Toward the end of the introduction of Dignitas Personae, there is a great quote from John Paul II. I am quoting section 3:
“Life will triumph: this is a sure hope for us. Yes, life will triumph because truth, goodness, joy and true progress are on the side of life. God, who loves life and gives it generously, is on the side of life”.
What a fabulous witness to Christian hope!
Later, in section 8, we find: “By virtue of the simple fact of existing, every human being must be fully respected. The introduction of discrimination with regard to human dignity based on biological, psychological, or educational development, or based on health-related criteria, must be excluded. At every stage of his existence, man, created in the image and likeness of God, reflects “the face of his Only-begotten Son….This boundless and almost incomprehensible love of God for the human being reveals the degree to which the human person deserves to be loved in himself, independently of any other consideration – intelligence, beauty, health, youth, integrity, and so forth. In short, human life is always a good, for it ‘is a manifestation of God in the world, a sign of his presence, a trace of his glory’ (Evangelium vitae, 34)”.
The Church is drawing our renewed attention to the discrimination that exists when we devalue human life based on stage of development, health status or other criteria. It also reaffirms the revelation of God’s love in the existence of every human life. I have seen subtle but unmistakable “discrimination” of this sort creeping into medical practice even in my own setting. Individual lives being valued as more or less deserving of care and or attention depending on health status, income level or previous utilization of health care resources.
Dignitas Personae concludes Part One with this: “(the Church) reminds them that the ethical value of biomedical science is gauged in reference to both the unconditional respect owed to every human being at every moment of his or her existence, and the defense of the specific character of the personal act which transmits life.” (The Church is referencing here Christian marriage.)
Read the Introduction and Part One of this instruction. There are other theological gems for thought and reflection.
More on the document in later posts.
