its positive form the personalistic norm says that the person is a good towards which the only proper and adequate attitude is love (41). Personhood and parenthood: with intercourse there needs to be awareness that there is a possibility of parenthood. Two objective facts: Im involved with a free person whom I should never use; sex leads to children. Those who are getting married are basically building Gods family. True practice of conjugal love and the whole meaning of the family life which results from it, have this aim: that the couple be ready with stout hearts to cooperate with the love of the Creator and the Saviour who through them will enlarge and enrich his own family day by day. Creation of immortal soul In intercourse, a new person is coming in. Justice to the Creator To the order of Existence 1. Continuation of the species: they join the great cosmic stream of existence. 2. Generate a new human being, an inestimable good. (This should be a consolation for couples who have a miscarriage.) 3. To the Creator who made the order of nature and who wants souls.
4. To ones beloved.

Conscious parenthood Parents are aware that having sex leads to having babies. Its not responsible parenthood as the translation says. This is not the Latin. This is only part of what he means. Accepting and preparing for that consequence. Accepting the consequence as good (for child, spouses, society, God). Being ready to be a parent. Choosing a spouse who will be a good parent. JPII: The proper way for a person to deal with the sexual urge is to consciously make use of it for its natural purposes and then to resist threats. 6

Janet Smith

Theres a difference in saying I want to have sex with you and saying I want you to be the mother of my children. Sex as Church sees it is profoundly afrming the other person. I give myself to no other. Without it sex cannot be the realisation of a personal relationship. Also to consider: God making man in his image and likeness. FREEDOM OF THE GIFT Theology tells us that our lives are gifts and we are meant to be gifts. Man is person when: inasmuch as man is master of himself he can give himself to another. This dimension of the freedom of the gift becomes essential and decisive for the body 123.5. Sexuality is therefore self-giving: there is unity with spouse but it is a fulness of persons. Physical manifestation of communion of persons/ lives. You are giving life to each other. Language of the Body Only persons have language. Language is meant to communicate the truth. The sexual act has the meaning of expressing lie: the intention for a unied life and expressing willingness to be a parent. Contraception is a lie. The conjugal act means not only love but also potential fruitfulness. It is not licit to separate the two meanings (check reference). Reverence for two goods (131.4): JPII wants us to ask if I am respecting the truth of my body. Natural Law notion of ends and purposes is so important. But it is also very important to reect upon whether all my actions are impacting on this truth. Read therefore Love and Responsibility! Dont ask am I respecting the natural end and purpose of the sexual act? Rather, am I respecting the other person? More on ends and purposes: Classically: things have ends and purposes. God made nature and he made these purposes. Sex has purpose of union and procreation. Sex is for babies and bonding. These are the ends and purposes of sex. 7

Janet Smith

Personalist approach: Personalists talk though of MEANING. Meaning comes with language. Language communicates truth. When I speak a language to you I need to speak the truth. Actions too bear communication. Meaning is conveyed. So we should speak truth with our language. Language of the body speaks the truth. My language should speak afrmation. I do not use you. I see you as a gift and give myself as a gift. If I take from it the procreative meaning I am lying with my body. I am giving myself to you like to no other. That is what the language of the body speaks. If I say I love you and I just want money from you that is a lie. Same for body. JPIIs vision elevates it to a more personalist view. So sex is for union and procreation. This is same conclusion but through different route to Natural Law approach. JPIIs development: he uses Thomistic language. Max Scheler: JPII was asked to go and see him. He found something in him. Not that he can be a foundation for Christian Ethics. But reading Scheler, KW said that we can legitimately be pushing Thomas further in his particularity and uniqueness. Hes not abandoning it but saying it falls a little short of where we need to go.