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GENERAL AUDIENCE OF 18 JULY 1984
Returning from Castel Gandolfo by helicopter on Wednesday, 18 July, Pope
John Paul II gave the second in his series of talks on "Humanae Vitae"
at the general audience in St Peter's Square. Following is our translation of
the Holy Father's address.
1. In the Encyclical Humanae Vitae we read: "The Church, in urging
men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by
its constant doctrine, teaches as absolutely required that in any use whatever
of marriage there must be no impairment of its natural capacity to procreate
human life" (HV, n. 11).
At the same time this same text considers and even emphasizes the subjective and
psychological dimension when it speaks of the significance, and precisely of the
"two significances of the marital act."
The significance becomes known with the rereading of the (ontological) truth
of the object. Through this rereading, the (ontological) truth enters, so to
speak, into the cognitive dimension—subjective
and psychological.
Humanae Vitae seems to draw our attention especially to this latter
dimension. Among other ways, this is also indirectly confirmed by the following
sentence: "We believe that our contemporaries are especially capable of
seeing that this teaching is in harmony with human reason" (HV n.
12).
Moral norm and its reason
2. That reasonable character does not only concern the truth of the
ontological dimension, namely, that which corresponds to the fundamental
structure of the marital act. It also concerns the same truth in the subjective
and psychological dimension, that is to say, it concerns the correct
understanding of the intimate structure of the marital act. It concerns the
adequate rereading of the significances corresponding to this structure and of
their inseparable connection, in view of a morally right behavior. Herein lies
precisely the moral norm and the corresponding regulation of human acts in the
sphere of sexuality. In this sense we say that the moral norm is identified with
the rereading, in truth, of the language of the body.
3. Therefore, the Encyclical Humanae Vitae therefore contains the moral
norm and its reason, or at least an examination of what constitutes the reason
for the norm. Moreover, since in the norm the moral value is expressed in a
binding way, it follows that acts in conformity with the norm are morally right,
while acts contrary to it are intrinsically illicit. The author of the
encyclical stresses that this norm belongs to the natural law, that is to
say, it is in accordance with reason as such. The Church teaches this norm,
although it is not formally (that is, literally) expressed in Sacred Scripture.
It does this in the conviction that the interpretation of the precepts of
natural law belongs to the competence of the Magisterium.
However, we can say more. Even if the moral law, formulated in this way in Humanae Vitae, is not found literally in Sacred Scripture, nonetheless, from the
fact that it is contained in tradition and—as
Pope Paul VI writes—has
been "very often expounded by the Magisterium" (HV n. 12) to
the faithful, it follows that this norm is in accordance with the sum total
of revealed doctrine contained in biblical sources (cf. HV n. 4).
Revealed by God
4. It is a question here not only of the sum total of the moral doctrine
contained in Sacred Scripture, of its essential premises and the general
character of its content. It is also a question of that fuller context to which
we have previously dedicated many analyses when speaking about the theology of
the body.
Precisely against the background of this full context it becomes evident that
the above mentioned moral norm belongs not only to the natural moral law, but
also to the moral order revealed by God. Also from this point of view, it
could not be different, but solely what is handed down by Tradition and the
Magisterium and, in our days, the Encyclical Humanae Vitae as a modern
document of this Magisterium.
Paul VI writes: "We believe that our contemporaries are especially capable
of seeing that this teaching is in harmony with human reason" (HV n.
12). We can add that they are capable also of seeing its profound conformity
with all that is transmitted by Tradition stemming from biblical sources. The
bases of this conformity are to be sought especially in biblical anthropology.
Moreover, we know the significance that anthropology has for ethics, that is,
for moral doctrine. It seems to be totally reasonable to look precisely in the
"theology of the body" for the foundation of the truth of the norms
that concern the fundamental problematic of man as "body": "The
two will become one flesh" (Gn 2:24).
Reread and reflect
5. The norm of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae concerns all men, insofar
as it is a norm of the natural law and is based on conformity with human reason
(when, it is understood, human reason is seeking truth). All the more does it
concern all believers and members of the Church, since the reasonable character
of this norm indirectly finds confirmation and solid support in the sum total of
the theology of the body. From this point of view we have spoken in previous
analyses about the ethos of the redemption of the body.
The norm of the natural law, based on this ethos, finds not only a new
expression, but also a fuller anthropological and ethical foundation in
the word of the Gospel and in the purifying and corroborating action of the Holy
Spirit.
These are all reasons why every believer and especially every theologian should
reread and ever more deeply understand the moral doctrine of the encyclical in
this complete context. The reflections we have been making here for some time
constitute precisely an attempt at this rereading.
Taken from: L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO - English Edition -- Reprinted with Permission -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana - The Holy See