In December, 1985, twenty married couples from around the world who were members of Cardinal Gagnon’s Pontifical Council for the Family met in Rome to discuss Pope John Paul II’s teaching on Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s prophetic teaching on the family and the transmission of human life.
Their presentations, together with four papers presented by other members of the Council, have been collected into a book entitled Marriage & Family: Experiencing the Church’s Teaching in Married Life, published by Ignatius Press. In his Preface to the volume, Cardinal Gagnon stresses that the fidelity of couples to the Church’s teaching is a source of “human and Christian richness.”
“Despite the difficulties,” Cardinal Gagnon says in the Preface, “spouses’ fidelity to the doctrine of the (Church) Magisterium is a source of human and Christian richness.”
The book contains the text of an address which Pope John Paul gave to the assembly on December 13, 1985. The Church’s Magisterium, he said, does not arbitrarily set down rules to be followed: “It teaches the requirements of the moral order so that, in its light, the judgment of conscience can be true.” Like a good doctor, he continues, it seeks to take care of the causes of the disorder even if at times the results cannot immediately be seen.
Whenever disorder in conjugal life abounds, the stability of the family and of society is undermined, and profound remedies must be prepared. Thus he praised the work of this Council, and the lay members living out their apostolate in the vocation of marriage. His address constituted a brief but profound reflection on what Christian marriage entails.
The subsequent chapters contain a great many further ideas to reflect on. Here is a comment on the ‘unwanted child’:
“No child in reality is ever unwanted. Conception takes place through the cooperation of God and the parents. Even if a couple does not want a child who is already conceived, it is obvious that the Creator, who is omnipotent love, cannot call a life into existence against his will. So, every child is loved by God from the beginning. A child should be called ‘God’s gift’ and not an ‘unwanted child’.”
