Home » Archives for Papal Commission on Population and Birth Control

The Vatican’s Role in the World Population Crisis: The Untold Story

Posted by Authors, Stephen D. Mumford 5 Feb 2012

The International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994 was a turning point. Until then, it was not widely known that the Catholic Church, as directed by its hierarchy in the Vatican, was a principle force in opposing population growth control. Any effort by the Vatican to conceal its staunch opposition was abandoned when the Holy See shut down the meeting for the first six days. Everyone was stunned. [...]

Overcoming Overpopulation: The Rise and Fall of American Political Will

Posted by Authors, Stephen D. Mumford 5 Feb 2012

The 1960s saw a rapidly increasing American public awareness of the world population problem. The invention of the contraceptive pill in 1960 stimulated broad public debate on birth control and the need for it. When Pope John XXIII created the Commission on Population and Birth Control in the mid 1960s, he gave hope that the church was about to change its position on birth control. After all, why study the issue if the church [...]

NSSM 200, the Vatican, and the World Population Explosion

Posted by Authors, Freedom of the presss, Stephen D. Mumford 5 Feb 2012

On March 30, 1995, Pope John Paul II made public his encyclical letter entitled Evangelicum Vitae, which assailed both abortion and contraception, in the strongest terms, charging that they are crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize and condemned even democratic decisions which did not conform to his concept of what constituted morality. This encyclical was the most sweeping attack on measures [...]

Excerpts from: The Life and Death of NSSM 200: How the Destruction of Political Will Doomed a US Population Policy

Posted by Authors, Freedom of the presss, Stephen D. Mumford 5 Feb 2012

The 1960s saw a surge in American public awareness of the world population problem. The invention of the contraceptive pill in 1960 stimulated broad public debate on birth control and the need for it. When Pope John XXIII created the Papal Commission on Population and Birth Control in 1963, he gave the world hope that the Church was about to change its position on birth control. After all, why would the Vatican [...]

NSSM 200: World Population Growth And U.S. Security

Posted by Authors, Freedom of the presss, Stephen D. Mumford 5 Feb 2012

From his first days in office, President Nixon understood the grave dangers of high rates of population growth—more than any other president. He responded appropriately when he perceived that his people and their way of life were gravely threatened. Seven months into his first term, in a rare move for a president, he delivered his Special Message to the Congress. The message set forth a far-reaching commitment to limiting population growth. [...]

Papal Power: U.S. Security Population Directive Undermined by Vatican with ‘Ecumenism’ A Tool

Posted by Authors, Freedom of the presss, Stephen D. Mumford 5 Feb 2012

On April 24, 1974, President Richard Nixon directed that a study be undertaken to determine the “Implications of World Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests.” This study would become one of the most important documents on world population growth ever written. Until now the study has received no public exposure since it remained classified for sixteen years. [...]

N4CM Chairman Dr Stephen D. Mumford

Posted by Authors, Stephen D. Mumford 21 Aug 2010

Dr Stephen D. Mumford is the founder and president of the Center for Research on Population and Security. He has his doctorate in Public Health. He has decades of international experience in fertility research where he is widely published. In 1981 he received the Margaret Mead Leadership Prize in Population and Ecology. Dr Mumford’s principal research interest has been the relationship between world population growth and national and global security. [...]

Close Your Eyes and Think of Rome

Posted by Reproductive health 19 Jul 2010

Source: Mother Jones, May/June 2010 Issue. SINCE 1870, WHEN the Roman Catholic Church formally pronounced popes infallible, a lot of Vatican energy has gone into claiming that doctrine never changes—that the church has been maintaining the same positions since the time of Jesus. Of course, historians know better: Dozens of church conferences, synods, and councils have regularly [...]

Why the church can’t change

Posted by Authors, Papers, Stephen D. Mumford 25 Jun 2010

The anti-abortion movement in the United States was created in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973, which legalized abortion. However, it really owes its origin to a group of men in Rome 103 years earlier. This was 1870, the year of Vatican Council I, a conclave of great importance in recent church history. Why is this so? Hans Küng, the renowned Swiss Catholic theologian, best summed up the problem [...]

Featured Videos

FAIR USE NOTICE
This is a not-for-profit site. It contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorised by the copyright owner. We are making such material available for educational purposes as part of our efforts to advance understanding of human rights issues and other matters of political, cultural and humanitarian significance in a global perspective. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.