Pope asserts the sacred and inviolable dignity of human life even before birth

(Feb. 27, 2006) - The love of God does not make differences between the newly-conceived life in the mother’s womb, the child, the youth, the mature man and the aged, because God sees in each one his own image and likeness. Hence human life is sacred and inviolable in every moment of its existence, even before its birth. Pope Benedict XVI re-affirmed this teaching of the Catholic Church on Monday while talking to participants of an international congress on the theme, “The Human Embryo Prior to Implantation: Scientific Aspects and Bioethical Considerations.” Some 350 experts, including scientists, doctors, researchers, theologians and bioethicists from around are participating in the Feb. 27-28 international congress sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life.
Pope Benedict said that even though Sacred Scriptures do not provide explicit teaching on the first days of life to be born, they do speak of God’s love for each human being yet to take form in the womb of the mother. The study of the human embryo prior to implantation, i.e. on the very first days following conception is extremely important today both in its philosophical-anthropological reflections as well as in biomedical and juridical application. The Pope said that in every man, in whatever phase or state, shines the reflection of the reality of God. For this reason the Church’s teaching has constantly proclaimed the sacred and inviolable character of every human life, from its conception to its natural end. This moral judgement is valid already at the start of embryonic life, even before it is implanted in the mother’s womb that protects and nourishes it for 9 months till the moment of birth. Human life is sacred and inviolable in every moment of its existence even before birth.
According to Bishop Sgreccia, who head’s the Pontifical Academy For Life, the human embryo, even if it is not being nurtured in a maternal uterus, is a child. The human embryo maintains this status even when it is manipulated or destroyed, thus becoming a "crucial" question "both for anthropology as well as ethics," he said. The congress is studying whether the Church’s position on this matter has scientific basis and whether this stand can be defended from the ethical point of view.