APPENDIX
Encyclical letter of his
holiness Pope Paul vi
ON THE REGULATION OF BIRTH
(HUMANAE VITAE)
TO THE VENERABLE PATRIARCHS,
ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS
AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH
THE APOSTOLIC SEE,
TO PRIESTS, THE FAITHFUL AND TO ALL
MEN OF GOODWILL
Venerable Brothers and Beloved Sons:
THE TRANSMISSION OF LIFE
1. The most serious duty of transmitting human life, for which married
persons are the free and responsible collaborators of God the Creator, has
always been a source of great joys to them, even if sometimes accompanied
by not a few difficulties and distress.
At all times the fulfillment of this duty has posed grave problems to the
conscience of married persons, but, with the recent evolution of society,
changes have taken place that give rise to new questions which the Church
could not ignore, having to do with a matter which so closely touches upon
the life and happiness of men.
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