Respectfully, that’s actually less than correct. More accurately, Humane Vitae was a head fake by Pope Paul VI. Yes, it professed the true teachings if the Church, but did so with a wink and a nod.
It would be surprising to find if even one priest in any Catholic Church in the world who advised their congregations that practicing artificial birth control was a mortal sin after Humanae Vitae. Or for that matter, it would be equally surprising if a priest ever suggested that artificial birth control should be a matter that married Catholic couples should give any concern.
It would appear to me that Pope Paul VI’s approach was to allow the media and his synod on the topic to all but convince society that article birth control was soon going to become a done deal. Then, surprisingly, he issued an encyclical that held fast to Catholic teaching––but then never said another word to anyone about the encyclical. Consequently, his bishops and priests remained silent as well. Today virtually all modern Catholics belief that is the teaching of the Church notwithstanding Humane Vitae. So any action that Pope Francis may take in the coming months will change nothing.
But in light of Pope Francis’ planned Canonization of the man, he has to first clear up that thorny issue about the encyclical, and that’s what this is all about. Both of these Modernists embrace the exact same goal of allowing and even encouraging the human population to destroy itself, they just have different approaches because of the circumstances and the times.
Thank you for thoughtful post. Even if Paul V1 Was head faking, the continuity of teaching is present in the Encyclical. Remember the future JPII was present at the Council and the heroic intervention of Ford and Grisez at the BC Commission were both Providential.
The big issue is the confusion in the Church caused by the use of the word mortal sin and the deformation of the concept of conscience, neitherc ever remedied.
BTW. I had a dear Jesuit friend present at Councul and BC commission. He worked tirelessly to promote H.V.