Catholic Social Teaching

1. Catholic Social Teaching Section 3: Respecting Human Life and Dignity

2. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The Catholic social teaching about respecting life is rooted in the Fifth Commandment, “You shall not kill.” • We are in a world where the “culture of life” and the “culture of death” have become combatting forces within our own country. • When countries lean toward the culture of death, the first victims are the unborn, the infirm, and the elderly. • We are called to embrace a culture of life.

3. Part 1: Defending Human Life • In 1995, Pope John Paul II wrote the encyclical, The Gospel of Life, which addressed social movements toward abortion and euthanasia, that were being legalized at the time around the world. • Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy by killing the unborn child. • Euthanasia is a direct action, or deliberate lack of action, that causes the death of a person who is handicapped, sick, or dying.

4. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Death takes on many forms around the world, from poverty, homelessness, disease, and violence to deliberate acts of killing by way of abortion and euthanasia (as if there were not enough ways to die in our world as it is). • The Pope called people to form a Culture of Life, or a society that holds all life sacred, from conception to natural death. • A culture of life protects human life and dignity in all its stages, in both health and illness.

5. Part 1: Defending Human Life • A Culture of Death, on the other hand, is a society that does not hold life to be sacred in all it stages, leading to structures of sin that attack human life when it is most vulnerable. • Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, identified two causes of the culture of death: • Many modern people embrace a distorted understanding of human freedom • Materialism

6. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Many people believe we have the right to pursue our own personal goals, no matter what it takes, even if it means removing whatever obstacles lie ahead, even if it is another person’s life. • This is a FALSE conception. • Freedom is not an absolute right; it is a gift, and as such it comes with the responsibilities to choose right over wrong, love over hate, solidarity over selfishness, and life over death. • “Freedom isn’t free.”

7. Part 1: Defending Human Life • People who properly exercise their freedom would never cause harm to another person in pursuit of their own desires. • The second cause of a culture of death is materialism, which comes from when God is not placed at the center of our lives, but rather objects become the primary goal of our life. • When we focus on material things, we become selfish, not wanting to sacrifice or suffer a little, even if it means making someone else’s life a little better.

8. Part 1: Defending Human Life • What is particularly disturbing about the culture of death is the erosion of personal conscience, or the inner voice that guides us by human reason and Divine Law to choose what is morally right or what is morally wrong. • The fact that people can go and end a new life, or a life that is vulnerable, without a care in the world is scary and sad; we are horrified when we see national tragedies like what happened in Newton, CT, yet are not horrified at the amount of life lost daily to abortion and euthanasia.

9. Part 1: Defending Human Life • In 1973, Roe v. Wade came before the Supreme Court, in which it was ruled that states could not limit a woman’s right to have an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy. • Before this decision, a majority of U.S. citizens felt abortion was wrong; leadership had an erosion of conscience about the human dignity of a embryo and fetus, which trickled down to the U.S. citizens.

10. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Once abortion became legal, a structure of sin was formed in which people all over debated if a fetus actually had human rights, or if it was even a human being. • On top of that, as an erosion of conscience occurred, other people began to ask if it was okay to end the lives of unwanted or inconvenient people since it was now legal to end the life of an unborn child. • The erosion of conscience is an important contributor to the culture of death.

11. Part 1: Defending Human Life • We are called to have a well formed conscience, formulated through human reason and Divine Revelation, that has principal, is truthful, and reflects the Divine Law of God. • If we do have a well formed conscience, then we would have a difficult time hearing about abortion and euthanasia and the amount of life lost due to it.

12. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Pope John Paul II says in his encyclical that when a society moves toward a culture of death, the first victims will be the weak and defenseless. • Since 1973 with the Roe v. Wade ruling to 2010, it is estimated that there have been 52 million abortions in the United States. • Building structures of social justice that defend all life, especially the unborn, is important since all people are made in God’s image and as such, are sacred in the eyes of God.

13. Part 1: Defending Human Life • During the first eight to ten weeks in the womb, a child is called a fetus. • Abortion can take on many different forms, with the most common form of abortion being suctioning or scraping the developing child out of the womb. • Other forms of abortion are lethal injections into the womb that kill the child, drugs that are taken days after conception, and contraception which prevents pregnancy or cause death in early pregnancy to the child.

14. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Direct abortion is any intentionally means to end a pregnancy and the life of a child, which goes against God’s plan for creation. • The woman having the abortion and those who perform it are guilty of a serious evil and are subject to excommunication, which is the cutting off of a person from receiving any Sacraments. • An indirect abortion is when a mother is ill, needs a procedure done that is not an abortion, yet inadvertently ends the life of the child.

15. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The Principle of Doubt Effect was coined by Thomas Aquinas and describes what happens when a legitimate action ends up causing something that morally should be avoided. • To decide if the result (which morally should be avoided) is morally tolerable from the legitimate action, the following criteria apply: • The original act is either good or morally neutral • Person committing the act intends for good effects • The good effect outweighs the bad effect and all possible harm is kept at a minimum, or at least tried

16. Part 1: Defending Human Life • To understand these concepts, here is an example situation: • A mother is seriously ill. If a procedure is not done, she will probably die, which will also end the child’s life. The procedure is done to protect the mother’s life and the child’s life. During the procedure, an incident unforeseen occurs, causing the child to die. • In this situation, the indirect abortion is morally tolerable because the procedure was not intended to end the child’s life to save the mother’s life; it was an unwanted effect that occurred during the procedure.

17. Part 1: Defending Human Life • There are numerous arguments for abortion, all of which do not hold any weight. • For example, some people say an embryo or fetus is not a human being when in reality modern biology, specifically genetics, have said an embryo or fetus is a human being. • There are many other facts that support the idea that from the moment of conception, a human being is formed.

18. Part 1: Defending Human Life • From the moment sperm and egg meet, the cell they form has unique DNA, different from that of all human beings that ever existed. • When this cell is left to its own accord, this cell will always develop into an adult human being. • The embryo has its own body; the mother’s body does provide nourishment and oxygen, but the embryo has its own, individual body. • At 21 days after conception, the embryo’s heart beats; 9 weeks, it has fingerprints; 12 weeks, they sleep, exercise, and move; 18 weeks, they can feel pain.

19. Part 1: Defending Human Life • All these facts and more lead to one logical conclusion: a unique human life begins at the moment of conception. • Some people say that women have a choice to do as they please with their body, hence why they should have a right to abortion; however, as mentioned before, the embryo’s body is distinct from the mother’s and has rights too. • Even when fathers abandon the mother, abortion is not the answer; we, as a society, must make fathers more accountable for their actions.

20. Part 1: Defending Human Life • We, as a society, must bring an end to all laws that allow abortion and show women that abortion does not need to be the answer; adoption and support from organizations exist that make abortion not necessary, even in the most difficult situations. • The Church is the voice for the voiceless when it comes to abortion, speaking out against abortion and reaching out to women who have had abortions and realize what wrong they have done to bring them back to the Church through Penance.

21. Part 1: Defending Human Life • There are other moral issues that revolve around the beginning of life outside of abortion. • Artificial Means of Contraception is the ability to create new human life artificially, using such means as in vitro fertilization (fertilizing an ovum in a laboratory and planting it in a woman’s womb) , artificial insemination (artificially implanting semen in a woman’s womb), or surrogate parenting (placing a woman’s fertilized egg in another woman’s womb to grow).

22. Part 1: Defending Human Life • While these techniques mean well, they all share serious moral flaws. • The dignity of sexuality requires children be created naturally, making the three means of artificial conception listed before immoral. • The Church does support scientific research that will help couples who are infertile or have problems conceiving through medical treatment that will increase the chances of natural conception.

23. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Prenatal testing is another issue; this is when a test is done that tests for diseases or defects in the embryo. • Prenatal testing is morally acceptable if it does not harm the embryo or fetus and if used to help the child’s state of health. • If used to decide whether or not to abort a child because of disease or defect, prenatal testing is morally wrong.

24. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Genetic Engineering, also known as producing a “designer baby,” is the manipulation of an ovum’s or embryo’s genetic coding. • Changing the eye color, gender, hair color, etc. through genetic engineering is morally wrong since human beings are acting as God, who alone has the ability to create the uniqueness of each of His creations. • Genetic engineering used to prevent diseases, called gene treatment, is morally acceptable.

25. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Stem Cell Research has been an extreme controversial political issue. • Stem Cells are unique cells that have the potential to reproduce themselves as human tissue and organs; however, one of the main sources of stem cells is fetal tissue, causing scientists to want to use aborted embryos and fetus for their work. • The Church approves of stem cell research that uses adult or umbilical cord stem cells, but condemns stem cell research that uses aborted embryos and fetuses.

26. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The good intention of stem cell research to cure diseases does not justify the evil of abortion. • Just because human beings have the technology to accomplish certain actions does not mean those actions are morally just. • We must defend, care for, and work to heal the unborn just as we would for any born, living, human being we know or see around us now.

27. Part 1: Defending Human Life

28. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Pope John Paul II also spoke about how in developed countries, people seem to more and more seek control of their own lives in everyway, even controlling their own death. • Euthanasia and suicide are just a few signs of the culture of death active in society when it comes to dealing with the sick, vulnerable, and elderly. • We should remember death in this life is not the end, but the beginning of eternal life, which is what we truly should be worried about achieving.

29. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Euthanasia is most commonly known as “mercy killing,” yet in the end, the taking of any life for any reason is murder and a sin. • Nothing justifies euthanasia, whether it is ending the life of a sick person or of an elderly, lonely person. • However, this does not mean that the Church demands life be prolonged by extraordinary means; a when person is near natural death, a person can reject extraordinary means such as pacemakers, breathing machines, and medications that prolong life.

30. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Painkillers are also okay to use, even if they bring about a dying person’s end faster, since the painkillers is meant to alleviate suffering, not cause death. • Rejecting euthanasia is not a lack of compassion for sick and dying people; rather, it is rejecting the false solution euthanasia offers in place of the morally right response to pain and suffering: to place complete trust in God right up until our natural end on Earth.

31. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The Catholic Church and Christians have done great things for sick and dying people, caring for them in hospitals and hospice homes, listening to their needs, and preparing them for the end of this life and the beginning of Eternal Life. • Another moral issue concerning people’s control over death is Suicide, or the deliberate taking of one’s own life. • It is God’s will that preserve our own life.

32. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The reason why people do not have the right to decide when to end their own life is because God alone is the author of all life and God alone decides when and how we die. • People who commit suicide take God’s power into their own hands when things in their life seem too difficult, too stressful, and painful. • Pope John Paul II said “suicide represents a rejection of God’s absolute sovereignty over life and death.”

33. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Suicide not only brings an end to life, but it also causes great harm to family, friends, and sometimes shakes a community to its core. • Suicide is always wrong, but the Church does recognize that some mentally ill or unstable people take their own life due to their illness’ effects, not because they feel they cannot go on. • If you know someone thinking about suicide, tell an adult, even if it means breaking confidentiality.

34. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The Church does pray for those who have committed suicide, commending them to God’s love and mercy, so even though suicide is a grave sin against God, that person may not be lost forever; through God’s mercy, Eternal Life may still be achieved.

35. Part 1: Defending Human Life

36. Part 1: Defending Human Life • Pope John Paul II said the death penalty in modern society should be “very rare, if not practically non-existent.” • Public authorities should address violations of the law with punishments that allow individuals to earn back their freedoms and be rehabilitate; the death penalty should only be used for individuals when there is no other way to defend society against them. • Today however, life sentences are the new norm to allow individuals to be rehabilitated and still have their human dignity intact.

37. Part 1: Defending Human Life • In reality, people who say the death penalty is found throughout the Old Testament are correct. • However, God did not change His mind about the death penalty; we must recall the New Law Jesus taught to understand why the death penalty is wrong. • Jesus calls His disciples to turn the other cheek, love their enemies, and continuously forgive people.

38. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The Old Law was not complete; it taught the Israelites only how to protect their community from evil and limit the punishment people could impose on each other. • Jesus completed the New Law by teaching that we are to love all people and that forgiveness is much more important and satisfying than vengeance. • God did not change His mind; we more fully understand His ways in the New Law now.

39. Part 1: Defending Human Life • We are to practice forgiveness and mercy, just as God gives to each one of us who sin (which is everyone). • Another reason for the death penalty being in the Old Testament is that criminal justice was not as developed as it is today, i.e. criminals could not be held in jail for life, meaning to protect society harmful individuals had to be executed. • The test of whether to use the death penalty is whether society has alternative ways to protect itself, not how horrible the crime is.

40. Part 1: Defending Human Life • We are called to build a culture of life, because even behind jail bars, who knows what God has planned for the life of a murder, terrorist, or any other criminal. • We must give all criminals a chance to repent for their crimes, turn back to God, and reform their life. • We all mess up at some point in our life, obviously some people do worse than others, but we all would like a second chance in the end; God will give that chance to us if we seek it and are truly sorry for what we did.

41. Part 1: Defending Human Life • The death penalty should be ended because God calls us to forgive others and punish them justly by way of preserving their human dignity. • God is the sole author of life and decides when to call us home, hence why abortion, euthanasia, suicide, and the death penalty are all morally wrong.

42. Part 2: Promoting Peace • Violent behavior is a violation against the Fifth Commandment, “You shall not kill.” • Violent behavior usually begins with small actions, escalating to even greater acts of violence in retaliation. • Violence is justified in certain situations, such as when defending ourselves (which is a right and obligation), but must use the minimum amount of violence necessary to protect oneself. • Violence and wars are not inevitable; we are called to build up societal structures that support nonviolent resolutions to conflicts.

43. Part 2: Promoting Peace • Violence is any human action that causes harm to the life or dignity of another person. • Males tend to be the victim of violence more so than women, equally split between the Black and White population, and over 2/3 of murder victims are killed by someone they know (nearly ¼ by someone in their own family). • Violence is not just a physical attack, like murder; it is also any psychological, social, and spiritual attack on another person.

44. Part 2: Promoting Peace • Slander is ruining the reputation of another person by spreading rumors and is a violent act. • Bullying is treating some abusively, either verbally or physically, or forcing someone to do something against their will through violence and threats, is another violent act. • Other violent acts can be: • Prohibiting someone from practicing their religion • Calling a person a derogatory name • Causing people to be poor because of unjust distribution of Earth’s goods

45. Part 2: Promoting Peace • Violence is rooted in negative feelings and attitudes in the heart of the perpetrator, such as selfishness, insecurity, greed, envy, and anger. • In the first murder, Cain killed Abel out of anger and envy toward Abel. • The root cause of violence is the negative effects of that Original Sin has over our attitudes about ourselves and others. • Also, when structures of sin cause people to become poor, oppressed, and discriminated against, violence is used to solve problems.

46. Part 2: Promoting Peace • The Spiral of Violence is the tendency of violent acts to escalate as each party in a conflict responds to injustice or an act of violence with an even greater act of violence. • Archbishop Dom HelderCamara came up with the Spiral of Violence to show how violence and injustice are related; when a person attacks someone, the victim retaliates back, making the first attacker the new victim, leading to a cycle of more harmful actions.

47. Part 2: Promoting Peace • The steps of the Spiral of Violence are: • Basic Injustice • Resolve conflict selfishly in pursuit of one’s own interest at the expense of someone else • Violent Response • The injured party uses a violent response to the selfish action • Violent Counter Response • The party that started the conflict is now injured and seeks to get revenge with even greater violence • Escalating Violence • Used to outdo and defeat each other once and for all • Violence ends Temporarily, Followed by More Injustice • When one side overcomes the other, the cycle begins again as fear and force are imposed on the “losing” party, a form of injustice

48. Part 2: Promoting Peace • The two approaches to confronting violence according to Catholic social teaching are: • Defend oneself against an attacker using the minimal amount of force or violence needed to protect oneself • Nonviolence conflict resolution and nonviolent resistance to evil • The Spiral of Violence teaches us that the best way to confront violence is to address the issue that lead to violence as early as possible.

49. Part 2: Promoting Peace • Jesus taught that as His disciples, we are not to answer violence with violence, but rather to love our enemies and to conquer evil with good, because two wrongs never end up making something right.

50. Part 2: Promoting Peace • Starting a war is an immoral act. • War is never an appropriate way to solve conflicts between people or countries, and as Pope Pius XII said, “Nothing is lost by peace; everything is lost by war.” • Between forty and seventy million people died in World War II alone, showing why war should never be the goal of how to solve conflicts. • Often civilians are the victims of war more so than soldiers, especially in today’s day and age where nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons exist.