A Wisdom Archive on Humanae Vitae

The encyclical opens with the observation that circumstances often dictate that married couples should limit the number of children, and that the sexual act between husband and wife is still worthy even if it can be foreseen not to result in procreation. Nevertheless, it is held that the sexual act must "retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life", and the "direct interruption of the gener ...

Read more here: » Humanae Vitae: Encyclopedia II - Humanae Vitae - Summary

There had been a long-standing general Christian prohibition on contraception and abortion, with such church fathers as Clement of Alexandria and Saint Augustine condemning the practices. At the 1930 Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Communion changed its position by allowing for contraception in limited circumstances. Every other mainline Protestant denomination has since modified its view on contraception to one of approval. In a partial reaction, Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical Casti Connubii (On Christian Marriage) in 1930, reaff ...

Read more here: » Humanae Vitae: Encyclopedia II - Humanae Vitae - History

A Cafeteria Catholic is a derogatory term used to describe certain members of the Catholic community that selectively subscribe to only certain parts of the faith as a cafeteria goer would pick and choose only those items that appeal to him or her. The term has been in use since the issuance of Humanae Vitae, an official document which forbade practicing Catholics from using any form of birth control that was not based on the rhythm method or abstinence. Many Catholics have ignored such pronouncements yet maintain their connection to the Church. Such attitudes have been described by Conservative Catholi ... Including:

• Cafeteria Catholic - External link

Read more here: » Cafeteria Catholic: Encyclopedia - Cafeteria Catholic

9 decrees: Ad Gentes (Mission Activity) Apostolicam Actuositatem (Lay People) Christus Dominus (Bishops in the Church) Inter Mirifica (Social Communication) Optatam Totius (Priestly Training) Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Eastern Churches) Perfectæ Caritatis (Renewal of Religious Life) Presbyterorum Ordinis (Life of Priests) Unitatis Redintegratio (Ecumenism) 3 declarations: Including:

• Second Vatican Council - Background
• Second Vatican Council - Sessions
• Second Vatican Council - First Session Autumn 1962
• Second Vatican Council - Second Session Autumn 1963
• Second Vatican Council - Third Session Autumn 1964
• Second Vatican Council - Fourth Session Autumn 1965
• Second Vatican Council - Issues
• Second Vatican Council - The Church
• Second Vatican Council - Liturgy
• Second Vatican Council - Scripture and Divine Revelation
• Second Vatican Council - The Bishops
• Second Vatican Council - Criticism of the Council within the Catholic Church

Read more here: » Second Vatican Council: Encyclopedia - Second Vatican Council

In biology, procreation is the act by which organisms reproduce. A more detailed treatment of reproduction in general, or sexual reproduction in particular, are in those articles. In some systems of ethics, sexual intercourse with procreative intent is often treated differently from intercourse absent procreative intent (in other words, intercourse in which birth control is practiced). The Catholic Church, for instance, proscribes intercourse without procreative intent in which artificial birth control is employed (see Humanae ...

Read more here: » Procreation: Encyclopedia - Procreation

Casti Connubii was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope Pius XI in 1930. It stressed the sanctity of marriage, prohibited Roman Catholics from using any form of artificial birth control, and reaffirmed the prohibition on abortion. It also explained the authority of Church doctrine on moral matters, and advocated the cooperation of civil governments with the Church. Casti Connubii - Sanctity of marriage. Early Catholic doctrine considered complete sexual abstinence to be the most holy state for huma ... Including:

• Casti Connubii - Sanctity of marriage
• Casti Connubii - Birth control
• Casti Connubii - Abortion

Read more here: » Casti Connubii: Encyclopedia - Casti Connubii

Pope Paul's most controversial decision occurred on July 24, 1968, when in his encyclical Humanæ Vitæ, "Of Human Life", he rejected the recommendations of a commission established by John XXIII and reaffirmed the Catholic Church's condemnation of artificial birth control. His decision was unexpected, as many in the Catholic world expected the Church to accept with some reservations the technological advances that had produced the contraceptive pill. In subsequent decades, many Catholics opted to use birth control in spite of church ...

Read more here: » Pope Paul VI: Encyclopedia II - Pope Paul VI - Humanæ Vitæ

Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit five continents, and was the most travelled pope in history to that time, earning the nickname the Pilgrim Pope. In 1970 he was the target of an assassination attempt at Manila International Airport in the Philippines. The assailant, a Bolivian Surrealist painter named Benjamín Mendoza y Amor Flores, lunged toward Pope Paul with a kris, but was subdued. Although the Vatican denied it, subsequent evidence suggests Pope Paul ...

Read more here: » Pope Paul VI: Encyclopedia II - Pope Paul VI - The Pilgrim Pope

Pope Paul VI caused considerable surprise in 1968 when, to the consternation of his aides, he apparently denied rumours that he was homosexual. Though rumours had circulated periodically in anti-papal and anti-Catholic publications as to Paul's sexual orientation, with suggestions of a past relationship while he was an archbishop with a priest who had served as his secretary, when what Paul called the "scandalous rumours" began to feature in some elements of the Italian media, he made the controversial choice of issuing a public denial. It w ...

Read more here: » Pope Paul VI: Encyclopedia II - Pope Paul VI - Denial of homosexual rumours