Msgr. Robert J. Batule: The Wisdom of ‘Persona Humana’

By Msgr. Robert J. Batule, The Catholic Thing, Dec. 3, 2023

Msgr. Robert J. Batule, a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, is the Pastor of Saint Margaret Parish in Selden, New York. He served a five-year term as the Editor-in-Chief of the Catholic Social Science Review, and is a long-time contributor of articles, essays, and book reviews to various Catholic publications.

In the last few days of 1975, Pope Paul VI approved for publication a document issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Its title is Persona Humana, in English the “Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics.” It was two years after Roe and some forty years before Obergefell. It’s the kind of Church document that would not be published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith today. The mood in Rome is far different now, and rather than oppose the Sexual Revolution, it looks like we are running full stride to embrace it.

If we need any indication of our retreat, consider the comment made by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich last year, reported widely in the media, that “the sociological-scientific foundation of the Church’s teaching on homosexuality is no longer correct.”   ….

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