Humanae Vitae 50 Years Jubilee Anniversary 2018

Humanae Vitae Encyclical -  Link  for 'Of Human Life' - read the prophetic  letter from Pope Paul VI expressing the beauty, truth and goodness of God's gift and plan for love and life.

Study Guide for Humanae Vitae - Link to Read by Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

...we are still living in the moment of Humanae Vitae (issued on July 25, 1968), and of the challenge it presents to the world.

Humanae Vitae does ...identify the key problem of our day ...the myth that we can be God. Pope Paul writes at the beginning of the document, "But the most remarkable development of all is to be seen in man's stupendous progress in the domination and rational organization of the forces of nature to the point that he is endeavoring to extend this control over every aspect of his own life -- over his body, over his mind and emotions, over his social life, and even over the laws that regulate the transmission of life” (n.2).

The Pope here is painting a wider vision of the problem. We think everything belongs to us, but the reality is that we belong to God. "Humanae Vitae" means "Of human life." Human life came from God, belongs to God, and goes back to God. "You are not your own," St. Paul declares. "You have been bought, and at a price" (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Sex and having children are aspects of a whole cluster of realities that make up our lives and activities. We suffer from the illusion that all of these activities belong to us. “This is my life, my body, my choice.

...This is a reality that is bigger than all of us. It is the self-giving which starts in the Trinity, and is revealed in a startling way on the Cross, and then challenges each of us in our daily interaction with others, with God, and with our own eternal destiny. It is so real and so big that it is scary. That's why so many today are afraid of the full reality and meaning of sex. That's why Pope Paul VI wrote Humanae Vitae.

That is also why our Priests for Life pastoral team wrote this Study Guide. It is our daily prayer that this effort will lead many believers to understand, embrace, and proclaim the beautiful truth of human life.