2005–06 Respect Life Program Honors Pope John Paul II

BY Susan E. Wills

Within days of the 10th anniversary of his encyclical letter The Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II returned to the Father's house. On the strength of this encyclical alone, John Paul might have earned the title "Apostle of Life."

In fact, The Gospel of Life crowned a half-century of speeches, writings, and heroic personal witness testifying to the dignity and inviolability of every human life, no matter how old or young, healthy or sick, unformed or disabled. And in the final decade of his life, his witness shone all the brighter in his determination to convey the value of life even in suffering, frailty, and imminent death. It is fitting that the 2005–06 Respect Life Program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is a tribute to this great Apostle of Life.

The program's theme is adapted from John Paul's December 8, 2004 prayer: "Help build a world where human life is always loved and defended, every form of violence banished." It is not enough to respect life in principle; each of us must translate that respect into caring acts and public advocacy.

This year's flyer looks at certain cultural attitudes which contribute to putting vulnerable lives at risk: extreme personal autonomy and moral relativism, the notion that there are lives unworthy of living (where've we heard that before?), and the desire to avoid suffering at all costs. We must remind the world that human beings have "a sublime dignity, based on the intimate bond which unites" us to our Creator. And the antidote to this cultural malaise is to take up the crosses in our own lives, "loving others to the point that we die to our pride and selfishness, our tendency to view others as obstacles or things to be used."

An article by Helen M. Alvare, Esq., professor at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law, revisits the central themes of the encyclical in "The Gospel of Life and Its Great Exemplar." In coining the term "culture of death," John Paul drew attention to the relationship between a distorted notion of human freedom and the nature of modern attacks on human life.

The very institutions whose purpose is to defend vulnerable human lives--the family, medical profession, and the state--are today, in the name of "freedom" and "choice," colluding in killing those who lack the means of self-defense. "Achieving authentic freedom," Professor Alvare notes, "requires respecting the truth about human life," including the inherently relational aspect of human nature.

We cannot thrive in isolation, but find true meaning in our lives through giving and receiving love. Without solidarity, John Paul wrote, freedom ends up "becoming the freedom of the 'strong' against the weak, who have no choice but to submit." Every other person becomes a stranger, if not an enemy, an obstacle in the path of our self-realization.

John Paul assured us that, through both reason and faith, we can know that the common good is served by upholding the good of every individual. History has shown that no human life is secure in a society that considers some lives less than human. John Paul concluded The Gospel of Life by urging everyone who values life to contribute to building a culture that respects and protects human life by the witness of our lives, through public advocacy and, above all, prayer.

Rev. J. Daniel Mindling, O.F.M. Cap., academic dean at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, recapitulates John Paul's teachings on end of life issues in "Pope John Paul II: Dying with Dignity." The late pontiff spoke eloquently and often on the dignity and value of human life in its final stage--opposing assisted suicide and euthanasia, including the denial of food and water to those who are not imminently dying.

Above all, John Paul urged us to show true compassion to the dying, which means sharing another's pain, not killing the person whose suffering we cannot bear. "The terminally ill in particular deserve the solidarity, communion, and affection of those around them."

An article entitled "Genetic Enhancement: Custom Kids and Chimeras," authored by Marilyn E. Coors, Ph.D., demonstrates that John Paul was ahead of his time in exploring the potential benefits and ethical pitfalls in the field of genetic enhancement. In 1983 "he endorsed therapeutic interventions such as those affecting 'chromosomal deficiencies' when the intervention promotes well-being, and does not harm the biological integrity of the human person or cause increased suffering." At the same time, he warned about interventions that might so alter human traits that they compromise the integrity of humans and cause greater marginalization of genetic "have-nots." He warned against reducing human beings to a materialist "Genes-R-Us" mentality, treating children, for example, like commodities one can reject if genetically imperfect or like custom products one can design.

Lastly, in "Roe v. Reason," Richard Stith, J.D., Ph.D., a Valparaiso University School of Law professor, condemns the Roe v. Wade decision for its abandonment of reason as much as its abandonment of constitutional law. Professor Stith reminds us that the Roe Court claimed agnosticism (and ignored scientific evidence) regarding the beginning of each human life at fertilization.

Instead, the Court stipulated that we couldn't know, before the bright line of birth, if we were dealing with a human being entitled to the protection of law. Professor Stith notes the irony in the Supreme Court's 2000 decision upholding partial-birth abortion (Stenberg v. Carhart).

Justices Ginsburg and Stevens declared it "simply irrational" to think the location of the child inside or outside of the womb when he or she is killed should matter, yet this distinction was central to Roe.

Respect Life flyers, articles, clip art, liturgy guide, and poster can be purchased separately or in an attractive kit folder by calling toll free: (866) 582-0943. Materials in English and Spanish also can be downloaded at www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/rlp0506.htm.