Modernists put Church teaching on contraception into play. Is Rome backing away from the pill encyclical?

Cardinal Zuppi brings other formulations into play

The encyclical "Humanae vitae" was already at odds with the zeitgeist in 1968. The Church rejected contraceptives and saw sexual union, love and procreation as one. Now there is a movement in Rome to break away from it.

In the Vatican, the "Pontifical Academy for Life" is the place where medical doctors, philosophers and theologians are supposed to debate bioethical issues and draw up recommendations for the Church's magisterium. But since Pope Francis made Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia head of the institution, a wind of change has been blowing there.

Unlike most of his predecessors, Paglia emphasises a willingness to engage in dialogue with those who question the Church's classical doctrinal positions on many controversial issues - even on topics such as artificial insemination or euthanasia. He sometimes appoints scientists to the Academy who represent liberal positions on bioethics.

"My body belongs to me."

And so to the recent Roman congress entitled "'My body belongs to me.' Humanae vitae - the audacity of an encyclical on sexuality and procreation" not the Pontifical Academy but a conservative foundation bearing the name of the Academy's first president - Jerome Lejeune. Paglia was not invited as a speaker; the keynote speaker was the Prefect of the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Luis Ladaria.

Like John Paul II (1978-2005) before him, Ladaria described the reproductive encyclical "Humanae vitae" of 1968 as prophetic - and filled it out with content. With a view to recent developments in the field of transgender medicine and transhumanism, he explained that after 55 years, the encyclical is proving to be far-sighted right now. For its anthropology assumes that there is an inseparable connection between the physical-mental union of two people and procreation. Freedom and nature complement each other in this view of humanity.

Life is not seen as a gift, but as a product

In contrast, then as now, is a way of thinking that sees the human being as an autonomous subject who can freely construct the form and purpose of his or her own sexuality. The attitude that "my body belongs to me" reduces the body to a material object that can be manipulated and changed if desired. Having accepted "sexuality without procreation", there is now procreation without sexuality. Life is no longer seen as a gift, but as a product.

This anthropology, Ladaria continues, can also be found in the postmodern ideologies of gender thinking and transhumanism. The identity of the person with his or her body is denied; instead, it is claimed that the person identifies himself or herself through his or her gender orientation and can therefore adapt the body.

Cyborg beings

The culmination of this thinking is transhumanism, which ultimately wants to create a cyborg being shaped by biotechnology that is no longer subject to natural conditions. The only possible answer to these ideologies is the rediscovery of the integral anthropology of the person, as envisaged in the encyclical "Humanae vitae".

The Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, whose greeting was read out at the Congress, set a clearly different tone. He emphasised that the widely misunderstood message of "Humanae vitae" had led many believers to regard the Church's statements on moral teaching as irrelevant or even as an obstacle to communicating the faith. This "gap" is widening and should not be overlooked.

New discussions

In the run-up to the World Synod, the question had also been raised whether the directives on this subject "in their current formulation" corresponded to the faith of the faithful and how they could be a help on people's faith journey. Theologians were also currently debating possibilities that could open up new perspectives. He welcomed this lively debate, Zuppi said in his greeting.

Whether there will actually be "new formulations" in the church's sexual morals in the near future, as Zuppi hinted, is not yet clear. After the greeting was read out, there was long applause. Much will now depend on who succeeds the 79-year-old Ladaria at the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (NB still tagged as CDF)

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