Says ‘Humanae Vitae’ was ‘lucid and farsighted’

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In the face of “disquieting developments in genetic engineering,” Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on human life and birth control was “lucid and farsighted,” said the editor of the Vatican newspaper. Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of L’Osservatore Romano, wrote a front-page editorial July 25 marking the 40th anniversary of “Humanae Vitae” (“Of Human Life”).

The encyclical “gave rise to unprecedented opposition within the church,” which he said was due to many factors “from the complex cultural climate of those years to the enormous economic interests involved.” Vian said the encyclical, which was “mocked as ‘the encyclical on the pill,'” actually furthered the positive teaching on marriage developed by the Second Vatican Council. “But despite this, it was submerged in polemics,” he wrote.

The encyclical affirmed “the principle of respect for the laws of nature and for a conscientious and ethically responsible parenthood,” he said.