Catholic Medical Quarterly

The Journal of the Catholic Medical Association (UK)

Building knowledge. Building faith. Protecting the vulnerable.

Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 62(4) November 2012

In this issue

Humanae Vitae - 45 years on

2013 marks 45 years since the promulgation of Humanae Vitae. So we decided to use this edition of the CMQ to discuss some of the issues that arise from Humanae Vitae.

When published, Humanae Vitae was a controversial and prophetic document, written by a man of great faith. He pleaded for the science underneath Humanae Vitae to be developed. We see that in 45 years, Natural Family Planning has developed enormously, is effective and acceptable to many couples. Sadly we see too that contraception has led to many problems, including population decline in Western Countries, which now rely upon immigration, as well as very high rates of divorce, illegitimacy and other societal catastrophes.

We fully recognise that many have struggled with Humanae Vitae and its message. But we also believe that, 45 years on, Humanae Vitae is more clearly evidence based than it was in 1967 and we hope that this issue of the CMQ illustrates some of that.

We promise more for future editions. But as we enter 2013, we cannot express this better than St Padre Pio, who wrote to Pope Paul VI in 1968, just before he died.

So we publish his last letter to Paul VI in this journal.