"But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source." Issued in 1968, Humanae Vitae is the final encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI. In it, he rejects the conclusions of the 1966 majority report of the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control, and instead reaffirms the Church's longstanding opposition to artificial contraception while promoting natural family planning as a moral alternative. The document remains a significant source text for Church teaching on responsible parenthood, marital love, and the sanctity of life. Links Humanae Vitae full text: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html SUBSCRIBE to Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-culture-audiobooks/id1482214268 SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter http://www.catholicculture.org/newsletter DONATE at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.