The Gospel of Life: Evangelium Vitae

Two cultures oppose each other. On one side stands the "culture of death," a culture grounded on the idea that life is an accident of time and space, that life and death are equally devoid of value, and that self-actualization is the highest good — even if that requires the sacrifice of life. On the other side stands the "culture of life," a culture grounded on the belief that life is a gift and duty bestowed by God, that life bears eternal value over death, and that the nurturing of life is the highest good — even if that requires the sacrifice of self.

These are the terms laid out in Pope John Paul II's encyclical "Evangelium Vitae," or "The Gospel of Life." Non-Catholic readers will find themselves filtering out uniquely Catholic show more artifacts, such as the entire conclusion which boils down to an encomium of devotion to Mary. The discerning Protestant reader will often detect the Magisterium's claim to interpret Scripture with full and final authority rather than the other way around.

There are also tough ethical topics which require further thought. For example, John Paul II argues that euthanasia is unacceptable in part because it denies the sanctifying power of suffering, yet he also concedes that palliation is acceptable. If we deny a right to die based on intolerable and terminal suffering, and we deny it on the grounds that suffering is never hopeless but is rather a channel of sanctifying grace, should we not refuse palliative care on the grounds that we're limiting the divine power of that suffering? Similar conundrums could be posed to the Church's opposition to chemical contraception on the one hand and its promotion of "conception avoidance" through natural planning methods on the other, when consistency would seem to dictate that any attempt to "avoid life" is out of bounds.

However, there will always be thorny ethical dilemmas at the shadowy nexus of life and death. All of this is outweighed by the encyclical's powerful promotion of a holistic and all-encompassing love for human life in all its stages, including the middle bits that pro-life advocates sometimes overlook. I doubt there exists a more tightly-written defense of life in our contemporary context, and it should strike the conscience of anyone who finds his or her moral sense dulled by the sheer weight of modernity and the overwhelming power of the "culture of death." I recommend this to any reader who wants to be confronted by and renewed to an appreciation that each human life is beautiful, valuable, and inviolable in dignity — from very beginning to very end, and at every precious stage along the journey. show less

The Encyclical Letter on Abortion, Euthanasia, and the Death Penalty in Today's World

Title: Carta enciclica Evangelium vitae del Sumo Pontifice Juan Pablo II :
a los obispos, a los sacerdotes y diaconos, a los religiosos y religiosas, a los fieles laicos, y a todas las personas de buena voluntad sobre el valor y el caracter inviolable de la vida humana.
Uniform Title: Evangelium vitae. Spanish
Author(s): John Paul; II,; Pope,; 1920-2005.
Corp Author(s): Catholic Church. Pope (1978-2005 : John Paul II) ; United States Catholic Conference.
Publication: Washington, D.C. : United States Catholic Conference,
Year: 1995
Description: 192 p. ; 22 cm.
Language: Spanish
Series: Publicación / United States Catholic Conference ;; no. 317-5; Variation: Publication (United States Catholic Conference. Office of Publishing and Promotion show more Services) ;; no. 317-5.
Standard No: ISBN: 1555863175; 9781555863173
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: Life -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
Abortion -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church.
Euthanasia -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church.
Capital punishment -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church.
Right to life.
Named Corp: Catholic Church -- Doctrines.
Note(s): "Texto y formata de Libreria editrice vaticana, Ciudad del Vaticano"--T.p. verso./ Includes bibliographical references.
Class Descriptors: LC: BX873
Other Titles: Evangelio de la vida
Document Type: Book
Entry: 19950608
Update: 20080811
Accession No: OCLC: 32615921
Database: WorldCat show less

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