--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded instead…" description: "\"“In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded instead with an encylical Humanae Vitae. The encyclical reaffirmed the Church's rejectionist stance: Contraceptives we..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/jack-holland-48495_contraceptive_in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-w_2607217.jpg" --- # In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded instead with an encylical… ![“In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded instead with an encylical Humanae Vitae. The encyclical reaffirmed the Church's rejectionist stance: Contraceptives were evil and against God's law...In the West, many if not most Catholics ignored the ban. For them, however painful, the decision of whether to…” quote by Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/jack-holland-48495_contraceptive_in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-w_2607217.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/jack-holland-48495_contraceptive_in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-w_2607217.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/jack-holland-48495_contraceptive_in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-w_2607217.jpg) > ““In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded instead with an encylical Humanae Vitae. The encyclical reaffirmed the Church's rejectionist stance: Contraceptives were evil and against God's law...In the West, many if not most Catholics ignored the ban. For them, however painful, the decision of whether to conceive or not was rarely a life-or-death issue. Unfortunately, for women in the poorest parts of the world, it often is. There, the right to choose whether or not to conceive was vitally linked to a woman's prospects for freeing herself and her family from poverty. It is in this context that the inherent and deeply rooted misogyny of the Church has taken its greatest toll on the lives of women. Pope John Paul II spent a considerable part of his pontificate propagandizing on behalf of a doctrine that tells ppor and illiterate women that to use a condom is the moral equivalent of murder and that each time they use contraceptives they render Christ's sacrifice on the cross 'in vain'. He said:'no personal or social circumstances have ever been able, or will be able, to rectify the moral wrong of the contraceptive act.”” [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques the Catholic Church’s strict anti‑contraception stance, highlighting its harmful impact on women in poverty who lack reproductive autonomy. **In simple terms:** Church doctrine harms poor women’s choices. Key Takeaway Advocate reproductive rights. Themes religion gender poverty ethics health Mood critical concerned Type political ethical social When to use this quote - global health policy - family planning - women’s rights - development aid Key Concepts misogyny authority social justice Questions to Reflect On - How should doctrine adapt to real‑world suffering? - What role should religious institutions play in public health? A Different Perspective The Church argues moral absolutes ignore complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Condom Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condom-moral-1996068/) [Contraceptive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contraceptive/) [Contraceptives Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contraceptives-evil-1996067/) [John paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/john-paul/) [Pope John Paul Ii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pope-john-paul-ii/) [Stance Contraceptives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stance-contraceptives-1996070/) [Wrong Contraceptive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-contraceptive-1996069/) ## Related quotes > [The best contraceptive in the world is a good education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/the-best-contraceptive-in-the-world-is-a-good-education/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [“Some men would not still be HIV negative or alive, if they had managed to sleep with some of the women with whom they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-men-would-not-still-be-hiv-negative-or-alive-if-they-had-managed/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Ugliness is nature's contraceptive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-benford/ugliness-is-nature-s-contraceptive/) [Gregory Benford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-benford/) > [Contraceptive methods are like putting a premium on vice. It makes men and women reckless... As it is, man has sufficiently degraded woman for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/contraceptive-methods-are-like-putting-a-premium-on-vice-it-makes-men/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“He suggests that contraceptive substances be added to basic foods… Should a couple wish to have a child, they'd go to special stores to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/he-suggests-that-contraceptive-substances-be-added-to-basic-foods/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [She asked me what type of contraceptive I use. Underwear. Keeping it on prevents pregnancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/she-asked-me-what-type-of-contraceptive-i-use-underwear-keeping-it-on/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“Millions of deaths would not have happened if it weren’t for the consumption of alcohol. The same can be said about millions of births.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/millions-of-deaths-would-not-have-happened-if-it-weren-t-for-the/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [And we can't discharge that moral responsibility by passing out contraceptives. Contraceptives have been circulating all over Uganda, and it is not clear how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-rivers/and-we-can-t-discharge-that-moral-responsibility-by-passing-out/) [Eugene Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-rivers/) > [The most effective contraceptive will not start off use as directed so expect the unexpected you chose now accepted it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franko/the-most-effective-contraceptive-will-not-start-off-use-as-directed/) [Franko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franko/) > [Contraceptive protection is something every woman must have access to, to control her own destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/contraceptive-protection-is-something-every-woman-must-have-access-to/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [“A seemingly simple task like taking a bath or wearing a condom feels like multitasking to someone who suffers from hemiplegia or has only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-seemingly-simple-task-like-taking-a-bath-or-wearing-a-condom-feels/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“The assumption that fertility control should be manipulated by authorities without respect for the wishes and dignity of individuals still exists. We see this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/the-assumption-that-fertility-control-should-be-manipulated-by/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“Of course, the methods for human population control are enormously controversial. One contraceptive measure seems to be humane and acceptable: If you teach calculus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-s-deffeyes/of-course-the-methods-for-human-population-control-are-enormously/) [Kenneth S. Deffeyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-s-deffeyes/) > [The greatest contraceptive one can have in the developing world is the knowledge that your children will live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-nyerere/the-greatest-contraceptive-one-can-have-in-the-developing-world-is/) [Julius Nyerere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-nyerere/) > [“Biologists invent the contraceptive pill – and the Pope doesn’t know what to do about it. Computer scientists develop the Internet – and rabbis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/biologists-invent-the-contraceptive-pill-and-the-pope-doesn-t-know/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More by Jack Holland > [“It may seem somewhat ironic that the Catholic Church finds itself advocating the same position against abortion as its severest Christian critics, the Protestant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/it-may-seem-somewhat-ironic-that-the-catholic-church-finds-itself/) [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) > [“The right to choose is always the key to progress for women, as it is for men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/the-right-to-choose-is-always-the-key-to-progress-for-women-as-it-is/) [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) > [“Plato and Aristotle…survived to become the twin pillars of philosophic and scientific thinking in the Western world, supporting the massive edifice of Christianity. Plato's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/plato-and-aristotle-survived-to-become-the-twin-pillars-of/) [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) > [“The idea of women having sex without risking pregnancy is deeply disturbing to the vision of women's role that Western civilization has inherited from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/the-idea-of-women-having-sex-without-risking-pregnancy-is-deeply/) [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) > [“Ultimately...woman's equality is not derived from any theory of human nature but rather from concepts of justice, equality and the integrity of the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/ultimately-woman-s-equality-is-not-derived-from-any-theory-of-human/) [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) > [“Our recent history should have made one thing clear. Women's rights are human rights. Any foreign policy that fails to recognize this effectively dehumanizes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/our-recent-history-should-have-made-one-thing-clear-women-s-rights/) [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) > [“Tertullian thunders at women in the manner of the God of the Old Testament who once threatened to make their hair fall out. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/tertullian-thunders-at-women-in-the-manner-of-the-god-of-the-old/) [Jack Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) [Explore all 8 Jack Holland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/) ## More Contraceptive quotes > [The best contraceptive in the world is a good education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/the-best-contraceptive-in-the-world-is-a-good-education/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [The greatest contraceptive one can have in the developing world is the knowledge that your children will live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-nyerere/the-greatest-contraceptive-one-can-have-in-the-developing-world-is/) [Julius Nyerere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-nyerere/) > [“Of course, the methods for human population control are enormously controversial. One contraceptive measure seems to be humane and acceptable: If you teach calculus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-s-deffeyes/of-course-the-methods-for-human-population-control-are-enormously/) [Kenneth S. Deffeyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-s-deffeyes/) > [“The assumption that fertility control should be manipulated by authorities without respect for the wishes and dignity of individuals still exists. We see this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/the-assumption-that-fertility-control-should-be-manipulated-by/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“A seemingly simple task like taking a bath or wearing a condom feels like multitasking to someone who suffers from hemiplegia or has only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-seemingly-simple-task-like-taking-a-bath-or-wearing-a-condom-feels/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Contraceptive protection is something every woman must have access to, to control her own destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/contraceptive-protection-is-something-every-woman-must-have-access-to/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [The most effective contraceptive will not start off use as directed so expect the unexpected you chose now accepted it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franko/the-most-effective-contraceptive-will-not-start-off-use-as-directed/) [Franko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franko/) > [And we can't discharge that moral responsibility by passing out contraceptives. Contraceptives have been circulating all over Uganda, and it is not clear how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-rivers/and-we-can-t-discharge-that-moral-responsibility-by-passing-out/) [Eugene Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-rivers/) > [“Millions of deaths would not have happened if it weren’t for the consumption of alcohol. The same can be said about millions of births.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/millions-of-deaths-would-not-have-happened-if-it-weren-t-for-the/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [She asked me what type of contraceptive I use. Underwear. Keeping it on prevents pregnancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/she-asked-me-what-type-of-contraceptive-i-use-underwear-keeping-it-on/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“He suggests that contraceptive substances be added to basic foods… Should a couple wish to have a child, they'd go to special stores to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/he-suggests-that-contraceptive-substances-be-added-to-basic-foods/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Contraceptive methods are like putting a premium on vice. It makes men and women reckless... As it is, man has sufficiently degraded woman for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/contraceptive-methods-are-like-putting-a-premium-on-vice-it-makes-men/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Ugliness is nature's contraceptive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-benford/ugliness-is-nature-s-contraceptive/) [Gregory Benford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-benford/) > [“Some men would not still be HIV negative or alive, if they had managed to sleep with some of the women with whom they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-men-would-not-still-be-hiv-negative-or-alive-if-they-had-managed/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Biologists invent the contraceptive pill – and the Pope doesn’t know what to do about it. Computer scientists develop the Internet – and rabbis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/biologists-invent-the-contraceptive-pill-and-the-pope-doesn-t-know/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Browse all 30 Contraceptive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contraceptive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded instead with an encylical Humanae Vitae. The encyclical reaffirmed the Church's rejectionist stance: Contraceptives were evil and against God's law...In the West, many if not most Catholics ignored the ban. For them, however painful, the decision of whether to conceive or not was rarely a life-or-death issue. Unfortunately, for women in the poorest parts of the world, it often is. There, the right to choose whether or not to conceive was vitally linked to a woman's prospects for freeing herself and her family from poverty. It is in this context that the inherent and deeply rooted misogyny of the Church has taken its greatest toll on the lives of women. Pope John Paul II spent a considerable part of his pontificate propagandizing on behalf of a doctrine that tells ppor and illiterate women that to use a condom is the moral equivalent of murder and that each time they use contraceptives they render Christ's sacrifice on the cross 'in vain'. He said:'no personal or social circumstances have ever been able, or will be able, to rectify the moral wrong of the contraceptive act.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Holland" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-with-an-encylical-humanae/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contraceptive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-with-an-encylical-humanae/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/jack-holland-48495_contraceptive_in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-w_2607217.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/jack-holland-48495_contraceptive_in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-w_2607217.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/jack-holland-48495_contraceptive_in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-w_2607217.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded instead with an encylical Humanae Vitae. The encyclical reaffirmed the…” — Jack Holland", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jack Holland", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-holland/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-with-an-encylical-humanae/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-holland/in-1968-pope-paul-vi-responded-instead-with-an-encylical-humanae/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```