The Vatican teaching that bans the use of contraceptives is ignored by nearly all practising Catholics, according to a survey today.

The Tablet, a weekly Catholic magazine, surveyed 1,500 Catholics from parishes across England and Wales and found that nearly half had never heard of Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical that set out the teaching.

Most did know, however, that the Church’s official stance on contraception was that it should never be used. More than half believed that this teaching should be revised.

The survey found that half of otherwise faithful Catholics use artificial contraceptives, especially condoms and the Pill. Most would not dream of discussing issues of family planning with a priest. Marriage was considered by most as the ideal lifelong commitment but nearly three quarters of Catholics said that separation or divorce would be better than an unhappy marriage. The same proportion also said that the Church should revise its teaching that divorced people who remarry are excluded from receiving Communion.

In a comment article, Catherine Pepinster, Editor of The Tablet, says that the Church’s stance has damaged its message. “The Church has much to teach society about the needs of the developing world and the nature of justice. Yet dialogue between secular society and the Catholic Church over climate change has been painfully limited and stymied until very recently. With the impact of a rapidly escalating world population playing its part in climate change, birth control has been the elephant in the room in discussions.”