Humanae Vitae: Bonding and Babies

By Kevin Aldrich
Catholic Stand

(This article is the third in a continuing series on Humanae Vitae.  Last time I examined the question of what the Church means by responsible parenthood.]

At the very heart of Pope Paul VI’s profound and heroic 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae is the teaching that the marital act has two meanings which ought not be separated by the couple: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning. These two meanings can be simplified as bonding and babies. Human freedom can separate them, but it ought not to because God has designed them always to be joined together.

Here I will address two questions: “What are the unitive (bonding) and procreative (babies) meanings of sex?”  and  “Why should my wife and I not separate them?”

The Marital Act

The Church uses the term “the marital act” to refer to sexual intercourse between a husband and wife. This term is appropriate, because sex is proper or “belongs to” married couples, and to no one else. Other people can get sexually aroused and act on that arousal in a variety of ways—none of which needs to be cataloged here. But it is only in marriage that sexual arousal and its consummation find their correct place.
This term is a hard teaching for people to accept. Many people believe they have the right to have sex
without procreation. Many also think they have the right to procreation without sex. People are convinced they could lose one or both of life’s two greatest goods: sexual enjoyment and having a child.

It is also hard to accept that Paul VI’s teaching is not a religious dogma, but a precept of the natural law. It is obligatory for every person. It is also knowable, understandable, and practicable by every person.
Here is what Pope Paul VI says about this.

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