Unearthed Vatican Letter to Bishops Emphasizes Choice of Defiance

Wow, I knew this happened, but the documentation makes it crystal clear:

During the tumultuous years of the 1960's Pope Paul VI published a controversial encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which addressed the issue of birth control in light of the arrival of the birth control pill.

Today LifeSiteNews.com is publishing a recently unearthed letter which was sent to Bishops with a pre-release copy of the encyclical. The letter, dated July 19, 1968, is signed by the late Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani, who was then-Secretary of the Vatican Secretariat of State.

The outright defiance of many priests and even bishops to Pope Paul VI's encyclical - which restated and reinforced the Church's long-time opposition to artificial birth control - is even graver in light of the carefully worded letter the bishops received specifically pointing to the urgent need for unity on the matter.

[Read more about the letter.]

[Read the actual text of the letter.]

Meanwhile? Are Catholics ready to hear about the Church's teaching?

Maybe not everwhere, but sometimes ... they applaud.

Is anything different 40 years later? Yes.

A particularly sad and encompassing example of dissent is presented by Fr. Richard McBrien (of the University of Notre Dame) upon the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae.

He cites the same, tired arguments that have been circulated against the teaching about contraception, and ends with this question: "Is the situation any different today, on the fortieth anniversary?"

My answer is yes, the situation is very different, but you, sir, sadly, are not.

(And that difference is not, I might add, in the teaching, but in the reception of it by the people of God - particularly my own generation - and the proven veracity of the predictions that document made.)

Looking Ahead: Review + Interview for the Human Experience

This is a very busy week for me, but I will be sitting down at some point to sketch out a brief review of the Human Experience by Grassroots Films, which I had the privilege of seeing at an advance screening this weekend.

I'll also be posting excerpts from an interview I was able to conduct afterwards with Joseph Campo (Producer/Cinematography) and Michael Campo (Associate Producer/Writer/Actor).

I was very impressed by these gentleman and by the rough cut of the movie that I saw. Grassroots Films is best known for producing the award-winning vocations video Fishers of Men for the USCCB.

I've posted previously on this film and production company here:

• Human Experience advance screening this weekend
• The Next Big Thing: "The Human Experience" (Megapost)

In the meantime, the Dominican Friars who generously hosted the screenings have a post covering the events.