Sacred Heart presents a conference on the ethical transmission of human life

 Print this Statement

For Immediate Release October 10, 2008

Contact:
Kate Bua, Marketing Director
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
2701 Chicago Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan 48206
313-883-8533 / Bua.Kate@shms.edu 
http://www.shmsonline.org

Detroit, Michigan, October 10, 2008—Sacred Heart Major Seminary, 2701 Chicago Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan, presented a one-day conference to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (English translation: On Human Life), and to explore its important themes. The conference, entitled “Co-creating with God: Humanae Vitae Today,” was held on Saturday, September 20, 2008, at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and drew a crowd of 250 attendees.

Pope Paul VI released Humanae Vitae in 1968 amidst the so-called “sexual revolution” to clarify the Roman Catholic Church’s position on the sacredness of marriage and the ethical transmission of human life. The document is particularly remembered for reaffirming the Church’s prohibition on the use of contraception by Catholic married couples. Humane Vitae advocates natural methods of spacing the birth of children (natural family planning or NFP), and warns—some say “prophetically”—of the serious social consequences that would result from the spread of contraceptive birth control methods.

The conference title, “Co-creating with God,” is taken from the Church’s belief, as expressed in Humanae Vitae, that spouses “share with God the task of procreating and educating new living beings.”

The conference featured speakers with national reputations for advocating and defending the Catholic position on the transmission of human life:

Dr. Janet E. Smith, Fr. Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, a moral theologian who speaks and writes extensively in support of the principles of Humanae Vitae.

Dr. Pia de Solenni, an ethicist and moral theologian who comments regularly on national media outlets about Catholic Church issues and women’s concerns.

Dr. Patrick Fagan, director of the Center for Family and Religion at the Family Research Council. He is an authority on social science studies that support the ethics of Humanae Vitae.

Greg and Julie Anderson, co-hosts of a program on the Eternal Word Television Network and founders of an apostolate dedicated to the enrichment of marriage and family life.

Maria Fedoryka, assistant professor of philosophy at Ave Maria University, Naples, Florida, presented the talk, “The Centrality of Love and the Teaching of Humanae Vitae.”

Most Rev. Robert J. Carlson, bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw, was the main celebrant of the conference Mass and gave the after dinner presentation. He has written powerfully on the need for Catholics to be faithful to the Church’s teaching on the transmission of human life.

The conference sessions were recorded and are available on CD-ROM. To purchase, please contact Mr. Henry Root: hjroot@sbcglobal.net