Bishop Emeritus Victor Galeone, formerly of St. Augustine, Fla., delivered a spirited defense of Pope Paul VI’s prescient 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae.
To a roomful of couples, parents and sometimes squirming children at the Cathedral Atrium Aug. 10., Bishop Galeone spoke about natural family planning as a method to remain true to the church’s doctrine against contraception. He quoted Pope Paul VI extensively from the encyclical itself.
“There is an inseparable link between the two meanings of the marriage act: the unitive meaning (love-giving) and the procreative meaning (life-giving). This connection was established by God himself, and man is not permitted to break it on his own initiative.” (H.V., no. 12)
At the Mass preceding the Humanae Vitae Dinner, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki said it is dangerous to reject the teaching of Pope Paul VI and distort the concepts of truth and freedom to a concept of truth being whatever the individual believes it should be.
“Paul VI was a visionary in this regard when he warned that disregarding the church’s teaching on the truths of the responsible regulation of birth would lead to a lowering of morals, marital infidelity and a declining respect for the dignity of women in our culture. (H.V., no. 17) Statistics and our lived experience bear witness to the fact that these predictions were indeed prophetic as we see all of these realities in a disturbing way in our present time,” Bishop Paprocki said.
Bishop Paprocki’s words were picked up later at the dinner when Bishop Galeone referenced St. Augustine who wrote in The City of God that the world was comprised of two communities differentiated by the object of their love: God above self or love of self above the love of God.
“Those two cities are still with us today. In one case darkness and death prevail, in the other, lights and life. Death or life, the choice is ours.”
The Humanae Vitae Mass and gathering is an annual event to offer families, consecrated religious, couples and single men and women support as they develop the virtue of marital chastity.
“We want it to be a real experience of diocesan-wide community so that living out one’s marriage according to the truth of God’s plan for married love is an exciting, hope-filled endeavor,” said Carlos Tejeda, director of the Office for Marriage and Family Life which sponsors the annual event.