  humanae vitae (latin of human life) is an encyclical written by pope paul vi and issued on 25 july 1968. subtitled on the regulation of birth, it re-affirms the orthodox teaching of the catholic church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and the continued rejection of most forms of birth control. mainly because of its prohibition of all forms of artificial contraception, the encyclical was politically controversial, but affirms church moral teaching from time immemorial on the sanctity of life and the procreative and unitive nature of conjugal relations. pope paul vi continued his teaching through 122 apostolic constitutions, 8 apostolic exhortations, 121 apostolic letters, innumerable homilies, letters and reflections, although he saw no need to issue any more encyclicals in the remaining ten years of his pontificate. he rejected the majority opinion of the pontifical commission on birth control established by his predecessor, pope john xxiii, presumably on the grounds that he could not change what has been revealed about the subject in the old and new testaments. between 1980 and 1984, pope john paul ii delivered 129 addresses relating to the nature of marital love dubbed catholic theology of the body, which fully vindicates humanae vitae.john paul ii, theology of the body. pope benedict xvi called this topic "controversial, yet so crucial for humanity's future". humanae vitae became "a sign of contradiction but also of continuity of the church's doctrine and tradition... what was true yesterday is true also today."benedict xvi, international congress organized by the pontifical lateran university on the 40th anniversary of the encyclical humanae vitae, 12 may 2008 ==summary== ===affirmation of traditional teaching=== in this encyclical paul vi reaffirmed the catholic church's orthodox view of marriage and marital relations and a continued condemnation of artificial birth control. there were two papal committees and numerous independent experts looking into the latest advancement of science and medicine on the question of artificial birth control,([http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=38825 ge
1968_in_religion 1968_works Catholic_theology_of_the_body Papal_encyclicals Works_by_Pope_Paul_VI