The Catholic Church and Modern Sexual Knowledge, 1850-1950 / Genders and Sexualities in History (PDF)

- David Geiringer, Associate Lecturer and Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Queen Mary, University of London, UK

"Too often historians of sexuality, especially in the English-speaking world, work with stylised views of the Catholic Church's regulation of women's sexuality. By reading Lucia Pozzi's book, they can gain a more nuanced view based on fine-grained archival research."

- Peter Cryle, Emeritus Professor, University of Queensland

This book is the first to present a comprehensive historical picture of the modern Catholic concern with the body and sexuality. The Catholic church is commonly believed to have always opposed birth control and abortion throughout the centuries. Yet the Catholic encounter with modern sexuality has a more complex and interesting history. What was the meaning of sexual purity? Why did eugenics matter to Catholicism? How did the Society of Jesus interpret the idea of overpopulation? Why did Pius XI decide to issue the notorious encyclical Casti connubii on Christian marriage - the first modern papal pronouncement on birth control, abortion, and eugenics? In answering these questions, Lucia Pozzi uncovers new archival and unpublished records to dig into Catholic responses to modern sexual knowledge, showing the Catholic church at times resisting, but also often welcoming, scientific modernity.

Lucia Pozzi is an intellectual historian in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland, Australia. She is the author of journal articles and book chapters on the history of modern Catholic discourses on sexuality and eugenics.