Why was evangelium vitae written

The document focuses on right to life issues including abortion , birth control , and euthanasia, but also touches on other concepts relevant to embryology , such as contraception , in vitro fertilization , sterilization , embryonic stem cell research , and fetal experimentation. It reaffirms the idea that man must never deliberately kill or assist in killing another human, as the act disobeys one of the Ten Commandments and is against natural moral order.

Later in the document, Pope John Paul II discusses the death penalty, stating that it is a form of murder and is therefore unholy and unlawful. Wis had reassured Israel in the midst of danger, so now the Son of God proclaims to all who feel threatened and hindered that their lives too are a good to which the Father's love gives meaning and value. With these words of the Prophet Isaiah , , Jesus sets forth the meaning of his own mission: all who suffer because their lives are in some way "diminished" thus hear from him the "good news" of God's concern for them, and they know for certain that their lives too are a gift carefully guarded in the hands of the Father cf.

Mt It is above all the "poor" to whom Jesus speaks in his preaching and actions. The crowds of the sick and the outcasts who follow him and seek him out cf. Mt find in his words and actions a revelation of the great value of their lives and of how their hope of salvation is well-founded. The same thing has taken place in the Church's mission from the beginning.

When the Church proclaims Christ as the one who "went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him" Acts , she is conscious of being the bearer of a message of salvation which resounds in all its newness precisely amid the hardships and poverty of human life.

Peter cured the cripple who daily sought alms at the "Beautiful Gate" of the Temple in Jerusalem, saying: "I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk" Acts By faith in Jesus, "the Author of life" Acts , life which lies abandoned and cries out for help regains self-esteem and full dignity. The words and deeds of Jesus and those of his Church are not meant only for those who are sick or suffering or in some way neglected by society.

On a deeper level they affect the very meaning of every person's life in its moral and spiritual dimensions. Only those who recognize that their life is marked by the evil of sin can discover in an encounter with Jesus the Saviour the truth and the authenticity of their own existence. Jesus himself says as much: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" Lk But the person who, like the rich land-owner in the Gospel parable, thinks that he can make his life secure by the possession of material goods alone, is deluding himself.

Life is slipping away from him, and very soon he will find himself bereft of it without ever having appreciated its real meaning: "Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? In Jesus' own life, from beginning to end, we find a singular "dialectic" between the experience of the uncertainty of human life and the affirmation of its value.

Jesus' life is marked by uncertainty from the very moment of his birth. He is certainly accepted by the righteous, who echo Mary's immediate and joyful "yes" cf. Lk But there is also, from the start, rejection on the part of a world which grows hostile and looks for the child in order "to destroy him" Mt ; a world which remains indifferent and unconcerned about the fulfilment of the mystery of this life entering the world: "there was no place for them in the inn" Lk In this contrast between threats and insecurity on the one hand and the power of God's gift on the other, there shines forth all the more clearly the glory which radiates from the house at Nazareth and from the manger at Bethlehem: this life which is born is salvation for all humanity cf.

Life's contradictions and risks were fully accepted by Jesus: "though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" 2 Cor The poverty of which Paul speaks is not only a stripping of divine privileges, but also a sharing in the lowliest and most vulnerable conditions of human life cf. Phil Jesus lived this poverty throughout his life, until the culminating moment of the Cross: "he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name" Phil It is precisely by his death that Jesus reveals all the splendour and value of life, inasmuch as his self-oblation on the Cross becomes the source of new life for all people cf.

In his journeying amid contradictions and in the very loss of his life, Jesus is guided by the certainty that his life is in the hands of the Father. Consequently, on the Cross, he can say to him: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit! Truly great must be the value of human life if the Son of God has taken it up and made it the instrument of the salvation of all humanity! Life is always a good. This is an instinctive perception and a fact of experience, and man is called to grasp the profound reason why this is so.

Why is life a good? This question is found everywhere in the Bible, and from the very first pages it receives a powerful and amazing answer. The life which God gives man is quite different from the life of all other living creatures, inasmuch as man, although formed from the dust of the earth cf.

Gen , ; Job ; Ps ; , is a manifestation of God in the world, a sign of his presence, a trace of his glory cf. Gen ; Ps This is what Saint Irenaeus of Lyons wanted to emphasize in his celebrated definition: "Man, living man, is the glory of God". The Book of Genesis affirms this when, in the first account of creation, it places man at the summit of God's creative activity, as its crown, at the culmination of a process which leads from indistinct chaos to the most perfect of creatures. Everything in creation is ordered to man and everything is made subject to him: "Fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over A similar message is found also in the other account of creation: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" Gen We see here a clear affirmation of the primacy of man over things; these are made subject to him and entrusted to his responsible care, whereas for no reason can he be made subject to other men and almost reduced to the level of a thing.

In the biblical narrative, the difference between man and other creatures is shown above all by the fact that only the creation of man is presented as the result of a special decision on the part of God, a deliberation to establish a particular and specific bond with the Creator: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" Gen The life which God offers to man is a gift by which God shares something of himself with his creature.

Israel would ponder at length the meaning of this particular bond between man and God. The Book of Sirach too recognizes that God, in creating human beings, "endowed them with strength like his own, and made them in his own image" The biblical author sees as part of this image not only man's dominion over the world but also those spiritual faculties which are distinctively human, such as reason, discernment between good and evil, and free will: "He filled them with knowledge and understanding, and showed them good and evil" Sir The ability to attain truth and freedom are human prerogatives inasmuch as man is created in the image of his Creator, God who is true and just cf.

Dt Man alone, among all visible creatures, is "capable of knowing and loving his Creator". It is a drive towards fullness of life; it is the seed of an existence which transcends the very limits of time: "For God created man for incorruption, and made him in the image of his own eternity" Wis The Yahwist account of creation expresses the same conviction.

This ancient narrative speaks of a divine breath which is breathed into man so that he may come to life: "The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" Gen The divine origin of this spirit of life explains the perennial dissatisfaction which man feels throughout his days on earth. Because he is made by God and bears within himself an indelible imprint of God, man is naturally drawn to God.

When he heeds the deepest yearnings of the heart, every man must make his own the words of truth expressed by Saint Augustine: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you". How very significant is the dissatisfaction which marks man's life in Eden as long as his sole point of reference is the world of plants and animals cf. Only the appearance of the woman, a being who is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones cf.

Gen , and in whom the spirit of God the Creator is also alive, can satisfy the need for interpersonal dialogue, so vital for human existence. In the other, whether man or woman, there is a reflection of God himself, the definitive goal and fulfilment of every person.

Compared to the immensity of the universe, man is very small, and yet this very contrast reveals his greatness: "You have made him little less than a god, and crown him with glory and honour" Ps The glory of God shines on the face of man. In man the Creator finds his rest, as Saint Ambrose comments with a sense of awe: "The sixth day is finished and the creation of the world ends with the formation of that masterpiece which is man, who exercises dominion over all living creatures and is as it were the crown of the universe and the supreme beauty of every created being.

Truly we should maintain a reverential silence, since the Lord rested from every work he had undertaken in the world. He rested then in the depths of man, he rested in man's mind and in his thought; after all, he had created man endowed with reason, capable of imitating him, of emulating his virtue, of hungering for heavenly graces. In these his gifts God reposes, who has said:? Upon whom shall I rest, if not upon the one who is humble, contrite in spirit and trembles at my word?

I thank the Lord our God who has created so wonderful a work in which to take his rest". Unfortunately, God's marvellous plan was marred by the appearance of sin in history. Through sin, man rebels against his Creator and ends up by worshipping creatures: "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator" Rom As a result man not only deforms the image of God in his own person, but is tempted to offences against it in others as well, replacing relationships of communion by attitudes of distrust, indifference, hostility and even murderous hatred.

When God is not acknowledged as God, the profound meaning of man is betrayed and communion between people is compromised. In the life of man, God's image shines forth anew and is again revealed in all its fullness at the coming of the Son of God in human flesh. He is the perfect image of the Father. The plan of life given to the first Adam finds at last its fulfilment in Christ. Whereas the disobedience of Adam had ruined and marred God's plan for human life and introduced death into the world, the redemptive obedience of Christ is the source of grace poured out upon the human race, opening wide to everyone the gates of the kingdom of life cf.

Rom As the Apostle Paul states: "The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" 1 Cor All who commit themselves to following Christ are given the fullness of life: the divine image is restored, renewed and brought to perfection in them.

God's plan for human beings is this, that they should "be conformed to the image of his Son" Rom Only thus, in the splendour of this image, can man be freed from the slavery of idolatry, rebuild lost fellowship and rediscover his true identity. The life which the Son of God came to give to human beings cannot be reduced to mere existence in time.

The life which was always "in him" and which is the "light of men" Jn consists in being begotten of God and sharing in the fullness of his love: "To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" Jn Sometimes Jesus refers to this life which he came to give simply as "life", and he presents being born of God as a necessary condition if man is to attain the end for which God has created him: "Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God" Jn To give this life is the real object of Jesus' mission: he is the one who "comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world" Jn Thus can he truly say: "He who follows me At other times, Jesus speaks of "eternal life".

Here the adjective does more than merely evoke a perspective which is beyond time. The life which Jesus promises and gives is "eternal" because it is a full participation in the life of the "Eternal One". Whoever believes in Jesus and enters into communion with him has eternal life cf. Jn ; because he hears from Jesus the only words which reveal and communicate to his existence the fullness of life. These are the "words of eternal life" which Peter acknowledges in his confession of faith: "Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God" Jn Jesus himself, addressing the Father in the great priestly prayer, declares what eternal life consists in: "This is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" Jn To know God and his Son is to accept the mystery of the loving communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit into one's own life, which even now is open to eternal life because it shares in the life of God.

Eternal life is therefore the life of God himself and at the same time the life of the children of God. As they ponder this unexpected and inexpressible truth which comes to us from God in Christ, believers cannot fail to be filled with ever new wonder and unbounded gratitude.

They can say in the words of the Apostle John: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" 1 Jn Here the Christian truth about life becomes most sublime.

The dignity of this life is linked not only to its beginning, to the fact that it comes from God, but also to its final end, to its destiny of fellowship with God in knowledge and love of him.

In the light of this truth Saint Irenaeus qualifies and completes his praise of man: "the glory of God" is indeed, "man, living man", but "the life of man consists in the vision of God". Immediate consequences arise from this for human life in its earthly state, in which, for that matter, eternal life already springs forth and begins to grow.

Although man instinctively loves life because it is a good, this love will find further inspiration and strength, and new breadth and depth, in the divine dimensions of this good.

Similarly, the love which every human being has for life cannot be reduced simply to a desire to have sufficient space for self-expression and for entering into relationships with others; rather, it devel- ops in a joyous awareness that life can become the "place" where God manifests himself, where we meet him and enter into communion with him.

The life which Jesus gives in no way lessens the value of our existence in time; it takes it and directs it to its final destiny: "I am the resurrection and the life Man's life comes from God; it is his gift, his image and imprint, a sharing in his breath of life.

God therefore is the sole Lord of this life: man cannot do with it as he wills. God himself makes this clear to Noah after the Flood: "For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting The biblical text is concerned to emphasize how the sacredness of life has its foundation in God and in his creative activity: "For God made man in his own image" Gen Human life and death are thus in the hands of God, in his power: "In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind", exclaims Job He alone can say: "It is I who bring both death and life" Dt But God does not exercise this power in an arbitrary and threatening way, but rather as part of his care and loving concern for his creatures.

If it is true that human life is in the hands of God, it is no less true that these are loving hands, like those of a mother who accepts, nurtures and takes care of her child: "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother's breast; like a child that is quieted is my soul" Ps ; cf.

Is ; ; Hos Thus Israel does not see in the history of peoples and in the destiny of individuals the outcome of mere chance or of blind fate, but rather the results of a loving plan by which God brings together all the possibilities of life and opposes the powers of death arising from sin: "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living.

For he created all things that they might exist" Wis The sacredness of life gives rise to its inviolability, written from the beginning in man's heart, in his conscience. The question: "What have you done? The commandment regarding the inviolability of human life reverberates at the heart of the "ten words" in the covenant of Sinai cf.

In the first place that commandment prohibits murder: "You shall not kill" Ex ; "do not slay the innocent and righteous" Ex But, as is brought out in Israel's later legislation, it also prohibits all personal injury inflicted on another cf.

Of course we must recognize that in the Old Testament this sense of the value of life, though already quite marked, does not yet reach the refinement found in the Sermon on the Mount. This is apparent in some aspects of the current penal legislation, which provided for severe forms of corporal punishment and even the death penalty.

But the overall message, which the New Testament will bring to perfection, is a forceful appeal for respect for the inviolability of physical life and the integrity of the person. It culminates in the positive commandment which obliges us to be responsible for our neighbour as for ourselves: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" Lev The commandment "You shall not kill", included and more fully expressed in the positive command of love for one's neighbour, is reaffirmed in all its force by the Lord Jesus.

To the rich young man who asks him: "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life? And he quotes, as the first of these: "You shall not kill" Mt In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus demands from his disciples a righteousness which surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, also with regard to respect for life: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old,? You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment'.

But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment" Mt By his words and actions Jesus further unveils the positive requirements of the commandment regarding the inviolability of life.

These requirements were already present in the Old Testament, where legislation dealt with protecting and defending life when it was weak and threatened: in the case of foreigners, widows, orphans, the sick and the poor in general, including children in the womb cf.

Ex ; With Jesus these positive requirements assume new force and urgency, and are revealed in all their breadth and depth: they range from caring for the life of one's brother whether a blood brother, someone belonging to the same people, or a foreigner living in the land of Israel to showing concern for the stranger, even to the point of loving one's enemy.

A stranger is no longer a stranger for the person who mustbecome a neighbour to someone in need, to the point of accepting responsibility for his life, as the parable of the Good Samaritan shows so clearly cf. Even an enemy ceases to be an enemy for the person who is obliged to love him cf. Mt ; Lk , to "do good" to him cf. Lk , 33, 35 and to respond to his immediate needs promptly and with no expectation of repayment cf. The height of this love is to pray for one's enemy. By so doing we achieve harmony with the providential love of God: "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" Mt ; cf.

Lk , Thus the deepest element of God's commandment to protect human life is the requirement to show reverence and love for every person and the life of every person. This is the teaching which the Apostle Paul, echoing the words of Jesus, address- es to the Christians in Rome: "The commandments,? You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet', and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence,?

You shall love your neighbour as yourself'. Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" Rom To defend and promote life, to show reverence and love for it, is a task which God entrusts to every man, calling him as his living image to share in his own lordship over the world: "God blessed them, and God said to them,?

Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth' " Gen The biblical text clearly shows the breadth and depth of the lordship which God bestows on man.

It is a matter first of all of dominion over the earth and over every living creature, as the Book of Wisdom makes clear: "O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy The source of our dignity is not only linked to our creation by God, but to our final end and destiny to spend eternity with the Father.

By accepting Christ as our Savior, despite our sinfulness, we can begin to share in eternal life even now. As Christians, we have received the full truth about human life as proclaimed by the very person of Jesus. In sharing in the lowliest and most vulnerable conditions of human life—even death on a cross—Jesus shows us that life is always good.

The true meaning of our lives is found in giving and receiving love. It is only through this understanding of a sincere gift of self that human sexuality and procreation reach their true and full significance.

God holds the lives of all people in his gentle and loving care, giving meaning and value to any sufferings that we may bear.

Truly great must be the value of human life if the Son of God has made it the instrument of our salvation. While the roots of violence against life go all the way back to Genesis, when Cain took the life of his brother Abel, our modern world is suffering under a culture of death. Scientific and technological advances and an increasingly secularized world have led to an eclipse of the value of human life.

However, respect for life requires that science and technology should always be at the service of the human person and his integral development. We must reject systems of structuralized sin which value efficiency and productivity over human persons.

The relationship between civil law and the moral law is next examined. Indeed, Zone of the characteristics of present-day attacks on human life The encyclical recognizes that the task of civil law is different and more limited than that of the moral law. Civil law cannot take the place of conscience or dictate moral norms, but it has the specific role of "ensuring the common good of people through the recognition and defense of their fundamental rights, and the promotion of peace and of public morality" No.

Therefore, although it sometimes has to choose not to put a stop to something which, were it prohibited, would cause more serious harm, it can never presume to legitimize, as the right of individuals, the offense inflicted on other persons through the disregarding of so fundamental a right as the right to life.

In this sense, while taking different situations into account, civil law must safeguard the moral foundation of justice and of respect for everyone's inviolable and inalienable rights, without which the will of the stronger replaces the import of the rights of each individual. Democracy cannot be defined simply by reference to the formal principle of the majority, but must be characterized by a moral basis of respect for all and especially for the rights of the weakest and the most defenseless, those who have no voice and no vote.

The legal norms legitimizing abortion and euthanasia, which are radically opposed to justice, the common good and the fundamental rights of the individual, lack authentic juridical validity.

In the face of these laws, the right to conscientious objection at least must be recognized, this being a serious obligation for the Christian, who cannot formally cooperate in evil. Consequently, there remains the commitment of everyone to promote more just legislation, which will change laws contrary to the right to life and its inviolability. Life as a Task to Be Promoted But the commandment "you shall not kill" establishes only the point of departure of a journey to true freedom, a journey which must lead to the active promotion of life, the development of attitudes and modes of behavior which serve life.

It is to this positive and constructive prospect that the fourth and final chapter of the document of Pope John Paul II is devoted: "for a new culture of human life. The church, defined in a new and expressive way as "the people of life," has the task of proclaiming, celebrating and serving life. Against doubts, skepticism, obscurity and falsehoods, it is a question of proclaiming in its entirety the joyful message of the value of life; the commandment "you shall not kill" is also part of this message.

Ever nourished by the word of God, the church has the primary task of ensuring that the Gospel of life reaches the heart of every man and woman, and that it finds its way into the hidden recesses of the whole of society. She is called also to celebrate the gift of life, considering it with a contemplative and grateful spirit in the light of God's love made manifest in his Son Jesus. The sacraments of the church in an eminent manner, but also the many rituals of various popular and cultural traditions as well as those of everyday life must be means of experiencing joy for this gift, means which help to sustain people in moments of trial and by which their gaze is fixed on the Creator, from whom life comes and to whom it returns.

The mission of the Christian and of the church on behalf of life is fulfilled through the service of charity because charity leads us "to show care for all life and for the life of everyone" No. Mention is made of the extraordinary history of charity in the church, which introduced into society a host of organizations at the service of life. The Holy Father exhorts us to strengthen and continue today the numerous projects which have been undertaken in this regard, calling for creative innovation in responding adequately to new challenges.

In the area of professional health care, volunteer services, education, social involvement and political commitment and in the face of complex demographic problems, it is a question of fostering mature attitudes and finding solutions which respect life.

In particular, at the center of attention must be the family, the "sanctuary of life," in which life is welcomed, nourished, brought up and supported, and taken care of in sickness. However, the family needs to be helped by a social context which is favorable to these values and by policies which promote its primary and irreplaceable role.