15 June 2018 | by James Roberts

Priests defend Humanae Vitae 

The Tablet

Pope Paul VI is pictured in this undated photo
CNS photo/Giancarlo Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo

The Catholic Herald described the priests as 'British Priests', but did not reveal which priests were invited to sign the letter

More than 460 priests have signed a letter to the Catholic Herald defending the teaching of Humanae Vitae on human sexuality and its specific judgement that artificial contraception is “absolutely excluded” and “intrinsically wrong”.
The letter headed “We affirm Humanae Vitae’s noble vision” is timed to coincide with the 50^th anniversary of the release of Paul VI’s encyclical in 1968.
The encyclical affirmed “in harmony with the Church’s traditional teaching, the purity and beauty of the spousal act, always open to procreation and always unitive”.

The signatories argue that Humanae Vitae was prophetic. “Humanae Vitae predicted that if artificial contraception became widespread and commonly accepted by society then we would lose our proper understanding of marriage, the family, the dignity of the child and of women, and even a proper appreciation of our bodies and the gift of male and female,” they write. They acknowledge that many people at the time of publication rejected its message and warnings, finding them “difficult to accept and challenging to proclaim”.
However they argue that “Fifty years later, so much has unfolded in our society that has been to the detriment of human life and love”, so that “Many have come to appreciate again the wisdom of the Church’s teaching”.
Affirming the “noble vision of procreative love” that Humanae Vitae teaches and that “the Church has always taught”, the signatories advocate “discovering anew” the encyclical’s message, “not only in fidelity to the Gospel, but as a key to the healing and true development of our society”.
The signatories named in the print edition of the Catholic Herald are: Fr Robert Farrell, Fr Timothy Finigan, Fr David Marsden, Fr Francis Marsden, Fr John Saward, Fr David Palmer, Fr Andrew Pinsent, Mgr Gordon Read, Canon Luiz Ruscillo, and Fr Michael Woodgate. The names of 452 other priest signatories  are in the related story on the Catholic Herald website, catholicherald.co.uk
The Catholic Herald described the priests as “British Priests”, but did not reveal which priests were invited to sign the letter, or who organised its distribution.
It said the unnamed organisers “noted that the sheer number of signatories represents a significant shift in favour of the encyclical’s teachings”, quoting them as saying: “In 1968 very few priests spoke out confidently regarding this teaching and many dissented.”
There are around 5,200 priests in England and Wales and a little over 700 in Scotland.
The full letter reads:
In 1968 Pope Paul VI issued a re-affirmation of central aspects of the Church’s traditional teaching on human sexuality. The encyclical Humanae Vitae affirmed, in harmony with the Church’s traditional teaching, the purity and beauty of the spousal act, always open to procreation and always unitive.
Humanae Vitae predicted that if artificial contraception became widespread and commonly accepted by society then we would lose our proper understanding of marriage, the family, the dignity of the child and of women and even a proper appreciation of our bodies and the gift of male and female. The Holy Father warned that governments would begin to utilise coercive methods to control what is most private and intimate.
At the time of the publication of Humanae Vitae many rejected its message and its warnings. Many found the teaching that the use of contraception was in all cases ‘absolutely excluded’ and ‘intrinsically wrong’ difficult to accept and challenging to proclaim. Fifty years later so much has unfolded in our society that has been to the detriment of human life and love. Many have come to appreciate again the wisdom of the Church’s teaching.
As priests we desire to affirm on this 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae the noble vision of procreative love as the Catholic Church has always taught and understood it. We believe a proper ‘human ecology’, a rediscovery of the way of nature and respect for human dignity is essential for the future of our people, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. We propose discovering anew the message of Humanae Vitae, not only in fidelity to the Gospel, but as a key to the healing and true development of our society.