God has been faithful during the past 39 years.

The gift of love and its fruits have been received and rejoiced in by a countless multitude. If we look back to the year 2000 we remember how twenty seven million people passed through the Jubilee Holy Door in St Peters - a sign of humanity's indebtedness to grace and the universal call to respond to God's love by living it in holiness.

Next year 2008 will see the 40th annivesary of the great teaching on love given by Paul VI in the Encyclical Letter "Humanae vitae". This teaching enquired into the proposal of love - what does it mean to love? So full of light is the teaching of "Humanae Vitae" about human love, that Paul VI shows how the teaching of Christ is compatible with with love. The teaching of "Humanae Vitae" is not therefore a specialised teaching for a distinct few, but is a universal teaching which goes to the very core of human life. Since everyone is called to make a gift of themselves in love, the teaching in "Humanae Vitae" affects everyone.

Yes, even though during the past thirty nine years we have seen how contraception has built a culture which is utterly at odds with the truth of human love, God has remained faithful to his creation and to his covenants. His gift of love and life have built a culture which we now dare to call the Civilisation of Love.

How can we, next year, celebrate the Encyclical "Humanae Vitae" of Paul VI? Have you read it? I ask especially, spouses, married people to consider in what way we might celebrate the truths which Paul VI taught, and express our own confidence in the teachings of the Church about human sexuality. The Civilisation of Love is called to honour God, who for the past 40 years, during which so much truth has been rejected, has been a faithful and loving Father to us all.

Paul VI promulgated this Encyclical in 1968 in response to the question about the use of contraception between spouses. In it he describes the nature of human love, the nature of responsible parenthood and teaches that the use of contraception between spouses is always wrong. This teaching has been largely rejected both inside and outside the Church, but for those who have embraced it, the blessing of the Civilisation of Love has been given. "Humanae Vitae" is a prophetic teaching.