Of Chaste Wedlock

Set against the backdrop of the 1930 Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Communion and in response to its decision to permit the use of contraception in certain limited cases, Pope Pius XI's 1930 encyclical, Casti Connubii (of chaste wedlock), was written to defend the Catholic Church's doctrine of chaste Christian marriage.  In writing both to enumerate the “advantages and benefits which accrue from it to the family and to human society itself" and also to raise the alarm against the “errors contrary to this most important point of the Gospel teaching,” Pope Pius XI names several threats to marital chastity. Among the named threats are the inventions of modern science, books containing the claims of modern genius, the philosophy that marriage is just a man-made invention, many new varieties of unions, contraception, abortion, and eugenics.

First, Pius XI names the inventions of modern science. Against these dangerous innovations, the encyclical says, “by writings, by theatrical productions of every kind, by romantic fiction, by amorous and frivolous novels, by cinematographs portraying in vivid scene, in addresses broadcast by radio telephony, in short by all the inventions of modern science, the sanctity of marriage is trampled upon and derided; divorce, adultery, all the basest vices either are extolled or at least are depicted in such colors as to appear to be free of all reproach and infamy.” Contributing to the danger of these threats of modern science and technology, as Pius XI argues, is the “veneer of science” established on the credibility of “modern genius.” Were I to share this concern with a modern married couple, I would point to a smartphone and say, “That thing poses a lot of threats to the chastity of your marriage! Be careful how you use it.” The point being, of course, that this particular worry has only become more pronounced in our time.

Second, Pius XI identifies a dangerous modern philosophy, a humanist and naturalist view of marriage which says that it does not occur naturally but was “invented by man.” Here again, the encyclical battles against the influence of scientific ideas coming into prominence at the time which challenged the perceived strictures of a sacramental view of marriage as not only being unnatural but also limiting man's happiness. At the root of this view, a reductive naturalistic approach reduces the union of marriage from “a true sacrament" to a mere “means of producing life and of gratifying in one way or another a vehement impulse.” In today's world, this concern remains prevalent. In counseling a modern couple, I would urge them to see that the marital union is ordered by God and that this is revealed in nature, that the home is the first unit of society and that it could have been created only by a good and wise God. It might be useful in this discussion to appeal to order and purpose as revealed in the marital union and then to the revelation of God's will in Christ and the church.

Third, Pius XI directs attention to “new species of unions, suited…to the present temper of men and the times.” Of these unions, he says, “These offer all the indulgence of matrimony and its rights without, however, the indissoluble bond, and without offspring, unless later the parties alter their cohabitation into a matrimony in the full sense of the law.” Pius XI is zeroing in on the modern tendency to treat cohabitation as legitimate and as equal to marriage in the respect that it deserves. He notes that which we have all observed, that this form of union provides certain indulgences of marriage but none of the sanctity and consequent security and stability. This practice, Pius XI argues, reduces cultured people to barbarity. Again, this threat remains in our modern culture. Were I to counsel a modern couple on this point, I would appeal to Genesis 2 and God's statement that it is not good that the man should be alone, that God's will is that man should leave father and mother and cleave not to his girlfriend but to his wife. In regard to man's need for marital companionship, this path alone will produce that which we are all seeking, deep and abiding happiness.