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Departure from Tradition. The 7,000-word encyclical, entitled Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) was completed five months ago, and its negative judgment was not unexpected. Despite strong protests to the Pope since then by leading European prelates, it was modified only slightly. During its preparation, said Vatican sources, Paul relied heavily on the advice of three exceptionally conservative prelates of the Roman Curia: Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, 77, the retired former chief of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith; Paris-born Archbishop Paul Phillipe, secretary of the congregation; and Bishop Carlo Colombo of Milan, Paul's personal theological adviser.
The Pope's collaborators have long argued with him that any modification of the birth control ban would be a disastrous departure from the traditional teaching. Ultimately, Paul agreed. In the most telling sentence of the encyclical, the Pope outlaws "every action, which either in anticipation of the conjugal act or in its accomplishment, or in the development of natural consequences, proposes whether as an end or a means, to render procreation impossible."
In a long and thoughtful introduction, the encyclical cites the many reasons put forward by theologians, Catholic and Protestant alike, in favor of birth control: the population explosion, the economic difficulties involved in raising a large family, new insights into the psychological nature of sexual experience. In the end, though, the Pope rejects them all: "It is not licit, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil so that good may follow therefrom, even when the intention is to safeguard or promote individual, family or social well-being." Paul also cites what he considers the dangers that will stem from widespread use of contraception: an increase in conjugal infidelity, a lowering of moral standards, the loss of respect for women, and finally, the possibility that "public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies" could make birth limitation compulsory.
Ordinary Magisterium. Humanae Vitae is addressed primarily to Catholics, but the Pope also appeals to secular governments to seek means other than birth control in solving their population problems. Husbands and wives are asked to live up to the Pope's difficult decision. The clergy are advised to "give the example of loyal internal and external obedience to the teaching authority of the church."