She described his writing as “astonishing” and “prophetic.”
The Pope’s encyclical predicted that the sexual revolution would lead to trouble between the sexes, difficulty committing in relationships, and government use of birth control against its own people, all of which have come true in recent decades.
“I don’t think there’s a document that has been mocked and reviled more by the modern world,” Eberstadt said, adding that the encyclical’s insightful analysis of human nature and accurate predictions about future also make it an “intellectual cornerstone of modern times.”
“It’s a great paradox,” she noted.
The warnings presented by Pope Paul VI are important not only for Catholics, but for those of all faiths, as well as nonbelievers, explained Eberstadt.
Women, like men, “tend to absorb the messages of their time,” the author said, noting that the culture tells women that they are free, and they see that they have more economic earning power when they are not having children.
But they may not stop to wonder whether greater economic potential is really the source of human happiness, she said.
With her new book, Eberstadt is hoping to reach people who have not given much thought to the sexual revolution or considered the facts.
She explained that she uses “perfectly secular evidence,” drawn from both social science and popular culture to convey information to a world that desperately needs it.
“Secular evidence proves what ‘Humanae Vitae’ was saying all along,” she said. “The experiment of the sexual revolution has run amuck.”
Michelle La Rosa is deputy editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency. She has worked for CNA since 2011. She studied political philosophy and journalism at the University of Dallas.