CDF Issues Instruction on Bioethics

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an Instruction on Thursday, Dec. 12th. Titled Dignitas Personae, The Dignity of the Person, the Instruction deals with certain bioethical questions, including the morally acceptable means of conducting stem cell research and treating problems with fertility. Chris Altieri discussed the Instruction with the Under-Secretay of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Fr. Augustine DiNoia, O.P....

Fr. Di Noia: The document is really a companion document to one that appeared in 1987, called Donum Vitae (DoVi), and I would say that the principles articulated by DoVi about the sacredness of te beginning of life – those principles remain applicable in this new document, which is called The Dignity of the Person, or Dignitas Personae, so that, in that sense, there’s a vision of the human person that is consistent, and the Magisterium of the Church has always proposed: that we see human beings not just as physical beings, but as physical-spiritual beings with a destiny, beyond, to which God is calling us, and that, in viewing all the moral issues, including those in bio-ethics, we have to take that larger picture of what it means to be human into account.

CRA: Fr. DiNoia, What’s new in the Document? You say that, in principle, everything is the same – and to a certain extent, those who are familiar with the Catholic Church are not going to be surprised by that – but the question is there, isn’t it: why is there a new document at all?

Fr. DiNoia: Yes. The very point of this document was to take account of new developments in the area of medical technology and scientific studies o these issues, that have emerged in the 20 or so years since DoVi. Because there are new developments in these areas, there is an attempt to apply the principles of moral theology, as they affect bioethics, to these new developments.

CRA: We’ll hear often that the Church is against stem cell research – that the Church says no to stem cell research, for example – some people say that the Church says no to just about everything. What would you have to say to people who take that general position, and would you have anything to clarify regarding the Church’s position on stem cells? Is there anything this document specifically clarifies?

Fr. DiNoia: Perhaps I’ll begin with that first, and then go to the larger issue. With regard to stem cell research, the Church is very clear that stem cells derived from sources other than the embryo, [are] perfectly legitimate. The issue with stem cell research that is morally problematic is to treat the embryo, which is from the Church’s perspective, a living human being, as the basis for – this is going to sound a little bit crude – ‘spare parts’: that is to say, to treat the embryo – not to recognize the full human dignity of the embryo, and to use it to experiment in a way that would – well I suppose the Nazis did it – but that would be unthinkable if you were talking about grown, fully formed human beings. This use of the embryo for the sake of experimentation, and even for therapeutic purposes: that is what is excluded. The Church totally supports all the other kinds of stem cell research, which is, by the way – and this is not directly applicable, morally – much more fruitful, apparently, for therapeutic purposes. Many people think, especially in the area of health care – which is really where we are, essentially, medicine and health care – they think of Catholic teaching in terms of prohibited services. That is, they think of all of the things you cannot do if you are a Catholic hospital, a Catholic physician, a Catholic nurse, whatever. These “No’s”, as the Holy Father has said many times – Pope Benedict has said this – these “no’s” are derived from [a] very large “Yes,” and, if I may put it this way, many, many smaller ‘Yesses’. The large “Yes!” is to the dignity of human life. Dignitas Personae states at the very outset that itwishes to emphasize the great “Yes!” to human life. That’s a quote, and this is a resounding, fundamental “Yes!” to human life, and the integrity, in this case, the integrity of marriage and of the unity of the husband and wife in producing a child – that’s in the second part on assisted fertilization. Then, there’s also a “Yes!” to science, the recognition of the scientific developments that have taken place. There’s a “Yes!” to all the fertility treatments that, to quote the document, overcome or correct pathologies, and succeed in re-establishing the normal functioning of human procreation. There’s a “Yes!” to the therapeutic use of stem cells, as I’ve mentioned already. There’s a “Yes!” to the intrinsic worth, value and equality of every human being from conception to natural death. So, in the end – and you know I could go on – this litany of ‘yesses’ – Yes: some of these affirmations and positive assertions have a negative side, but their principal direction is a positive account, a vision of what it means to be human, and why human life sacred, as we say, from conception until natural death.