In his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI addressed issues surrounding

married couples' love and childrearing, particularly those that have arisen in light of
contemporary circumstances.

Pope Paul VI's famous encyclical, Humanae Vitae (On Human Life),
published in 1968, discusses reproductive ethics and contraception. It was written in
response to a study on contemporary reproductive issues commissioned by the
Vatican, and its publication matched the abrupt rise in the use of contraception and
worries about population growth in general society. The writings of Pope Paul VI
confirmed long-standing Church doctrines on human nature and new life while also
outlining how to use this knowledge in a contemporary cultural setting. Here is a
synopsis of Humanae Vitae that highlights the key messages of the Church:

1.The lives that God creates are sacred because He is the creator of life.
As part of His creational design, God wills every life
that is brought into the world into being. As the Supreme Creator, He has control over
both life and death, and He created us in His image and after His own likeness. In
essence, interfering with life between conception and natural death amounts to
usurping God's supreme power. Our ability to procreate is a reflection of the fact that
we were created to know, love, and serve God. In the act of marriage, our creative
potential and God's are combined. The Church vehemently condemns any attempt to
take a life through abortion or contraception (which is an abortifacient), as it goes
against God's plan for His creation.

2. Marriage Is About Procreation

God created marriage as a holy institution to represent the love between Christ
and His Church. The entire human being is a mutual giving of oneself in marriage,
starting with a commitment to loving the other with all of one's heart, soul, and will.
A deeper level of human fulfilment is attained by husband and wife when they share
everything and unite their hearts and souls. Furthermore, it is a blessing for this
union to be the means by which God creates new life in the world. Children are the
"ultimate gift" of marriage because they are both a spiritual and a bodily propagation,
and they are also the "supreme gift" of marriage. To not be receptive to this gift would
be to deny the spiritual and physical foundation of marriage, which all married
couples are called to.

3.Openness to Procreation Upholds Women's Dignity

Humanae Vitae notes that when a woman's sacred ability to procreate is taken
away, her function in a sexual encounter will frequently be that of an object of
pleasure in its explanation of the social repercussions of contraception. The meaning
of conjugal love, which is intended to be a mutual gift of self in which the other is
loved and respected for their individuality and never used as a means to an aim, is
contradictory to this function and is beneath the dignity of women. The consequences
of such love, when the element that gives life is retained, are too tremendous to be
taken lightly for selfish motives. In this situation, a woman is not an object of
pleasure, but rather possesses a miraculous amount of creative potential, and as such,
she ought to be cherished, respected, and loved. The opposite might also be true, as if
the sole purpose of sexuality is pleasure, this goes against respect for one another's
wives, love for children, and eventually love for the Creator as part of the process.

4. This Doesn't Mean That Conception Is Always in a Couple's Best

Interest
While married couples must always be willing to have children, it is also
understood that they have many other responsibilities and are expected to exercise
caution, particularly when it comes to the immense privilege and responsibility of
raising children. The Church recognises the challenges that the modern world poses to
families, and it is permissible for married couples to limit their relationships to
infertile times if there are extenuating circumstances or one or both of the spouses'
physical or mental conditions precludes procreation. So, while not to be taken lightly,
occasionally certain events create real situations in which a couple may decide that it
is not God's intention for them to get pregnant at that time by using a clear conscience
and spiritual discernment.

5. Couples Can Benefit from God's Gift of Infertility to

Temporarily Avoid Conception.
It is possible to enhance a marriage through conjugal love
while preventing conception in the God-created order of nature by restricting sexual
activity to the infertile phases of the reproductive cycle. The moral implications of
this organic method of birth control are entirely different; rather than disobeying God
by upsetting the natural order, it respects the divine wisdom revealed in God's
creation and operates within the constraints established for us. Periodic self-denial
strengthens the marriage by transforming selfish love into altruism, increasing the
knowledge of each spouse's obligations, and enhancing the discipline that will
preserve their chastity and assist them in overcoming other challenges. The spouses
will experience calm and quiet.

6. Using artificial birth control will lead to cultural catastrophe.

The repercussions of denying the genuine nature of marriage and the dignity of man
by using contraception or sterilisation are severe. It is important to take into account
what Pope Saint Paul VI foresaw would happen once procreation was divorced from
marriage. He stated in Humanae Vitae:
The bar of morality would be reduced.
Infidelity in relationships would rise.
There would then be disrespect for womanhood.
The general rule that what is appropriate for private use eventually becomes
acceptable for public use should also be taken into account. Artificial birth control has
a great deal of potential to be abused by civic authorities attempting to solve
contemporary concerns. Periodic self-denial strengthens the marriage by transforming
selfish love into altruism, increasing the knowledge of each spouse's obligations, and
enhancing the discipline that will preserve their chastity and assist them in
overcoming other challenges. The spouses will experience calm and quiet.

7. Alter our culture rather than disobeying morality that "doesn't fit" it

The conditions that render artificial contraception appear like a necessary evil
must be altered. It is a gift, not a disease, to be fertile. No solution is acceptable if it
undermines the worth of a person who was created in the likeness of God. According
to the Pope, doing evil to avert a negative outcome is never permissible. The whole
individual must be taken into account for social and economic success. Humanae
Vitae recommends "real human values" such as promoting marriage commitment,
which creates stable families and makes it possible for more families to welcome
children into a loving, more stable unit, as a remedy for this problem. He also
demands that all pornographic and indecent pictures be taken out of the media since
they encourage promiscuity, objectification of others, and other sins in addition to
promoting a wicked and unhealthy perspective of sexuality.