36. There are those who say that the moral teaching of the Church contains too many prohibitions. In reality, however, her teaching is based on the recognition and promotion of all the gifts which the Creator has bestowed on man: such as life, knowledge, freedom and love. Particular appreciation is due not only to man’s intellectual activities, but also to those which are practical, like work and technological activities. By these, in fact, he participates in the creative power of God and is called to transform creation by ordering its many resources toward the dignity and wellbeing of all human beings and of the human person in his entirety. In this way, man acts as the steward of the value and intrinsic beauty of creation.
Human history shows, however, how man has abused and can continue to abuse the power and capabilities which God has entrusted to him, giving rise to various forms of unjust discrimination and oppression of the weakest and most defenseless: the daily attacks on human life; the existence of large regions of poverty where people are dying from hunger and disease, excluded from the intellectual and practical resources available in abundance in many countries; technological and industrial development which is creating the real risk of a collapse of the ecosystem; the use of scientific research in the areas of physics, chemistry and biology for purposes of waging war; the many conflicts which still divide peoples and cultures; these sadly are only some of the most obvious signs of how man can make bad use of his abilities and become his own worst enemy by losing the awareness of his lofty and specific vocation to collaborate in the creative work of God.
37. If initially human and social progress was characterized primarily by industrial development and the production of consumer goods, today it is distinguished by developments in information technologies, research in genetics, medicine and biotechnologies for human benefit, which are areas of great importance for the future of humanity, but in which there are also evident and unacceptable abuses. “Just as a century ago it was the working classes which were oppressed in their fundamental rights, and the Church courageously came to their defense by proclaiming the sacrosanct rights of the worker as person, so now, when another category of persons is being oppressed in the fundamental right to life, the Church feels in duty bound to speak out with the same courage on behalf of those who have no voice. Hers is always the evangelical cry in defense of the world’s poor, those who are threatened and despised and whose human rights are violated”.[59]
In virtue of the Church’s doctrinal and pastoral mission, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has felt obliged to reiterate both the dignity and the fundamental and inalienable rights of every human being, including those in the initial stages of their existence, and to state explicitly the need for protection and respect which this dignity requires of everyone.
The fulfillment of this duty implies courageous opposition to all those practices which result in grave and unjust discrimination against unborn human beings, who have the dignity of a person, created like others in the image of God. Behind every “no” in the difficult task of discerning between good and evil, there shines a great “yes” to the recognition of the dignity and inalienable value of every single and unique human being called into existence.
The Christian faithful will commit themselves to the energetic promotion of a new culture of life by receiving the contents of this Instruction with the religious assent of their spirit, knowing that God always gives the grace necessary to observe his commandments and that, in every human being, above all in the least among us, one meets Christ himself (cf. Mt 25:40). In addition, all persons of good will, in particular physicians and researchers open to dialogue and desirous of knowing what is true, will understand and agree with these principles and judgments, which seek to safeguard the vulnerable condition of human beings in the first stages of life and to promote a more human civilization.
Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 8 September 2008, Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
[1] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae on respect for human life at its origins and for the dignity of procreation (22 February 1987):
AAS 80 (1988), 70-102.
[2] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Veritatis splendor regarding certain fundamental questions of the Church’s moral teaching (6 August 1993):
AAS 85 (1993), 1133-1228.
[3] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Evangelium vitae on the value and inviolability of human life (25 March 1995):
AAS 87 (1995), 401-522.
[4] John Paul II, Address to the participants in the Seventh Assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Life (3 March 2001), 3:
AAS 93 (2001), 446.
[5] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Fides et ratio on the relationship between faith and reason (14 September 1998), 1:
AAS 91 (1999), 5.
[6] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, I, 1:
AAS 80 (1988), 79.
[7] Human rights, as Pope Benedict XVI has recalled, and in particular the right to life of every human being “are based on the natural law inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilizations. Removing human rights from this context would mean restricting their range and yielding to a relativistic conception, according to which the meaning and interpretation of rights could vary and their universality would be denied in the name of different cultural, political, social and even religious outlooks. This great variety of viewpoints must not be allowed to obscure the fact that not only rights are universal, but so too is the human person, the subject of those rights” (Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations [18 April 2008]:
AAS 100 [2008], 334).
[8] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, I, 1:
AAS 80 (1988), 78-79.
[9] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, A, 1:
AAS 80 (1988), 87.
[10] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter
Humanae vitae (25 July 1968), 8:
AAS 60 (1968), 485-486.
[11] Benedict XVI, Address to the Participants in the International Congress organized by the Pontifical Lateran University on the 40
th Anniversary of the Encyclical
Humanae vitae, 10 May 2008:
L’Osservatore Romano, 11 May 2008, p. 1; cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter
Mater et magistra (15 May 1961), III:
AAS 53 (1961), 447.
[12] Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution
Gaudium et spes, 22.
[15] Benedict XVI, Address to the General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life and International Congress on “The Human Embryo in the Pre-implantation Phase” (27 February 2006):
AAS 98 (2006), 264.
[16] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, Introduction, 3:
AAS 80 (1988), 75.
[17] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation
Familiaris consortio on the role of the Christian family in the modern world (22 September 1981), 19:
AAS 74 (1982), 101-102.
[18] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Declaration
Dignitatis humanae, 14.
[19] Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, A, 1:
AAS 80 (1988), 87.
[20] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, B, 4:
AAS 80 (1988), 92.
[21] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, Introduction, 3:
AAS 80 (1988), 75.
[22] The term
heterologous artificial fertilization or procreation refers to “techniques used to obtain a human conception artificially by the use of gametes coming from at least one donor other than the spouses who are joined in marriage” (Instruction
Donum vitae, II:
AAS 80 [1988], 86).
[23] The term
homologous artificial fertilization or procreation refers to “the technique used to obtain a human conception using the gametes of the two spouses joined in marriage” (Instruction
Donum vitae, II:
AAS 80 [1988], 86).
[24] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, B, 7:
AAS 80 (1988), 96; cf. Pius XII, Address to those taking part in the Fourth International Congress of Catholic Doctors (29 September 1949):
AAS 41 (1949), 560.
[25] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, B, 6:
AAS 80 (1988), 94.
[26] Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II:
AAS 80 (1988), 86.
[27] Currently the number of embryos sacrificed, even in the most technically advanced centers of artificial fertilization, hovers above 80%.
[29] Cf. Pius XII, Address to the Second World Congress in Naples on human reproduction and sterility (19 May 1956):
AAS 48 (1956), 470; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter
Humanae vitae, 12:
AAS 60 (1968), 488-489; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, B, 4-5:
AAS 80 (1988), 90-94.
[30] An increasing number of persons, even those who are unmarried, are having recourse to techniques of artificial reproduction in order to have a child. These actions weaken the institution of marriage and cause babies to be born in environments which are not conducive to their full human development.
[31] Benedict XVI, Address to the General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life and International Congress on “The Human Embryo in the Pre-implantation Phase” (27 February 2006):
AAS 98 (2006), 264.
[32] Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is similar in almost every respect to other forms of
in vitro fertilization with the difference that in this procedure fertilization in the test tube does not take place on its own, but rather by means of the injection into the oocyte of a single sperm, selected earlier, or by the injection of immature germ cells taken from the man.
[33] There is ongoing discussion among specialists regarding the health risks which this method may pose for children conceived in this way.
[34] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, B, 5:
AAS 80 (1988), 93.
[35] Cryopreservation of embryos refers to freezing them at extremely low temperatures, allowing long term storage.
[36] Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, I, 6:
AAS 80 (1988), 84-85.
[37] Cf. numbers 34-35 below.
[38] Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, II, A, 1-3:
AAS 80 (1988), 87-89.
[39] John Paul II, Address to the participants in the Symposium on “
Evangelium vitae and Law” and the Eleventh International Colloquium on Roman and Canon Law (24 May 1996), 6:
AAS 88 (1996), 943-944.
[40] Cryopreservation of oocytes is also indicated in other medical contexts which are not under consideration here. The term oocyte refers to the female germ cell (gametocyte) not penetrated by the spermatozoa.
[41] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution
Gaudium et spes, n. 51; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Evangelium vitae, 62:
AAS 87 (1995), 472.
[43] The interceptive methods which are best known are the IUD (intrauterine device) and the so-called “morning-after pills”.
[44] The principal means of contragestation are RU-486 (Mifepristone), synthetic prostaglandins or Methotrexate.
[46]Cf. CIC, can. 1398 and CCEO, can. 1450 § 2; cf. also CIC, can. 1323-1324. The Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law declared that the canonical concept of abortion is “the killing of the fetus in whatever way or at whatever time from the moment of conception” (
Response of 23 May 1988:
AAS 80 [1988], 1818).
[47] In the current state of knowledge, the techniques which have been proposed for accomplishing human cloning are two: artificial embryo twinning and cell nuclear transfer.
Artificial embryo twinning consists in the artificial separation of individual cells or groups of cells from the embryo in the earliest stage of development. These are then transferred into the uterus in order to obtain identical embryos in an artificial manner.
Cell nuclear transfer, or cloning properly speaking, consists in introducing a nucleus taken from an embryonic or somatic cell into an denucleated oocyte. This is followed by stimulation of the oocyte so that it begins to develop as an embryo.
[48] Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, I, 6:
AAS 80 (1988), 84; John Paul II, Address to Members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See (10 January 2005), 5:
AAS 97 (2005), 153.
[49] The new techniques of this kind are, for example, the use of human parthenogenesis, altered nuclear transfer (ANT) and oocyte assisted reprogramming (OAR).
[51] Benedict XVI, Address to the participants in the Symposium on the topic: “Stem Cells: what is the future for therapy?” organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life (16 September 2006):
AAS 98 (2006), 694.
[52] Cf. numbers 34-35 below.
[53] Cf. Benedict XVI, Address to the participants in the Symposium on the topic: “Stem Cells: what is the future for therapy?” organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life (16 September 2006):
AAS 98 (2006), 693-695.
[56] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum vitae, I, 4:
AAS 80 (1988), 83.
[57] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Evangelium vitae, 73:
AAS 87 (1995), 486: “Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a
grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection”. The right of conscientious objection, as an expression of the right to freedom of conscience, should be protected by law.
[59] John Paul II, Letter to all the Bishops on “The Gospel of Life” (19 May 1991):
AAS 84 (1992), 319.
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