The Personalist Meaning of Childbearing

Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 60 (1968), pp. 481–503. English translation, Paulist Press, New York.

The official English translation of this work has been made available by Ignatius Press, San Francisco and in an April, 1987 supplement of Ethics & Medics.

In particular, the edition of Wednesday, March 11, 1987.

Just what this precise link is will be discussed more fully below.

Previously on the pages of this review I have developed this theme. See “Contraception and the Christian Institution,” Linacre Quarterly, 46 (1979) pp. 264–78. Editorial revision, however, replaced the word “intuition” in the original title with “institution.”

The New York Times, March 11, 1987, p. A1.

Theological Studies, 45 (1984): 102.

See Haring Bernard “The Inseparability of the Unitive-Procreative Functions of the Marital Act” in Contraception: Authority and Dissent, ed. Curran Charles E. (New York: Herder & Herder, 1969), pp. 176–92, esp. 180. Charles Curran, for his part, decries the encyclical's “physicalism.” See his “Natural Law and Moral Theology” in the same collection, pp. 151-75, esp. pp. 159f. See also his Dissent In and For the Church with Robert E. Hunt (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1969), pp. 155-95, esp. 162-3.

“Majority Papal Commission Report” in The Catholic Case for Contraception, Callahan Daniel , ed. (Toronto: The Macmillan Co., 1969), p. 158. The pontiff, of course, rejected the advice of the majority on this commission and instead took the “minority” point of view. Cf. “Humanae Vitae,” 6.

“Majority Papal Commission Report” in The Catholic Case for Contraception, Callahan Daniel , ed. (Toronto: The Macmillan Co., 1969) p. 161.

Novak Michael “Frequent, Even Daily, Communion” in The Catholic Case for Contraception, p. 95.

The case of cosmetic surgery is somewhat different. It can be used to correct real deformities or eliminate unsightly blemishes. At the same time, it can be used for more venal reasons, e.g., for greater personal beauty, with moral impunity.

“Humanae Vitae”, 12.

“Humanae Vitae”, 11.

“Humanae Vitae”, 12.

“Humanae Vitae”, 17.

A notable exception to this general rule can be found in the writings of St. John Chrysostom, especially in his Homily 20 on Ephesians 5: 22-33 and Homily 12 on Colossians 4: 18. For these and other writings, see Chrysostom St. John On Marriage and Family Life (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986).

See, above all, his works, In Defense of Purity (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1970) and Marriage: The Mystery of Faithful Love (Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 1984). The German original of the former work, Reinheit and Jungfraulichkeit, appeared in 1925 and was first translated into English in 1930. The latter work, Die Ehe, dates from a 1923 lecture to a Congress of the Catholic Academic Association and first appeared in English in 1942.

The Encyclical Humanae Vitae: A Sign of Contradiction (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1969), also a work in translation.

Smysl lyubvi, Sobranie sochinen ii (Collected works) (Bruxelles: Foyer Oriental Chrétien, 1966), VII: 3–60. The work was originally published in installments (1892-94) in Voprosy filosofii i psikhologii (Questions of philosophy and psychology). English translation (West Stockbridge, MA: The Lindisfarne Press, 1985).

See our critique in “Verso una comprensione ortodossa dell' Humanae vitae: Qualche apporto dalla storia del pensiero religioso russo,” Unitas, Italian edition: 39(1984), pp. 46–49.

This is the question von Hildebrand does successfully pose and answer. See, e.g., The Encyclical Humanae Vitae. … pp. 29–34.

O rahstve i svobode cheloveka (Paris: YMCA Press, 1931), p. 185. English translation, Slavery and Freedom (New York: Scribners, 1939), pp. 224. For our critique of Berdyaev on this and other scores, see “Verso una comprensione ortodossa ….” 49-51 and “Berdyaev and the Relation of Sex, Love and Marriage,” Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, 60(1986), pp. 245-52.

O rabstve …, 192 (Eng. trans., 233).

Evdokimov Paul The Sacrament of Love (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1985), pp. 174–80. The original work (in French) dates to 1943 and was enlarged in 1962.

Meyendorff John Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1975), pp. 65–70.

Zaphiris Chrysostom “The Morality of Contraception: An Eastern Orthodox Opinion,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 11 (1974), pp. 677–90.

Patrinacos Nicon D. The Orthodox Church on Birth Control (Garwood, NJ: The Graphic Arts Press, 1975).

Costantelos, Demetrios, Marriage, Sexuality and Celibacy: A Greek Orthodox Perspective (Minneapolis, MN: Light and Life Publishing, Co., 1975).

Harakas Stanley S. For the Health of Body and Soul: An Eastern Orthodox Introduction to Bioethics (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1980). This booklet contains the author's articles for the Encyclopedia of Bioethics (New York: The Free Press, 1978).

For a thorough overview, see Petra' Basilio , “Questioni di morale coniugale: posizione ufficialer della Chiesa ortodossa.” Unitas, Italian edition, 35(1980): 173–92, 251-79.

See the comments of Petra', “Questioni di morale coniugale: posizione ufficialer della Chiesa ortodossa.” Unitas 184–85. Also, see Francis Edgecumbe, “Orthodox Reactions to “Humanae Vitae,” Eastern Churches Review, II (1968-69), p. 305.

Costantelos is an exception. Costantelos, op. cit., 63, 65.

For treatments of this theme, see May William E. “A Catholic Understanding of Sexuality,” Faith and Reason, 6 (1980), pp. 99–119 and his Contraception and Catholicism (Front Royal, VA: Christendom Publications. 1983).

Majority Papal Commission Report,” op. cit., p. 16.

Kosnik Anthony , Carroll William , Cunningham Agnes Human Sexuality: New Directions in American Catholic Thought (New York: Paulist Press, 1977): p. 83.

Kosnik Anthony , Carroll William , Cunningham Agnes Human Sexuality: New Directions in American Catholic Thought (New York: Paulist Press, 1977)

“Humanae Vitae,” 14.

See “Instruction on Respect for Human Life,” Part I, 1.

See “Instruction on Respect for Human Life,”, Part I, 4.

See “Instruction on Respect for Human Life,”, Part I, 5.

See “Instruction on Respect for Human Life,”, Part II, A, 1.

See “Instruction on Respect for Human Life,”, Part II, A, 2.

It should be noted that for a masturbatory act to succeed, the person involved must typically harbor impure thoughts and indulge in sexual fantasy.

“Instruction on Respect for Human Life,” Part II, B, 5.

Pope Pius XII, Address to the Fourth International Congress of Catholic Doctors, Sept. 29, 1949, “Acta Apostolicae Sedis” 41 (1949), pp. 557–61.

“Acta Apostolicae Sedis,” 43(1951) p. 850. The integral text is on pp. 835-854.

Chief among these is the danger of there becoming a “breeder class” of women who might bear children for the “professional class” of women.

Numbers as high as 20% of married couples being unable to bear children have been cited. See, e.g., Wakefield John C. Artful Childmaking (St. Louis, MO: Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral Research and Education Center, 1978), p. 148.

The “Instruction” specifically draws attention to these in Part II, B, 8.

The “Instruction” specifically draws attention to these in Part II, B, 8.

The “Instruction” specifically draws attention to these in Part II, B, 8, citing “Familiaris Consortio,” 14: “Acta Apostolicae Sedis”, 74(1982), p. 97.

Physicians medical researchers have already done this in an admirable way in regard to Natural Family Planning (NFP). For a discussion of NFP, see our “Pastoral Considerations for Natural Family Planning,” Pastoral Life, 27: 11(1978), pp. 9–14.

“Instruction on Respect for Human Life”, Part II, B, 6.

For fuller explanations of these means, see Albert S. Moraczewski, “Marriage and Assisted Procreation,” Ethics & Medics, 12: 10(1987): 3–4. An earlier variant of TOT, namely LTOT (low tubal ovum transfer) also seems acceptable. In this latter case, the egg is placed in the fallopian tube near the uterus.