the magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary. Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means. A number of other documents provide more insight into the Church's position on contraception. The commission appointed to study the question in the years leading up to Humanae Vitae issued two unofficial reports, a so-called "majority report" which described reasons the Catholic Church should change its teaching on contraception, signed by 61 of 64 scholars assigned to the pontifical commission, and a "minority report" which reiterated the reasons for upholding the traditional Catholic view on contraception. In 1997, the Vatican released a document entitled "Vademecum for Confessors" (2:4) which states "[t]he Church has always taught the intrinsic evil of contraception." Furthermore, many Church Fathers condemned the use of contraception. Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia repeats Catholic teaching and gives guidance in its interpretation. "The complexity of the issues that arose revealed the need for continued open discussion of a number of doctrinal, moral, spiritual, and pastoral questions." He also continues with a warning against "an attitude that would solve everything by applying general rules or deriving undue conclusions from particular theological considerations." The Pope finishes this with "Since 'time is greater than space', I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it. This will always be the case as the Spirit guides us towards the entire truth." The 1987 document Donum Vitae opposes in-vitro fertilization on grounds that it is harmful to embryos and separates procreation from union of the spouses. Later on, the 2008 instruction Dignitas Personae denounces embryonic manipulations and new methods of contraception. Roderick Hindery reported that a number of Western Catholics have voiced significant disagreement with the Church's stance on contraception. Among them, dissident theologian Charles Curran criticized the stance of Humanae vitae on artificial birth control. In 1968, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued what many interpreted as a dissenting document,