Life is always a good. Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life

On 25 March 2025, marks the 30^th Anniversary of the Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae. On this occasion, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is publishing a Pastoral Framework, titled Life is Always a Good. Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life, on how to initiate ecclesial processes to promote a Pastoral Care of Human Life, with the aim of defending, safeguarding, and promoting it in different geographical areas and cultural contexts, in a time marked by extremely serious violations of human dignity.

"The Pastoral Framework is the result of an ongoing dialogue with the bishops. His Excellency Monsignor Dario Gervasi, Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, says: “The primary recipients of this Pastoral Framework are the bishops who, during their frequent ad limina visits to the Holy See, have always emphasized the urgency of a renewed commitment to safeguard and promote the life and dignity of every human being.” In a webinar organized by the Dicastery in 2024 with the heads of the Family and Life Commissions of the Conferences of Bishops across the world, a shared process to develop a Pastoral Care of Human Life was initiated, in light of the recent guidance provided by the document Dignitas infinita.

To support this process, the Pastoral Framework offers a proposal that also suggests how to apply the synodal method of discernment in the Spirit concerning the many issues related to human life, as well as the ways to defend, safeguard, and promote it across different geographical areas and cultural contexts."

More at:  https://www.laityfamilylife.va/content/laityfamilylife/en/news/2025/la-vita-e-sempre-un-bene--il-sussidio.html

 

 

Grave violations of human dignity

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new document 'Dignitas infinita' took five years to complete, and builds on the papal magisterium of the last decade: from war to poverty, from violence against migrants to violence against women, from abortion to surrogate motherhood to euthanasia, from gender theory to digital violence. Three chapters offer the foundations for the fourth, which is dedicated to "some grave violations of human dignity.

That’s the structure of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new Declaration Dignitas infinita, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirms "the indispensable nature of the dignity of the human person in Christian anthropology " (Intro.)

The main novelty of the document, which is the fruit of five years' work, is the inclusion of a number of key themes from the recent papal magisterium that accompany the bioethical ones. In the 'non-exhaustive' list that is offered, abortion, euthanasia and surrogate motherhood are listed as violations of human dignity alongside war, poverty and human trafficking.

The new text thus contributes to overcoming the dichotomy that exists between those who focus exclusively on beginning-and-end-of-life issues, while forgetting so many other attacks against human dignity and, conversely, those who focus only on defending the poor and migrants while forgetting that life must be defended from conception to its natural conclusion.

The Declaration then presents the list of "some grave violations of human dignity". This includes "all offences against life itself, such as murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, and willful suicide” must be recognized as contrary to human dignity ", but also "all violations of the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, physical and mental torture, undue psychological pressures "... And, finally, it includes "all offences against human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children, degrading working conditions where individuals are treated as mere tools for profit rather than free and responsible persons"... The death penalty is also cited, since it "violates the inalienable dignity of every person, regardless of the circumstances" (34).

More at:  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-04/human-dignity-ddf-document-migration-gender-surrogacy-war-theolo.html

 The full text of the Declaration Dignitas infinita on the Holy See website

Source: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-04/human-dignity-ddf-document-migration-gender-surrogacy-war-theolo.html

Palliative care is a right

The Pontifical Academy for Life organized an online webinar from 9 to 11 February 2022 as a part of project to improve the dissemination of palliative care in the world. I would like to point out to some of thoughts on palliative care:

"We must accompany people towards death, but not provoke death or facilitate any form of suicide. I would point out that the right to care and treatment for all must always be prioritised, so that the weakest, particularly the elderly and the sick, are never discarded. Life is a right, not death, which must be welcomed, not administered. And this ethical principle applies to concerns everyone, not just Christians or believers." (https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2022/02/09/220209a.html) 

Archbishop Paglia spoke of how palliative care "Talking about palliative care,” he said, “does not mean talking about a dimension of care offered when there is nothing more to do. It means accompanying a sick person in the last time before his or her death, so that he or she may receive all possible clinical, human, psychological and spiritual care and assistance... No one should be left alone in one of the most difficult moments or times of their life,” Paglia said, and for believers, it includes an extra spiritual dimension in that death is not the end but a passage. (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-02/pontifical-academy-life-paglia-palliative-care-webinar.html)

Echoing the Pope’s words he said: “We are against suicide absolutely. Killing should be avoided but therapeutic overkill should also be avoided. What these two dimensions have in common is the power over death: either hasten it or delay it. In between” he stressed, “there is accompaniment.” The Archbishop concluded noting the increasing urgency of end-of-life care in an aging world and said Catholic Universities have an important role to play in formation, “in raising awareness of this perspective of what palliative care means: accompaniment at the highest level, clinical, cultural, spiritual and social.” (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-02/pontifical-academy-life-paglia-palliative-care-webinar.html)

 

Euthanasia promotes a utilitarian vision of the human person

The Italian Association of Medical Oncology was founded in 1973. It is one of many such associations around the world, all dedicated to the treatment of cancer, and to providing medical care to people diagnosed with the disease. In his address, Pope Francis praised the Association for “encouraging research and prevention, working to improve diagnosis and treatment, and developing numerous initiatives to update and train doctors and other operators in the oncology sector”.

Fostering relationships

“Creating and fostering relationships is an essential commitment to building the common good”, said the Pope, before commenting on the fact that both doctors and patients were present at the audience in the Vatican. “The choice of participating together in this meeting”, he said, “represents a strong message and an eloquent sign not only for the world of health care, but for the whole of society, called to renew itself in a fraternal and supportive way”.

An oncology of mercy

The Association’s National Congress has as its theme: “The best care for each patient”. The Pope called this “an oncology of mercy”, because the effort to personalize treatment reveals an attention “not only to the disease, but to the patient and to his or her characteristics”, he said. “An oncology of this kind goes beyond the application of protocols and reveals the use of technology that is at the service of people”.

Technology and euthanasia

“Technology is not at the service of man when it reduces him to one thing, when it distinguishes between those who still deserve to be cared for and those who do not”, continued Pope Francis. “The practice of euthanasia only apparently aims to promote personal freedom”, he said. “In reality, it is based on a utilitarian vision of the person”.

A healthy environment

The best prevention, concluded Pope Francis, “is that of a healthy environment and a lifestyle respectful of the human body and its laws”. This is why we must respect our common home, he said, “because it respects us in turn. The protection of the environment and the fight against cancer become two sides of the same problem, two complementary aspects of the same battle of civilization and humanity”.

More at: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-oncologists-cancer-treatment-personalized.html, 02 September 2019, 12:56

What Does It Mean to Be Human? by Teresa Iglesias

"One of the most fundamental questions that is increasingly facing bioethicists and society alike is the question, "What does it mean to be human?" "In what consists the act of being human?" "Is my humanity a 'bodily' humanity?" In every area of philosophical concern we are always thrown back to these basic questions." These are the the most fundamental questions to which Teresa Iglesias in her book The Dignity of the Individual: Issues of Bioethics and Law tried to find and present any possible answer.

" I hold that every human being is a human person, and every human person is a human being. I also hold that the existence of a human being, say my own existence, began when my bodily existence began, that is when I was conceived. There are some who do not maintain that human beings are human persons as I do. These differences in view indicate that here we are faced with a problem about the recognition of what we take human beings to be as we experience them, and so as we experience ourselves. Obviously, the facts, say, about our embryonic beginnings--as much as the beginnings of other animals--are well known to biologists and to most of us; the facts are the same, they are written in good biology books. Yet these facts, these realities, are seen to be different, interpreted to be different; so different that some would say: "now at that stage there is a human being in its embryonic form." Another would say, "there is no human being at all; we have only a blob of cells," while still others would say "we have a potential human being, but not a full human being." Now if the account of the facts is biologically the same, for we do not quarrel much about the facts, but we quarrel a lot about their interpretation, then there must be a question concerning 'the vision,' the manner of 'seeing' the facts, the manner in which the same reality is interpreted. What is it that underlies this difference in interpretation? What makes our vision differ? Reality, the concrete material world of things and human beings is not anyone's property; it is there for everyone to pay attention to, to become aware of. But for human beings, this awareness is not only a matter of physical vision, not only a matter of intelligence but also a matter of will and of imagination. For some it appears impossible to imagine themselves as embryos. We must challenge our poor imagination with our intelligence and allow it to see beyond only what we want to see. The human being by his or her free will can pay attention, or listen, or want to be aware, or not at all. I am confident enough to say that "lack of awareness is the root of all evil;" this lack, of course, may be deliberate or not. The effort to 'pay attention to reality' is an effort not only of intelligence but also of will. By this attention truth is born; it dawns on us, i.e., reality is manifested to us.

So let me draw your attention to three fundamental aspects of the human being to which we have to pay attention in order to see them in relation to the kind of beings we are: (i) the human being is bodily, organic, physical, (ii) the human being is also an integrated-unity-of-life, a living being, a living whole, a one, an individual; and (iii) the human being is a being with a temporal continuity, a being with a history, a being in time."

In any bioethical research on dying, palliative care or human dignity this book by Teresa Iglesias, The Dignity of the Individual: Issues of Bioethics and Law. Pleroma Press, Dublin, 2001 should be read.

Art of Dying Well - Umění dobré smrti

For those interested in end-of-life issues but also for all of us:

The Art of Dying Well website was devised and commissioned by the Catholic Church of England and Wales.

The Catholic Church has an interest in helping those faced with the prospect of death and dying. We believe that death opens the way to new life. For us, in dying, we close our eyes for the last time here, in order to be able to really see for the first time there.

After centuries of ministering to the dying, the Catholic Church has a fund of experience to share in what was traditionally called the art of dying well, or in Latin, Ars Moriendi. We sense that this is good time to look afresh at that tradition.

After centuries of ministering to the dying, the Catholic Church has a fund of experience to share in what was traditionally called the art of dying well, or in Latin, Ars Moriendi. We sense that this is good time to look afresh at that tradition.

The underlying ethos of the art of dying well applies just as well to anyone of any, or no faith, undergoing the final journey. All of us will fall, all of us will need help, and all of us can use the experience we gain in helping people on the climb creatively for the good of others.

Dying well means different things to us all. Death is an individual experience, but a community of accompaniment on the journey can help us to prepare by bringing consolation and spiritual peace.

And more at:  http://www.artofdyingwell.org/

CZ translation: "Katoličtí biskupové Anglie a Walesu zpřístupnili na internetu nové stránky nadepsané „Umění dobré smrti“ (Art of Dying Well). Lze na nich najít řadu duchovních rad i článků z praktické oblasti péče o umírající, osobní svědectví i slova povzbuzení, pro ty, kdo ztratili své blízké. Zakládají se na zkušenosti nemocničních kaplanů, lékařů i dalších lidí, kteří měli možnost nahlédnout do této oblasti." (http://radiovaticana.cz/clanek_print.php4?id=24690)

Last Dreams - Poslední sny

If you are interested in topic like  death, dying and human dignity, than I would strongly recommend this movie: "Last Dreams - Poslední sny" /Estephan Wagner /Dánsko/2013/59 min./.

"Hanne wonders about contacting her daughter in an attempt to reconcile. Britt would like to see her lifelong friend from Norway one last time. Myrna wants to spend her final moments with her husband, and to stand up once more and feel the sun on her face. Can they all fulfil their wishes? This intimate portrait of three women during the last weeks of their lives in a Danish hospice opens up a topic that is still taboo in the Czech Republic. Although the death of our loved ones is full of hardship, the director shows that empathetic nurses, psychologists and priests can help us be prepared. A touching and sensitively made film showing that our final journey can be taken with dignity."

More at: http://www.oneworld.cz/pit/films/33
See also review at: http://www.final-cut.dk/films2.php?mit_indhold_id=3&films_id=14 

Death and dying...

I would like to recommend the following article/video titled as "What doctors don't learn about death and dying" from TEDTalks about death and dying:

"This reality has been largely hidden, as the final phases of life become less familiar to people. As recently as 1945, most deaths occurred in the home. By the 1980s, just 17 percent did. Those who somehow did die at home likely died too suddenly to make it to the hospital — say, from a massive heart attack, stroke or violent injury — or were too isolated to get somewhere that could provide help."

"Dying and death confront every new doctor and nurse. The first times, some cry. Some shut down. Some hardly notice. When I saw my first deaths, I was too guarded to cry. But I dreamt about them..."

More at: http://ideas.ted.com/death-and-the-missing-piece-of-medical-school/ 

Another good TEDTalks about death: http://ideas.ted.com/how-to-answer-the-question-am-i-dying/

IMPACT and EURO IMPACT

Just recently, European Commission lunched projects – IMPACT and EURO IMPACT. They bring together important research partners and stakeholders in European palliative and end-of-life care. During an invitational conference, last October 2013, they have launched a declaration with 10 recommendations for policy- and decision makers in order to improve the quality of and access to palliative care in an age-friendly Europe. These recommendations are based on recent scientific insights. The more signatures this declaration receives, the stronger the message to the policy and decision makers will be.

I strongly recommend signing the declaration at http://palliativecare2020.eu/declaration/ and spreading it to your national and international contacts.

ANZSPM: "Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not a solution to patient suffering"

Xavier Simons wrote an excellent article and published by BioEdge on November 16. This article is particularly important against euthanasia and assisted suicide. Palliative care is undermined by euthanasia and assisted suicide, according to many palliative care organisations. In Australia, where end-of-life issues are hotly debated, the leading palliative care body has joined the chorus of opposition.

The Australia and New Zealand Society for Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM) has released a new position statement on the practices, arguing that euthanasia and assisted suicide are not a solution to patient suffering, and that legalising the procedures would take attention away from the real issue - a lack of access to palliative care.

In the document the ANZSPM emphasises, "There is a clear distinction between good care for the dying and active interventions instituted in order to deliberately end the life of a patient." Instead of providing VE or PAS, doctors should try to alleviate symptoms: "When requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide arise, particular attention should be given to gaining good symptom control, especially of those symptoms that research has highlighted may commonly be associated with a serious and sustained ‘desire for death’ (e.g. depressive disorders and poorly controlled pain)."

Out of a the ten point policy statement, three points stressed "the significant deficits in the provision of palliative care in Australia and New Zealand". ANZSPM called for new government "health reform programs", as well as increased carer support for respite care, so as "decrease the sense of burden for many patients at the end of life." Statements also stressed: "When requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide arise, particular attention should be given to gaining good symptom control, especially of those symptoms that research has highlighted may commonly be associated with a serious and sustained "desire for death" (e.g. depressive disorders and poorly controlled pain). In such situations early referral to an appropriate specialist should be considered. Despite the best that Palliative Care can offer to support patients in their suffering, appropriate specialist Palliative Care to remedy physical, psychological and spiritual difficulties may not relieve all suffering at all times."

See also an excellent article by Lawyer, Margaret Dore: Quick Facts About Assisted Suicide. This article is particularly important considering the push in New Jersey to legalize assisted suicide.

Benedict XVI: "Medicine is not a profession, but a mission"

More than 400 doctors and nurses gathered at the Vatican from November 15-17 for the conference titled "The Hospital, Setting for Evangelization: a Human and Spiritual Mission."

 

 

JAIME BUITRAGO

Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers

"We have achieved many goals. First off, we were able to reflect on our duties, on our mission as pastoral agents in the difficult world of pain and sickness. We bring people a bit of hope and calm during times as challenging as the prelude to death."

Benedict XVI closed off the conference, welcoming the participants at the Paul VI Hall.

BENEDICT XVI

"Anyone who chooses to work within the world of suffering, treating their work as a human and spiritual mission, requires higher competence, that goes beyond beyond academic titles. It is the Christian science of suffering."

The Pope asked them not to forget the value of dignity whenever they are with their patients. And so, he asked them to provide auxiliary care.

BENEDICT XVI

"Only by clearly focusing medical and healthcare activities on the well-being of man at his most fragile and defenseless, of man who searches for meaning in the unfathomable mystery of pain, can we conceive of hospitals as a place in which care is a mission and not merely an occupation."

Benedict XVI emphasized that now, more than ever, good Samaritans are needed because, according to him, "the measure of humanity is determined by its relationship to suffering."

 

Posted with permission from: http://internationalfiamc.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/benedict-xvi-medicine-is-not-profession.html (November 19, 2012, Romereports.com)

Abortion brings with it considerable risks

Research in Finland published in the journal “Human Reproduction” collected data from all 300,858 first-time mothers in Finland between 1996 and 2008, LifeNews.com reported on Sept.6. The results showed that women were three times more likely to have a very premature baby, born before 28 weeks, if they had had three or more abortions.
According to an analysis of the findings published by LifeNews.com and written by Dr. Peter Saunders, it is an important study, but by no means the first revealing such risks. He said there are “around 120 articles in the world literature already attesting to an association between abortion and premature birth.”

Nevertheless, the Finnish study carries a lot of weight due to the large number of women in it and also because it controlled for factors such as maternal age, socioeconomic level and various health factors. Similar results were found in another study also recently published. Lead researcher Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya, chair in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Aberdeen, and his colleagues studied how differing methods of abortion affected the future likelihood of premature births, the Medical Daily Web site reported on Sept. 5. They looked at the records of Scottish women from 1981 to 2007 and found that abortions increased the risk of giving birth prematurely in future pregnancies by an average of 37% compared to women who had never been pregnant before.

Complications

The study was presented at the British Science Festival. The risk of complications in future pregnancies rises with each abortion. As well, the research showed that having just one abortion brings with it a significant risk for the safety of later pregnancies. "We found that women who had an induced abortion in their first pregnancy were more at risk of maternal and perinatal risks in comparison with women who had had a live birth or no previous pregnancy," said Bhattacharya.
A further recent study, titled “Short and long term mortality rates associated with first pregnancy outcome: Population register based study for Denmark 1980–2004,” was published by David Reardon and Priscilla Coleman. They looked at the records of 463,473 women who had their first pregnancy between 1980 and 2004, of whom 2,238 died. “In nearly all time periods examined, mortality rates associated with miscarriage or abortion of a first pregnancy were higher than those associated with birth,” according to a summary of the study published by the Medical Science Monitor. Commenting on the risks of abortion for the Family Research Council, Jeanne Monahan pointed out that, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, at least 450 women have died in the United States as a result of abortion complications. Monahan added that this is a low estimate because many states do not report abortion data. This includes California, which, she noted accounts for approximately one-fifth of all abortions in the United States. She also commented on the risks from the use of chemical abortion, with the pharmaceutical RU-486. According to the Food and Drug Administration as of April 2011 (10 and a half years after RU-486 was approved in the U.S.), there were 2,207 adverse event reports on file with the government. This includes 612 hospitalizations, 339 blood transfusions and 11 deaths.

Maternal mortality

Additional information on the health risks of abortion came in an article published Sept. 6 by the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. According to Wendy Wright a study from Sri Lanka found that in developing countries widespread misuse of abortion “has led to partial or septic abortion thereby increasing maternal mortality and morbidity.” Further studies, carried out by the Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change, found that RU-486 has high complication rates, with greater medical risks to women in developing countries. In Vietnam, for example, one in four women who used RU-486 had to subsequently undergo a surgical abortion due to an incomplete result from the pharmaceutical. Wright put at 14 the number of women who have died in the United States as a result of using RU-486 since it was legalized. Nevertheless, the push to make RU-486 available continues. In Australia until now only a small number of doctors were authorized to administer it, but now pharmacies will be able to sell it following a decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the Australian newspaper reported Aug. 31. In the past six years that RU-486 has been available in Australia, TGA figures show 792 cases of "adverse events" from the use of the drugs. “Women facing un-supported pregnancy should be offered real choices by our society, not a dangerous chemical to poison their unborn child,” commented Wendy Francis for the Australian Christian Lobby. A valid point not only for Australia but for other countries as well.

(September 21, 2012) © Innovative Media Inc.

The trivialization of euthanasia in Belgium

How Can We Accompany the Dying, and Those Who Suffer While Living Life? by Prof. Etienne Montero of the University of Namur, Belgium

Identical twins (monozygotic) Eddy and Marc Verbessem were born deaf. Inseparable and single, they had always lived together under the same roof. They were euthanized together at their request on Dec. 14, 2012, in the UZ Brussel (University hospital) in the borough of Jette. They were 45 years old.

Their request for euthanasia was based on a diagnosis of glaucoma, a degenerative condition of the optical nerve which can lead to blindness. According to our information (difficult to verify), they suffered from a genetic anomaly which would progressively but irremediably cause them to go blind. This, together with the idea of losing their independence, was unbearable for them.

The media presented this as a "first." There had never been a case of two brothers requesting and being granted joint euthanasia. There had, however, been instances of couples being euthanized together. Is this a case of infringement of the limits of the law on euthanasia?

Not necessarily. It is quite likely that all the conditions required by the law had been officially met. They no doubt made a voluntary and repeated request, free from any outside pressure. They based their case on an incurable medical condition and unbearable psychological suffering, stemming from the anticipation of future suffering linked to blindness and the loss of autonomy. As for the other necessary conditions, one may suppose that they were also met : various information to be provided, a second medical opinion to be sought, etc.

... Is this really the way in which society intends to deal with the distress and suffering of an ageing population or those who have become vulnerable due to illness or a handicap ?

See more at: ZENIT - 'Death Pact' and the Euthanasia of 45-Year-Old Twins

40 Years of the Culture of Death by Archbishop Samuel Aquila

I would like to share a very interesting testimony by Archbishop Samuel Aquila, the new archbishop of Denver, where he recalls his own personal experience with abortion.

"I went to college in 1968 with the idea of becoming a doctor, like my father," the archbishop begins.
He recounts how his first three years of college were spent working as a hospital orderly: "At that time, some states had approved abortion laws that I wasn't even aware of. Because of those laws, when I was in college I witnessed the results of two abortions.
"The first was in a surgical unit. I walked into an outer room and in the sink, unattended, was the body of small unborn child who had been aborted. I remember being stunned. I remember thinking that I had to baptize that child.
"The second abortion was more shocking. A young woman came into the emergency room screaming. She explained that she had had an abortion already. When the doctor sent her home, he told her she would pass the remains naturally. She was bleeding as the doctor, her boyfriend, the nurse and I placed her on a table.
"I held a basin as the doctor retrieved a tiny arm, a tiny leg and then the rest of the broken body of a tiny unborn child. I was shocked. I was saddened for the mother and child, for the doctor and the nurse. None of us would have participated in such a thing were it not an emergency. I witnessed a tiny human being destroyed by violence."
Archbishop Aquila said the memories of those events haunt him. "In the abortions I witnessed, powerful people made decisions that ended the lives of small, powerless, children. Through lies and manipulation, children were seen as objects."
"I witnessed the death of two small people who never had the chance to take a breath," the prelate wrote. "I can never forget that. And I have never been the same. My faith was weak at the time. But I knew by reason, and by what I saw, that a human life was destroyed."

See more at: ARCHBISHOP AQUILA: 40 Years of the Culture of Death

About the rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb

Following Vatican approval, the “Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb” is now available for use by dioceses in the United States. The text of the blessing in English and Spanish is posted online and is being published as a booklet addendum to the Book of Blessings/Bendicional. The blessing was prepared to support parents awaiting the birth of their child, to encourage parish prayers for and recognition of the precious gift of the child in the womb, and to foster respect for human life within society. “We hope the use of this blessing will provide not only support and God’s blessing for expectant parents and their child in the womb, but also another effective witness to the sanctity of human life from the first moment of conception,” said Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, Louisiana, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Divine Worship." The blessing can be offered within the context of the Mass as well as outside of Mass. It originated at the request of then-Bishop Joseph Kurtz of Knoxville, Tennessee, (now archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky). The USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities then prepared and submitted a text to the Divine Worship committee in March of 2008. It was approved by the U.S. bishops in November 2008, and then sent to Rome for editing and final approval.For parishes wishing to use the blessing this Mother’s Day: www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/prayers/pro-life-blessings.cfm Posted with permission:ZE12050901 - 2012-05-09, permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-34746?l=english

Bioethics and Film by the Stanford Center of Bioethics

For those interested in bioethics and film documentaries, here are some suggestions for excellent bioethics movies on "how think deeply about important issues in healthcare and improve care" from the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford, CA, USA.

1."Grainger-Monsen’s most recent work, Hold Your Breath, is a haunting documentary that exposes the tragic consequences of cross-cultural miscommunication. This dramatic face off between ancient Islamic traditions and contemporary medical technology follows the dramatic journey of an Afghan refugee family, as cultures collide over medical treatment of their father’s illness. The film, which is scheduled for national broadcast on PBS in Spring 2007, has attracted national media attention, including a Newsweek cover story and a story on ABC World News Tonight with the late Peter Jennings."

2."Hold Your Breath evolved out of Grainger-Monsen’s last project, Worlds Apart, a series of four short films, produced for medical education, that explore cultural conflicts over medical treatment. Shot in patients' homes, neighborhoods, and places of worship, hospital wards and community clinics, Worlds Apart provides a penetrating look at both the patient's culture and the culture of modern medicine."

3."The Vanishing Line, a feature documentary broadcast nationally on PBS’ award winning POV series, poses the question: “When does life become a fate worse than death?” An intensely personal look at sustaining life at any cost, the film takes Dr. Grainger-Monsen on a quest to discover the "art of dying" in a world that taught her how to prolong life, but offered few prescriptions for treating death."

*For more see: http://medethicsfilms.stanford.edu/

Anti-Depressants and the Dying

"What are some ethical issues surrounding the taking of anti-depressants? Does their mood-altering affect raise moral problems for people preparing their consciences for death? -- K.N., Augusta, USA."

"E. Christian Brugger, a Senior Fellow of Ethics at the Culture of Life Foundation offers the following response: The principal purpose of legitimately prescribed medications is therapeutic, that is, ordered toward the restoration of health. People suffering from major depression, dysthymia (low level chronic depression), chronic anxiety, panic attacks or bipolar disease are suffering from real health disorders. Medicine has demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that these conditions have a distinct biological dimension. Data indicates that that dimension can be positively benefited by antidepressant medications.

These conditions might also have what clinical psychology calls a behavioral dimension. And I firmly believe that one's voluntary choosing and thinking can contribute to the exacerbation or minimization of the effects of many psychic disorders. It is unquestionably the case that for persons diagnosed with these types of disorders, some behavioral changes will be necessary to restoring long-term therapeutic health. But antidepressants can and should sometimes be part of a comprehensive therapeutic plan.

That said, antidepressants can cause significant side effects that burden one's life, affect one's relationships and limit one's range of activity. Moreover, similar to wearing glasses, one's neurochemistry after taking antidepressants for extended periods can establish new levels of normality on the medication. And so people who cease taking the meds will sometimes feel worse than before going on them. Finally, the newer classes of antidepressants are very expensive and can burden one's budget especially during economic downturns such as our own.

In making a good morally informed decision about beginning or continuing treatment with one of these drugs, consideration of these possible burdens should be factored in."

For more see http://culture-of-life.org//content/view/671/98/, or http://www.zenit.org/article-30718?l=english
Reprinted with permission, CLF, 2011.

3 Arguments Against IVF

ZENIT - 3 Arguments Against IVF "How can it be wrong to bring a child [by IVF] into the world, a child whom a couple intends to love and cherish and perhaps even raise as a good Christian? The answer gets at the heart of the Catholic Church's teachings on both the dignity of human life and of marriage. The question rightly identifies the wrongness of creating and destroying (and we should add freezing) human embryos in and through the process of IVF. But even if IVF was chosen only by married couples, and those couples intended to create only as many embryos as they implant, and they rejected the eugenic screening and destruction of disabled embryos, IVF still would be gravely wrong."

E. Christian Brugger, a Senior Fellow of Ethics and director of the Fellows Program at the Culture of Life Foundation: "Two Vatican "Instructions" on bioethical issues address this, both published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF): "Donum Vitae" (1987), Section II, B, 4, and "Dignitas Personae" (2008), No. 12. The documents set forth three basic arguments, or sets of reasons, to explain why children are licitly conceived only through a marital act (defined in Canon law as a "conjugal act which is per se suitable for the generation of children to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh," Canon 1061, § 1). I will refer to them as the "unity-procreation" argument, the "language of the body" argument, and the "begotten-not-made" argument."

Source: http://www.zenit.org/article-32247?l=english, ZE11040608 - 2011-04-06

Bioethics Encyclopedia online

"Father José Juan Garcia, Corresponding member of the Academy and Professor of Bioethics at the Catholic University of Cuyo (Argentina), informs us of the realization of the project of a Bioethics Encyclopedia online, carrying the values of the encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae of Pope John Paul II. This Encyclopedia was born out of the need to provide students and teachers at Cuyo's University with an instrument of reference and study , that would be also available to public."One can join the Encyclopedia at http://www.enciclopediadebioetica.com/
*Source: http://www.academiavita.org, August 18, 2011.

James Rachels on Active and Passive Euthanasia

In 1975, James Rachels (an American philosopher who specialized in ethics)wrote "Active and Passive Euthanasia", which originally appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine and argued that the distinction so important in the law between killing and letting die has no rational basis. Rachels’s Thesis: active euthanasia is not any worse than passive euthanasia.

Important assumption: THE JUSTIFICATION for "letting die" is to reduce harm & suffering of the patient. In situations for which passive euthanasia is permissible under this justification, there are no morally sound reason for prohibiting active euthanasia, and in some cases, active euthanasia is morally preferable to passive euthanasia. (Rachels says that he can understand someone who opposes both active and passive euthanasia as immoral practices, but cannot make sense of approving of one and not the other.)

The basis of the conventional doctrine is the distinction between "killing" and "letting die," together with the assumption that the difference between killing and letting die must, by itself and apart from further consequences, constitute a genuine moral difference.

Although most actual cases of killing are morally worse than most actual cases of letting die, we are more familiar with cases of killing (especially the terrible ones that are reported in the media), but we are less familiar with the details of letting die. This gap leads us to believe that killing is always worse.

First argument against the conventional doctrine is that many cases of "letting die" are WORSE (for the patient) than is killing them. If the patient is going to die either way, why is it morally permissible to dehydrate them to death? Either way, the patient is dead. But the conventional doctrine often adds a requirement of suffering before dying.

The refusal of treatment to some "defective" newborns, and the subsequent death by dehydration, shows that some cases of letting die are worse than killing.

Second argument is the Bathtub Example of Smith and Jones. It demonstrates that some cases of letting die are at least as bad as killing.

Therefore, the "bare" difference between killing and letting die doesn’t always make a moral difference.

Therefore, in many cases where it is right to let a patient die, it is also right to practice active euthanasia.

* Definitions:
- Active Euthanasia = taking a direct action designed to kill a patient
- Passive Euthanasia = deliberate withholding of treatment that could prolong patient's life, allowing the patient to die

Original article: James Rachels,"Active and Passive Euthanasia," New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 292, No. 2 (January 9, 1975), pp. 78-80.
Source for this post: http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20115/rachels_on_euthanasia.htm (repritned with permission).
See also: J. David Velleman, “Against the Right to Die”, http://homepages.nyu.edu/~jrs477/David%20Velleman%20- %20Against%20the%20Right%20to%20Die.pdf; Brock, D., “Voluntary Active Euthanasia”, Hastings Center Report, 22/2 (1993):10-22; Luke Gormally “Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Seven Reasons Why They Should Not Be Legalized”, in Linacre Centre; Tooley, Michael,"Voluntary Euthanasia:Active Versus Passive, and the Question of Consistency,"in Revue Internationale de Philosophie, 49/3 (1995): 305-22; John Hardwig, “Dying at the Right Time.Reflections on Assisted and Unassisted Suicide” in LaFollette, H., ed., Ethics in Practice (Blackwell, 1996); Walter Glannon, "Persons, Lives, and Posthumous Harms,"in Journal of Social Philosophy 36 (2001): 127-142.