Contraception and Demographics
Since the contraceptive pill flooded Western markets, the populations of Europe and the United States have seen a staggering decrease in fertility. At the time of its introduction, the Catholic Church was one of the only voices brave and powerful enough to speak out against its use, knowing full well the long-term repercussions; for this they were subjected to the most extreme venom and the slur of "misogynists" was ferociously hurled at them by feminists and their anti-Western liberals.
This week marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s most memorable and controversial encyclical letter, dealing with the “regulation of birth,” and many Catholics are taking advantage of the date to commemorate a “prophetic” teaching.
Catholic speaker and author Terry Polakovic wrote Wednesday that like many other women, she initially rejected the teaching of Paul’s encyclical Humanae Vitae “before really knowing anything about it,” something she now regrets.
Whilst we welcome her realisation that the Church was right all along, the question remains why, at the time, more people did not heed the voice of one of the oldest and sagacious institutions on earth?
Cardinal José Gomez, the archbishop of Los Angeles, agrees that Paul’s encyclical was prophetic, noting that much of what the pontiff warned of 50 years ago has happened.
The fallout to the sexual revolution, foreseen by Paul VI, has included everything from “rampant divorce, infidelity and pornography, to test-tube babies, widespread abortion, ‘demographic winter,’ and the total confusion about gender, sexuality and the human person that we see in our society today,” he said in a recent tweet.
As Christians it is our duty to “be fruitful and multiply.” Those societies that reject the teachings of the faith will be relegated to the dustbin of history!
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