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Britain's 26 Roman Catholic bishops produced an artfully worded document that stressed obedience to the Pope's decree but also had kind words for those who cannot accept its teachings. The bishops cautioned that "if we are to neglect the guidance of the church, morality could easily become merely subjective. That would be disastrous." They also affirmed that "neither this encyclical nor any other document of the church takes away from us our right and duty to follow our conscience." They noted the dilemma of "faithful couples" who cannot easily support another child, and of wives whose health might be endangered by pregnancy. The statement added that Humanae Vitae contains "no threat of damnation" against Catholics who fall short of its teachings and that, "far from being excluded from the sacraments, those in difficulties are invited to receive them more frequently." The Canadian bishops even more strongly suggested that in the conflict between the encyclical's teaching and the burdens of parenthood, "whoever honestly chooses the course which seems right to him does so in good conscience."
Final Word. Similar positions have already been reached by the hierarchies of The Netherlands, West Germany and Belgium. As usual, the bishops of Holland's avant-garde church were the first to take issue with the Pope. Only three days after the encyclical was issued, the Dutch episcopate declared: "Personal conscience cannot lightly pronounce itself on an encyclical of such authority, but personal conscience has the final word." West Germany's bishops conceded that "a Catholic Christian might have serious reasons for wanting to deviate" from the Pope's teaching. The Belgian episcopate ruled that any Catholic "who is capable of forming a well-founded judgment" on the birth control question "has the right to follow his conviction, provided that he remains sincerely disposed to continue his inquiry" into the issue.
Even the generally docile and conservative hierarchy of Italy has issued a less than rigorous interpretation of the encyclical—much to the dismay of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which tried to get the statement toughened. The 20 cardinals and bishops who approved it expressed "profound gratitude" to the Pope for Humanae Vitae. However, they described the encyclical as but one "essential element in the formation of conscience so that responsible judgment can result in conformity with God's will." They recommended that priests exercise lenience with couples who, for reasons other than "egoism or hedonism," are unable to observe the teaching. "Evangelical tolerance," the bishops suggested, should take into account the difficulties that many couples experience "in trying to reconcile the demands of responsible parenthood with those of their reciprocal love, which is both sensuous and spiritual."