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September 1, 2022In Evangelium Vitae, his 1995 landmark encyclical
on the “Gospel of Life,” Pope St. John Paul II wrote: “Especially significant is the reawakening of ethical reflection on issues affecting life. The emergence and ever more widespread development of bioethics is promoting more reflection and dialogue…on ethical problems, including fundamental issues pertaining to human life” (n. 27).
That reawakening is certainly not ill timed. The late Holy Father keenly observed the depths to which the culture of death has pervaded every corner of society; where human life is devalued, freedom is perverted, and God is rejected (cf. n. 10-24). Is there any doubt that what he observed 27 years ago is even more forcible today?
The Catholic faithful should be at the vanguard of the fight against the culture of death, yet so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are either ignorant of or outright reject magisterial teachings on issues regarding human life. Consider the results of a March 2022 Pew Research Center survey that found 30 percent of respondents who identify as Catholic and attend Mass weekly support abortion in all or most cases. An additional 44 percent of like respondents support abortion in rare cases. Only 24 percent of like respondents held fast to the Church’s moral teaching on abortion. And while there is limited data on the opinions of the Catholic faithful on other moral issues (e.g., human embryonic stem-cell research, physician-assisted suicide, and euthanasia), it is reasonable to presume that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ — even those who attend Mass weekly — may disagree with the magisterium on matters of morality.
So, how do we respond? How do we better inform the consciences of our brothers and sisters in Christ so that they may live well and flourish in this life and experience beatitude in the next? More broadly, how do we engage a society that has turned its back on God and rekindle in our neighbors a thirst for the truth? I think the answer to those questions is found in Catholic bioethics.
Generally speaking, bioethics is a practical science that considers what we ought to do and ought not to do when faced with biological and medical dilemmas. Catholic bioethics is incomparable to other moral philosophies, like utilitarianism and principlism, because it unites science and reason with the fullness of the Catholic faith. That union of faith and reason, according to John Paul II, is “like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth” (Fides et Ratio, Introduction).
It is imperative that Catholic bioethics is incorporated into the early formation of our children and continued through their education and even adulthood. By equipping them with necessary tools to critically think through moral dilemmas, apply moral principles, and dispose of logical fallacies and falsehoods, their conclusions will rightly form their consciences and empower them to engage society. I firmly believe that the more Catholic bioethics education a young man and young woman receive, the more steadfast will be their commitment to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. And those seeds will spread.
I consider Catholic bioethics a manifestation of the gift of tongues given by the Holy Spirit to the apostles at Pentecost because it inspires people to speak in the languages of both faith and reason, thereby spreading the truth of the gospel of life to believers and nonbelievers in our society. By spreading the gospel of life, we will come to realize the meaning of Christ’s words about the triumph of the Church: “And the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).
ANDREW S. KUBICK, PH.D., M.A.,
is a personal consultations fellow at the
National Catholic Bioethics Center. For more information on Catholic bioethics education, visit ncbcenter.org/education-overview.
