Rewind
1964
“The Pope spoke of change, but he knew full well that his 2,000- year-old church, though not immutable and unbending, submits reluctantly.” As Paul VI took a reformed stance on oral contraceptive pills, Newsweek wrote: “Not since the Copernicans suggested that the sun was the center of the planetary system has the Roman Catholic Church found itself on such a perilous collision course with a new body of knowledge.” Today, Pope Francis further opened the door to contraception in Zika-infected Latin America when he noted that “avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil” for mothers there.