Commentary: Fifty years later, scientist’s birth control finding still challenges Catholic teaching

(AP Photo, File) In this July 31, 1969, photo, Pope Paul VI, standing in an open car, waves to the crowd jamming the road to welcome him to Africa, accompanied by Archbishop of Kampala Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga, right, in Kampala, Uganda.How will Pope Francis handle the 50th anniversary this month of “Humanae Vitae,” Pope Paul VI’s encyclical continuing the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on artificial birth control? Will the occasion be cause for joyous celebration or quiet commemoration? Why does it matter?

The answer is twofold. First, Pope Paul’s decree, titled “Human Life in Our Day” and promulgated July 25, 1968, remains controversial. Debate and dissent have always been part of the…