A Pontifical John Paul II Institute Partner Feature

released 10/17/2024

In this November 2018 lecture, Margaret McCarthy explains how the predictions of Pope Paul VI’s Humanae vitae regarding the consequences of separating sex from generation have proven true. This separation leads to a whole host of other separations: sex from marriage, children from marriage, children from parents, men and women from each other, and ultimately, our separation from ourselves and reality itself, McCarthy argues. The modern concept of “gender” aims at a complete sundering of the natural relationships of mother, father, and child, assuming an essential antagonism between them. McCarthy articulates why this separation, which promises ultimate freedom and autonomy, comes at the cost of our own souls. She concludes with the positive vision of humanity and familial relationships celebrated in Humanae vitae, and notes how this vision accords with reality, with what we actually are as persons and in our given roles as mother, father, and child. The full title of McCarthy’s lecture is “Humanae vitae and the Fragmentation of Sexuality in Western Liberal Society.”

This lecture is provided courtesy of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

38 minutes

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