The natural method of birth control based on abstention during the fertile days of women was indeed hailed as a great discovery and the solution for Catholic parents. It was actually a method, as happens with these things, of sparing Catholic parents who had rather forgotten the doctrine of Providence and the idea of generosity which stimulate confidence in God according to the teachings of the Gospel.

            It seemed that everything was going to be fine … , but the approach to the problem had forgotten one important detail; namely, that the precepts of Christian morality, which are but an application of the principles of the Gospel, were not dictated with a view to a practical life. Especially if by practical life one means a comfortable life without problems. The Gospel is a Manual of struggle (Mt 10:16; Jn 16:33; 2 Tim 3:12), and its fighting methods cannot fail to take into account the famous narrow and difficult path that only few people truly follow (Mt 7:14). The attempts to reconcile the authenticity of the evangelical existence with an easy life have never been successful.

            Therefore, and due to the fact that Nature does not seem inclined to be mocked, this natural method of birth control ended in failure. True, one cannot say that the method in question is in itself sinful. The Apostle Paul himself recommended temporal abstention if there was agreement between the spouses. But the problem, seemingly simple, becomes complicated when one takes into account that the Apostle understood that this joint decision was taken so that the couple could devote themselves to prayer (1 Cor 7:5), excluding, therefore, any type of practical intention. Moreover, as has already been said, while this natural method of birth control cannot be considered at all as contrary to the Natural Law –nor, therefore, as sinful—, one cannot say the same about the fact –which is not usually taken into account— that, in this case, the principles of the Gospel have been put aside; and most specifically the fundamental principle that one must trust in Divine Providence (Mt 6: 25—32; 7:7—11; Lk 12: 27—30).   This natural method of birth control was followed by others; all of them were, more or less, of the same kind and with equally uncertain results.

            All those methods had their origin in the seminal idea –also considered at the beginning as an impressive finding—of responsible parenthood. According to this idea, and following clearly the directives given by the Theology that has acquired full rights within the current Church, the determination of the number of children rests solely with the spouses. The ideas of generosity and trust in Providence were placed in the background in order to give way to the ideas of calculation and consideration of welfare.

            The concept and the terminology, as well as the ideology of responsible parenthood, were aimed at indoctrinating fearful –and not so fearful— parents who were facing a possible increase of offspring; to encourage them to consider whether they had the necessary means to face the obligations that would arise from that possible increase: upbringing and sustenance of the children, their education, etc.; with no other intention than to induce the parents to practice abstinence if they did not have those means. And it can be safely assumed that, after careful consideration, the lack of those means was always determined to be the case; for human beings often tend to behave like that. It should be also noticed that this responsible parenthood emerged at the time of the fever for social justice, when the problems concerned with economic well-being seemed to have acquired a place of pride among theologians, moralists, and Catholic pastoral practitioners. In the end, the same old struggle: the material well-being versus the evangelical principles of generosity and trust in Providence.

            An old Spanish adage says that God does not usually punish with blows. As it could not happen in any other way, the final result was not very pleasing. Responsible parenthood immediately became an irresponsible behavior. It is not very difficult to understand what resulted. It is a well-known fact that, once the spillway has been opened to let the waters run, it is not uncommon that the waters eventually break into a broad overflow. After all, one can never expect too much from human nature. The truth is that this new discovery suffered from the same defects as the previous one: it lacked trust in Divine Providence; it had forgotten the context of the teachings of the Gospel. In the end, what happened is what usually occurs when one puts a new cloth on an old one (Mt 9:16): a breakage was all that was left. Today, almost no one remembers the responsible parenthood, now that the use of contraceptives has become widespread; a logical consequence which was bound to be reached, but not the only or the most serious one.