By

Anthony Gonzales

In 1968 Pope Paul VI issued one of the most, if not THE most, controversial encyclical letter very written by a Pope. The controversy was not found as much in its content but rather because it flew directly into the face of the modernist establishment which within only 5 short years had taken over vast strategic positions within Church structure. Until the Second Vatican Council and the subsequent weakening of the Papal authority there had been outward consensus and unity both in faith and morals throughout the entire Church. Dissent was rare and when it raised its ugly head it was quickly crushed. The Church had learned it's lessons well after the mistakes it made with Luther. It was slow in stopping his rebellion. He was allowed to run wild within Germany planting the seeds of the Protestant revolution. After the Council of Trent and until the Second Vatican Council the Church acted quickly to stop heretics from destroying souls. We were One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman. The One True Faith and the Eternal Moral law were protected from dilution and compromise. The reins of power were firmly in the iron fist of the papacy and it was resolutely respected and loved by the faithful and , feared and hated by the infidel. One always knew where one stood and on what side of the fence one found himself. The lines were drawn and they were crystal clear.

From the time of the Second Vatican Council on the lines were blurred and our standing was upon moving sands. This, of course, was not the intention of a majority of the Council Fathers but they had inadvertently allowed the foxes to overrun the hen house.

The modernists hold fast to certain principles of thought and action. They are evolutionists and therefore do not believe in original sin or its constant effects in man. They do not believe in the universal absolute moral law as taught by Christ, therefore, they are moral relativists. They do not believe in the infallibility of the Pope, therefore whatever he teaches if it is in conflict with their own preconceived ideas it is to be ignored or if need be rebelled against. They do not believe in a centralized government of the Church but rather in a loose confederation of local churches with their own local agendas. All of these ideas were subtly and subversively woven within the Council Documents skirting the edges of orthodoxy and preparing the way for the revolution that would follow the Council.

In order to understand their opposition to Pope Paul VI's encyclical "On Human Life" (Humanae Vitae) one must realize that they thought they had taken the teeth out of the papacy because of the emphasis that the Council had placed on the National conferences of bishops and the importance of the local church. When Paul VI had enlarged a commission first established by Pope John XXIII to investigate the new medical technology which had produced "the Pill" and what its effect would be on the perennial position of the Church on artificial birth control they automatically assumed that the Pope would cave into pressure and allow the use of the pill. They figured that he was merely a puppet of the left and that he would just "go along" with whatever the Academics decided would be the "new" position of the Church. Remember they do not believe in any absolutes and so all morality, being fluid, can be "adapted" to the times.

Thus when the majority report of this commission came out in 1964 which concluded that artificial birth control was now permissible in the Church. They became frustrated because Pope Paul VI had not immediately and decisively opened the flood gates of sexual promiscuity which they were prepared to open forever. Several members of the commission, disconcerted by the delay, published the report in the secular press hoping to force the Pope's hand in the matter. They succeeded. What followed was one of the most amazing episodes in ecclesiastical history.

In Humanae Vitae Pope Paul VI without compromise proclaimed that artificial birth control was intrinsically evil and therefore directly opposed to the will of God for authentic human sexuality. Despite this Pope's utter and, at times, contemptible weakness in controlling the modernists he was forced by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the truth of Christ boldly and definitively. He, by his office was appointed shepherd and protector of the flock of Christ. He could do nothing other than say what he did even if so doing brought him into direct confrontation with the modernists who had wormed their way into high positions of influence and authority throughout the whole Church. These confrontations were naturally abhorrent to this weak and gentle man and he would have avoided them if at all possible. It was not possible.

The following principles reiterated in Humanae Vitae set forth in even clearer terms what the Church has always taught concerning artificial birth control and the goal of every human sexual act as intended by God from the beginning of creation.

1. The teaching authority of the Church, given to it by Christ, includes the capacity to authentically interpret not only the moral laws enunciated in the Gospels but also the natural moral law written within the very heart of humanity. (Section 4 )

2. Authentic human sexuality as God intended is found solely and exclusively within the marriage covenant. (Section 8)

3. Each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life. (Section 11)

4. There are two inseparable aspects to the marriage act: The unitive and the

procreative. Both are necessary for the sexual act between a man and woman to be authentically human as God intends. (Section 12)

5. Abortion is evil and never permissible. (Section 14)

6. Deliberate sterilization, either perpetual or temporary, of either man or woman, is opposed to the natural law and never permissible. (Section 14)

7. The end never justifies the means . (Section 14)

8. The only lawful means of regulating birth is abstinence during the natural rhythms of the woman's fertility cycle. (Section 16)

9. There are grave consequences in allowing artificial birth control, which includes; sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, abortion, infanticide, government imposed sterilization and abortion, assisted suicide, voluntary euthanasia and finally government imposed euthanasia. (Section 17)

The Modernist Revolt Against Paul VI

The above mentioned principles are not the only ones enunciated within this letter to the world but they are the most central. The resulting controversy was not that this document did not explain the Church's position clearly but rather those pseudo-Catholics and heretic theologians as well as faithless priests and feminist nuns hated the fact that Pope Paul VI refused to knuckle under to their pressure and their perceived dominance after the Council. They had already rebelled against the authority of Christ so it was no surprise that they would rebel against His vicar on earth. Unfortunately, because of his weakness Pope Paul VI instead of lopping off heads ran to his papal chambers and wrung his hands in whining despair. The horse was running wild and instead of taming it through harsh discipline he let go of the reigns of power causing nothing but more chaos and confusion among the faithful. The People of God had already been subjected to constant changes and reconstruction of the outward manifestations of their faith. Changes which had never been authorized by the Council but the modernists who effected these illicit changes used the Council as their launching pad to tear the Faith apart internally. Paul VI stated the truth boldly and wonderfully and then like the mouse that roared he immediately scurried cravenly under some Vatican rock refusing to do anything with the consequences he unleashed by the truth he proclaimed.

Impotent Leadership

When future generations look back upon this time in Church history they will shake their heads in scorn over the lack of fortitude and strength in our pontiffs It may be that in any other age these men would have been good administrators of the Church but today it takes men with iron resolve. Men who have the ability to deal swiftly, ruthlessly, and decisively with those wolves who would devour the sheep in the flock they are assigned to protect. Thank God that He has assured the protection of the Church from error for as weak as these men are they still possess the prophetic gift given to their office by Christ through Peter. We can tell how terribly sick and dysfunctional our whole modern society is when those who have been ordained by the Holy Spirit as the primary leaders of the Church function more or less as spiritual schizophrenics. On the one hand they can boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth He has revealed on the other hand they are vacillating, compromising and impotent when governing the affairs of the Church.

What the Church Teaches about Birth Control and Why!

"Then Juda said to Onan, 'Go to your brother's wife, perform your duty as brother-in-law, and raise up descendants for your brother.' Onan knew that the descendants would not be considered his own, so whenever he had relations with his brother's wife, he spilled his seed on the ground, in order not to raise up descendants for his brother. What he did was evil in the sight of the Lord, therefore the Lord killed him." (Genesis 38:8-10) From the beginning the children of Israel understood the purpose God intended for sexuality. Unlike the pagans around them the Israelites saw children as a blessing and not a burden. The pagan peoples had potions, amulets and external devices to prevent birth. These were rejected by the Israelites because they knew that to use sex merely for the purpose of pleasure was against the will and the intention of God. The early Church followed in this ancient understanding with the greater richness and depth of Christ's revelations about marriage and the necessity of chastity even within marriage. Opening our eyes to the natural law God had woven within man's very nature Jesus gave us to understand that the sexual union was not only to be a procreative act but also symbolically manifested what was to lie deep within the hearts of the ones who acted, i.e. a life long commitment. "This is why a man leaves father and mother and cleaves to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. They are no longer two but one flesh. What, therefore God has join together, let no man put asunder." (Matt. 19:3-6) So Jesus teaches that there are two aspects to human sexuality which are absolutely necessary for it to remain authentically human and what God intended from the beginning. These two aspects are the unitive and procreative. In the course of intention the unitive comes first. The unitive aspect is the impetus that drives the desire for the marriage covenant. Marriage then allows the man and woman to fulfill their union in the most intimate way possible for humanity and that is conjugal sexuality. The love that drives this union has a greater manifestation the interactive cooperation of man with God in His plan for the creation of individual human beings. Procreation in terms of relationship comes second in the process whereas in nature procreation is first because it is the very nature of sex biologically to propagate the species. That is why the egg is there and the sperm are there.

Now any action that deliberately meddles in this natural course of God's intended plan for human sexuality is against His will and therefore is intrinsically evil. The deliberate frustration of God's intention for sex turns sexuality inside out and desecrates that which by its nature is sacred by God's purpose. Therefore, condoms, sponges, diaphragms, pills, implants, direct sterilization, creams and potions and any other artificial means of frustrating God's intention are evil and self destructive. No Catholic, no matter how faithful he or she may be in every other aspect of the faith, can practice the immorality of artificial contraception and still consider themselves in good standing with God or the Church. To use artificial birth control is to usurp God's position as Sovereign over His creation. It may seem right when one is practicing this abomination and easily justified, however, the day will come when that person will have to answer for this deliberate disobedience of God's will. We had the uncompromising voice of Christ constantly clarifying the truth through His Vicar on earth. It was not as if we were not told. Unlike the Modernists or the Protestants we are supposed to be the obedient of God. Not my will but thine be done should be ever on our lips. We may not like what we have to do but no body ever said we had to like it we just have to do what is right and avoid what is evil. Deliberate artificial birth control is evil and is not a legitimate choice no matter what the circumstances. If any of my readers disagree with what the Church teaches please write and state your reasons. The more feed back I have the more opportunity it is for me to clarify and explain more in depth the reasons why the Church teaches what she teaches. Obedience to the law is sufficient but obedience through understanding is better.

The Modernists and Conscience

Beware of the modernist ploy of confusing the issue of obedience by supplying a myriad of excuses not to obey. Their primary weapon in this war of confusion is their emphasis on individual conscience. Taking the Church's position that an individual must do what his conscience dictates they take this to mean whatever you can convince yourself is good becomes legitimate for you. It is simply moral relativism with a more sophisticated face. We must form our consciences to the moral law of Christ and to the law behavior written within our very nature. Just because a person distorts their mind to believe evil is good does not make it so.

Natural Family Planning

Due to the advances in medical knowledge their are several methods of natural family planning which conform totally to God's created intention for marriage and conjugal union. These methods are nearly 100% effective but they require discipline, self-control, trust and determination to do God's will over and above one's own.