The Catholic Church is quietly remembering, and in some quarters celebrating, an event that occurred 40 years ago that many observers predicted would precipitate its decline. However, this recollection should not be limited to Catholics. The occasion and its aftermath has done much to shape the world we live in, and offers valuable lessons for today.

1968 was the most turbulent year in the post-World War II era. Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia to quell unrest. Student protests unnerved Poland, France, Germany and Mexico. Saddam Hussein became vice chairman in Iraq after a coup d'etat. The Tet offensive was halted and the Battle for Saigon began in Vietnam. The My Lai massacre occurred. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, precipitating riots.

Political unrest was mirrored by a cultural and sexual revolution, particularly in the United States. Moral standards on television declined, marked by the debut of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In." One hundred fifty women protested against the Miss America Pageant, objecting to the sexual objectification and exploitation of the contestants.

Unbeknownst to most observers, a counter-revolution was in the works, as well. On July 25, 1968, Pope Paul VI took the Catholic church and world by surprise by issuing an encyclical, Humanae Vitae, that upheld the church's traditional ban on contraception.

This was especially unexpected because of the furtive leaking of the findings of a birth control commission set up by Paul's predecessor, John XXIII, which in 1966 had supported allowing contraception under certain conditions. The issue was so divisive that a minority report was issued alongside the majority report.

Still, the encyclical's profound insights into marital love and sexuality were acknowledged even by those who disagreed with Paul's conclusions. It was far more than a dogmatic, static prohibition. The concluding section, entitled "Pastoral Directives," addressed the difficulties of implementing the decision, and counseled mercy and understanding, along with ongoing dialogue and study of the problem. Feedback and cooperation of married couples, medical professionals and clergy was encouraged.

The prophetic dimension of the encyclical was recognized early on. Paul foresaw that the separation of the unitive (intimate solidarity) and procreative dimensions of the conjugal act would lead to permissiveness, the objectification of women and the erosion of sexual morality. We need only look back and around us to verify his farsightedness.

For many, Humanae Vitae threatened the church's credibility in the tumultuous period following the controversial reforms of Vatican Council II. A substantial bloc of theologians, bishops, priests and laity dissented or professed only partial acceptance. It was undoubtedly the most painful and divisive church document of the 20th century.

Fast forward to today. A conservative church and a hedonistic society are torn apart by sexual indiscretions. The encyclical has become the pride and joy of a new generation of Catholics dissatisfied with Vatican II reforms, and, in some circles, it functions as a litmus test of orthodoxy. Paul remains a polarizing figure because of the broad-scale changes he initiated (e.g., the new order of the mass in the language of the people, as opposed to Latin) and those he rejected (e.g., married or women clergy). Ideologues on both ends of the spectrum criticize his pontificate because of the middle course he charted. However, the legacy of Humanae Vitae extends beyond both historical controversies and ideologies.

In essence, Paul made a decision that affirmed the noble attributes of human nature: responsibility, respect, self-control, discernment and self-giving. Paul also established a precedent that enabled his successors to continue to grapple with the problem once the smoke cleared and some degree of social stability set in.

A bright and charismatic Polish bishop on the birth control commission also was instrumental in the development of the decision and document. One of Paul VI's staunchest supporters, he became a papal favorite. In 1976, he was invited to preach the annual Lenten retreat at the Vatican, which also serves as a forum for members of the Vatican bureacracy to get to know papabile (prospective candidates for pope). Were it not for Humanae Vitae, Karol Wojtyla might never have become pope. However, this coincidental development is not the heart of Humanae Vitae's enduring significance.

Both Paul and his protege, John Paul II, recognized the tentacles of selfishness in the fundamental human act of love and fertility and the threat it posed to family stability. John Paul built on Paul's teachings in a series of papal audiences delivered from 1979 to 1984 and in related documents that has become known as "theology of the body." This took the sexual counter-revolution initiated by Paul to another level. Many young people are embracing this the way my generation did permissiveness. How times have changed!

We need only look around us to ascertain the decency and sagacity of Paul and John Paul's insights, which transcend sectarian issues of sexual morality and extend to the universal level of human dignity. There is something admirable and empowering about affirming the value of life and the ability of human beings to give of themselves, even under difficult conditions.

John Paul used the notion of human dignity to help bring down Soviet communism. Are we now willing to let it trump consumerist greed and materialistic hedonism? The 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae is an opportune moment for such considerations.