40 Years of Humanæ Vitæ
July 11th, 2008 by Fr. Pius, OP
Forty years ago, on July 25th, 1968 - feast of St. James the Greater - Pope Paul VI published his Encyclical letter Humanæ Vitæ. Pope Paul VI indicated the purpose of that letter in the first two paragraphs:
The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.
The fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people, but the recent course of human society and the concomitant changes have provoked new questions. The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings.
Even after 40 years, the content of that letter remains a source of controversy in our modern world. Last summer, Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P., gave a talk at the Dominican House of Studies on the need to preach about Humanæ Vitæ, as well as how to preach on that Encyclical. As we approach the 40th anniversary of that momentous papal letter, we again present this video of Fr. John Baptist’s talk, below.
Until recently, Fr. John Baptist has been studying theology at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Fr. John Baptist has been assigned to teach at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
