Sadly, the teaching of Humanae Vitae about sexual morality and family values has become something of an ‘elephant in the room’ that no-one seems to mention.Well Bishop Egan has certainly mentioned it now.
The process by which Humanae Vitae became shrouded in silence is well described in Clifford Longley's book The Worlock Archive, an important record of the way in which the Catholic Church in England and Wales changed during the post-conciliar period. I recommend it especially for younger Catholics as it helps to understand how we got to where we are now.
In chapter 8 of his book, Clifford Longley describes how, after the publication of Humanae Vitae, a compromise was reached by the Hierarchy with a carefully worded statement supporting the encyclical but proposing leniency towards priests who dissented from it. As he astutely observes:
“It was a tacit acknowledgement, at least for the time being, that there was nothing to be gained by an aggressive policy of promoting the teaching of Humanae Vitae in the parishes. This was where the statement was most eloquently silent. A bishop issued his carefully worded pastoral letter, and in many cases also a private letter to his priests, and then left the subject alone. After a while this silence became a difficult silence to break.” (p.254)(I wrote about this at greater length in the Faith Magazine editorial of July-August 2007 (Sex Education in Catholic Schools. The Deeper Questions.)
Bishop Egan's courageous pastoral letter deserves the commendation that it has received from priests and lay Catholics well beyond the confines of his diocese.
The full text of the pastoral letter is on the Diocesan website.
9 comments:
Thank God for Bishop Egan.
in Domino
I applaud Bishop Egan's letter at this time of the government's attempts to rewrite the meaning of marriage. However, it is not revolutionary and surely jsut reiterates what the Catholic Church has taught and indeed has hoepfully been teaching since the Council? I would have liked more of a link to how the fundamentals of marriage cannot be rewriiten when it clearly states in scripture that marriage os between a man and a woman. I refer you alos to the excellant Pastoral Letter from Archbishop Longley also on the Feast of the Holy Family.
For reference, Here is the text of Humanae Vitae
(also: your link to Amazon for the Workock Archive is broken>
A lot of the intellectual opposition to Humanae Vitae among "thinking" Catholics is starting to fray because the push for same sex marriage -- with all its attendant threats to the life and mission of the Church -- is showing exactly where you end up if sex is robbed of its procreative potential and reduced to a recreational activity for consenting couples of whatever persuasion. Who knows, even good old Clifford may see the light one of these days!
wife and mother:
Isn't that Father's point - that the teaching has not been preached except rarely? As a young mother in my twenties (circa 1971)I spoke up for Humanae Vitae at a parish meeting and was met with a wall of silence from both clergy and fellow parishioners. Since then I have only once - and in several parishes - heard mention of the Church's teaching in a sermon. Now a grandmother of 16 my experience, like the wonderful Bishop Egan's, is that this is indeed 'the elephant in the room'.
Thanks, Jason - fixed the link now.
This is an exciting development. Hopefully it is just the beginning of a new vision of for the promotion of theology of the body in parishes, dioceses and for the greater evangelisation of the country. We need to challenge the very forces that are the principal reasons preventing the evangelisation of the country. We need a new springtime in the Church in the UK - and part of this is the confident of proclaiming our own tradition.
I think it tragic that so much fuss was created over a document which wasn't exactly conservative, it may well have been traditional in some senses but in others it was liberal, it did after all reverse the ends of marriage, a teaching that only a few decades before Ven. Pope Pius XII taught quite clearly... Also as for a 'new spring time' have people forgotten what happened last time that phrase was used?!
Could someone provide a link to Bishop Longley's pastoral please? The last one I found was from September. many thanks!
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