Office of Adult Formation
“Contraception & The Catholic Church”
by Kristin Osenbach, BSW, FCP
Truth seems to be a matter of opinion these days. “Whatever I believe to be true is true.” To go against this
mindset of relativism which society is engulfed in today is difficult. Yet as Catholics, we are called to a deeper
reality. We believe truth comes from God and is revealed to us in and through Sacred Scripture and the
Traditions we hold dear. No matter how much I want to believe the sky is red will not change the fact that the sky
is blue. Deep inside we all desire truth because we know it sets us free to live, love and find real happiness.
“For the average couple, it is not a question of whether they should use contraception but merely which
contraceptive they should use. Contraception provides an easy and “safe” way for spouses to control their
family size and, we have been told, contraception is absolutely necessary for women’s “reproductive rights” and
to prevent the spread of disease. Contraception is the ‘responsible thing to do.’ It is simply today’s ‘common
sense.’” (Christopher West “The Contraception Question” pamphlet, Ascension Press, 2009)
Since the time of the Egyptians and maybe since the beginning of time, people have found various ways to
prevent conception. However, prior to 1930 all Christian denominations were united in their stance that
contraception is contrary to God’s design. That year, after much lobbying from Planned Parenthood founder
Margaret Sanger, the Anglican Church was the first to approve of the use of contraceptives for grave reasons
within marriage. Over the next thirty years, every other Christian denomination would follow suit except for the
Catholic Church.
In 1968, in response to the growing societal pressure being placed on the Catholic Church surrounding its
teaching against Contraception, Pope Paul VI wrote a letter to the world entitled “Humanae Vitae,” translated to
mean “A Challenge to Love.” Church leaders and laity alike all thought that the Catholic Church was finally
going to approve of the use of Contraception within marriage. However, Pope Paul VI shocked the world by
stating that the Church would not change its stance.
In his letter, Pope Paul VI reiterated church teaching regarding the two fold purpose of the marital embrace.
God created the Marital act to be both procreative or life giving and unitive or bonding. Pope Paul VI was a man
of great compassion for the needs of His people. He recognized in his letter that there are often serious physical,
financial, psychological or societal reasons why married couples may need to postpone having children for a
short or even indefinite period of time. He also reminded us of the powerful gift we have been given by God to be
able to bring new life into the world and asked married couples to have a loving, generous view of children. He
was calling us to recognize our Fertility as a great gift that allows married couples to literally “love” a soul into
being, one who never existed before and will never cease to exist for all eternity.
Pope Paul VI also predicted that widespread contraceptive use would lead to many societal problems.
Meanwhile, contraception and the Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s was promising better marriages, healthier
families, sexual freedom and a decrease in unwanted pregnancies. The past fifty years has allowed us to see the
“fruits” of these promises. 1 out of every 2 marriages now end in divorce. Marriage rates are down and
cohabitation is up, creating a greater risk for divorce. Since 1967, over 50 million babies have been aborted in
the US alone. The Center for Disease Control reports 19 million new STD infections every year. These statistics
are cause to make us stop and think that maybe we have been sold a “pill” of goods. Sadly, Pope Paul VI’s letter,
“Humanae Vitae,” is one of the most misunderstood papal letters of the twentieth century and the Church’s
teaching against contraception remains one of the most controversial.
Pope John Paul II took “Humanae Vitae” to the next level and gave us a deeper understanding of Church
teaching on this subject. He proposed that we ultimately need an understanding of the purpose of life and
married love to fully grasp why the Church cannot approve of the use of contraception. While still Bishop and
meditating in front of the Blessed Sacrament, the future Pope John Paul II was pondering the heartache so many
people face in their marriage relationships. While praying, he came across a Scripture passage from the Gospel
of Matthew. The Pharisees were questioning Jesus about Divorce and Jesus’ response was, “For your hardness
of heart Moses allowed you to divorce… but from the beginning, it was not so.” (Mt 19:8) John Paul II realized
that in the beginning God did not create us for heartbreak or divorce. He went back to the beginning to the Book
of Genesis in search of what went wrong. “In the beginning, God said: ‘Let us make man in Our image, after Our
likeness.’…God created man in His own image… male and female He created them.” (Gen. 1:26-27) “God looked
at everything He had made, and He found it very good.” (Gen.1:31)
Pope John Paul II realized that as male and female, in and through our bodies, we are made in God’s image
and likeness, and were created to love in the same way God loves. Everything was perfect in the Garden of Eden
until Adam and Eve fell short of loving God and one another. They turned their back on God, disobeyed Him and
Office of Adult Formation
“Contraception & The Catholic Church”
by Kristin Osenbach, BSW, FCP
fell victim to love’s counterfeit, lust. The opposite of love is not hatred but rather lust; using one another for our
own selfish gain rather than willing the good of the other.
Most would agree that we are not meant to be used by others. Rather, in our hearts we desire to love and to
be loved completely for who we are. Love often calls us to sacrifice our own wants and desires to do what is
best for our beloved. Pope John Paul II proposed that only when we love as God loves do we find the true
happiness and fulfillment in life and in our relationships that we all so deeply desire. Pope John Paul II proposed
that married couples are called to love one another as God loves in and through their bodies. The marital act
was created by God to be a physical sign of the husband and wife’s love for one another. This act is meant to be
the unspoken language of their true love and the super glue that renews, bonds and strengthens their
relationship for life.
Pope John Paul II summarized God’s love in four ways. He explained that God’s love is free, total, faithful
and fruitful. God’s love is free because He freely chose to create us and He freely chose to die for us. God gave
us free will because true love must be freely chosen, not forced. God’s love is total. Love is total when there are
no conditions attached. Christ gave Himself completely to us on the cross. He held nothing back. God loves us
unconditionally for who we are inside and out, despite our failings. God’s love is faithful. No matter what we
have done, no matter what we do, God will never abandon us. He is the hound of heaven, always seeking us out
and pursuing us. Finally, God’s love is Fruitful or life giving. He is constantly pouring out His love for us and
creating new life. God gives us everything good that we have in our lives. We can produce good fruit in the
world around us by living out our faith and being a witness to the truth. Married couples have the incredible and
unique ability to be fruitful by co-creating with God and bringing new life into the world.
In order for that couple to “image God”, the “language” their bodies speak must be one of a love that is free,
total, faithful and fruitful. When contraception enters a marriage relationship, that act falls short of God’s original
plan and the couple fall victim to the counterfeit. The couple cannot freely give of themselves to one another
because each spouse is withholding a part of themselves, namely their fertility. The act cannot be total because
the spouses reject the other’s gift of fertility. The use of contraception says, “I love everything about you, but
not your fertility.” Contraception places conditions on a love that is meant to be unconditional. Contraception is
not fruitful or open to the gift of life because it deliberately serves to prevent conception. Ultimately, the dual
purpose of the marital act, to be life giving and love giving, cannot be completely fulfilled.
Pope Paul VI’s call to “Responsible Parenthood,” was asking married couples to discern God’s plan for their
family size through prayer and a well formed conscience. The Church approved family planning “Rhythm
Method” used during the 1960’s was only about 80% effective in helping couples avoid a pregnancy and had no
applications for helping couples achieve a pregnancy. Pope Paul VI called on “Men of Science” to come up with
new and better ways for married couples to effectively plan their families in a way that would go hand in hand
with God’s plan for life and love. His call resulted in the modern methods of Natural Family Planning that are
used today.
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term used to describe various methods of family planning
approved by the Catholic Church. All of these methods are based on extensive scientific research and are
approximately 98-99% effective in avoiding pregnancy. They are also very effective in helping couples achieve a
pregnancy. NFP works by educating couples about their God given naturally occurring times of fertility and
infertility. The couple then uses that information to make responsible decisions regarding parenthood. They
engage in the Marital Act on days of fertility if they are trying to achieve a pregnancy and use days of natural
infertility if they are trying to avoid a pregnancy. NFP serves to strengthen marriage relationships, a fact that
plays out in its user’s almost nonexistent divorce rate of less than 3%.
Pope John Paul II reminded us that we are destined for greatness. He proposed that if and when we fall short
of truly loving, we too, like Adam and Eve, are left with the counterfeit which eventually leaves us unfulfilled,
lonely and brokenhearted. The good news is that Jesus came to restore our ability to love rightly. Jesus came to
right all the wrong that Original Sin brought into the world when Adam and Eve failed to love God and one
another. In His great and unceasing love for us, Jesus gave us the Church to lead, guide and protect us from
evil. Jesus commands us to love one another as He loves us. His commands are not meant to make us
miserable or enslave us but rather to liberate us and set us free. When husband and wife participate in the
marital embrace free of contraception, they become free to truly love. In truly loving and being loved by another,
we find ourselves caught up in God Himself and in the great joy and fulfillment we were meant to experience from
the moment of our own conception.