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Pope Benedict Thanks CDF for Bioethics Contributions : 8th Feb 10
Speaking with the members of the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) last month, Pope Benedict XVI expressed gratitude for their work, especially their efforts to apply Christian ethics to in vitro fertilisation (IVF), cloning and gene therapy.
The Pope first highlighted the Vatican’s 2008 Instruction Dignitas Personae, which dealt with the morality of IVF, new forms of contraception, the freezing of human embryos, the cloning of human beings, the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos, genetic screening, gene therapy and other current biomedical processes.
Dignitas Personae represents “a new milestone in the announcement of the Gospel, in full continuity with the Instruction Donum Vitae, published by the dicastery in 1987”, the Holy Father said. “In such delicate and pressing questions . . . the Magisterium of the Church seeks to offer its own contribution to the formation of consciences, not only the consciences of believers but of everyone who seeks the truth and is willing to listen to arguments that arise not only from the faith, but also from reason itself”, he explained.
Reflecting on how Christianity makes its truthful contribution in the field of ethics and philosophy, the Pontiff noted that it does not offer “prefabricated solutions to real problems such as biomedical research and experimentation, but presents moral standpoints within which human reason can seek and find appropriate solutions”.
“There are, in fact, certain aspects of Christian revelation”, he observed, “that throw light on the problems of bioethics. . . . These aspects, inscribed in the heart of man, are also understandable in rational terms as elements of natural moral law, and may find acceptance even among people who do not recognise themselves in the Christian faith”.
Noting that natural moral law is accessible to all people, the Holy Father said this applies to both “civil and secular society. This law, inscribed in the heart of all human beings, touches an essential aspect of legal theory and appeals to legislators’ consciences and sense of responsibility”. CAN. January 15.
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