At 11:30am today, in the Consistory Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the members of the Italian National Bioethics Committee.
I cordially welcome each of you, and I thank your President, Professor Casavola for the courteous words with which he has introduced our gathering.
I am pleased to be able to express the appreciation of the Church for the fact that, more than 25 years ago, the National Bioethics Committee was established in Italy under the leadership of the Council for Ministries. And everyone knows that the Church is sensitive to ethical issues, but perhaps not everyone is aware that the Church does not claim a privileged place in this field; in fact, it is satisfied when the civic consciousness, on various levels, is able to reflect, to discern and to operate on the basis of freedom and rational openness and the basic values of persons and of society. In fact, responsible civil maturity itself is a sign that the planting of the gospel - this yes, entrusted and affirmed in the Church - has borne fruit, managed to promote the search for truth and for goodness in the complex human and ethical questions.
In essence, it's a matter of serving mankind, all mankind, all men and women, with particular attention and care - as was previously pointed out - for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged who are struggling to make their voices heard, as well as those who cannot yet, or those who can no longer make their voices heard. On these grounds the ecclesial and civil communities meet and are called to collaborate, both according to their respective skills.
This committee has repeatedly dealt with issues related to respect for the integrity of the human person and the protection of health from conception to natural death, considering the person in his or her own self, always as an end and never simply as a means. This ethical principle is also essential with regard to the application of biotechnology in the medical field which may never be used in a manner detrimental to human dignity, and which should never be guided solely by industrial and commercial concerns.
Bioethics was created to compare the reasons and conditions required for the dignity of the human person through critical efforts through the developments of science as well as biological and medical technology which, at their accelerated pace, risk losing every reference that is not either related to usefulness or profit.
How difficult it is at times to identify these reasons and the many and various ways attempts are made to argue them, evidenced by the opinions formulated by the National Committee for Bioethics. And therefore the demanding work of research for the ethical truth is ascribed to the merit of all those who have done so, all the more so in a context marked by relativism and not very trustworthy in the capacities of the human reason. You are aware that such research on complex bioethical problems is not easy and does not always quickly reach a harmonious conclusion; that it always requires humility and realism, and does not fear confrontation with different positions and that, finally, the witness given to truth contributes to the maturation of the conscience.
I would like to encourage your work, in particular, in some realms which I will briefly recall.
1. The inter-disciplinary analysis of the causes of environmental degradation. I hope that the Committee will be able to formulate guidelines in the fields that concern the biological sciences, to stimulate interventions of conservation, preservation and care of the environment. In this regard, a comparison between the bio-centric and anthropocentric theories would be well worth the effort, in search of ways that recognize the correct centrality of man in respect to other living beings and to the whole environment, as well as to help define the inalienable conditions for the protection of the future generations. Once when I said this about protection of the future generations, a somewhat saddened and skeptical scientist answered me: Tell me, Father, will there be any?
2. The subject of the disability and marginalization of vulnerable subjects in a society inclined to competition and to the acceleration of progress. It is the challenge of opposing the throwaway culture, which has so many expressions today, among which is treating human embryos as disposable material, and also sick and elderly persons approaching death.
3. An ever greater effort towards an international confrontation in view of a possible and desirable, even if complex, harmonization of the standard and rules of biological and medical activities, rules that recognize fundamental values and rights.
Finally, I express my appreciation for the fact that your Committee has sought to identify strategies of sensitization of public opinion, beginning with schools, on bioethical questions, for instance, for understanding biotechnological progresses.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your visit and for this moment of reflection and encounter. May the Lord bless each one of you and your valuable work. I assure you of my sympathy and my remembrance in prayer, and I trust that you will also do so for me. Thank you.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to members of the
Italian National Bioethics Committee
I cordially welcome each of you, and I thank your President, Professor Casavola for the courteous words with which he has introduced our gathering.
I am pleased to be able to express the appreciation of the Church for the fact that, more than 25 years ago, the National Bioethics Committee was established in Italy under the leadership of the Council for Ministries. And everyone knows that the Church is sensitive to ethical issues, but perhaps not everyone is aware that the Church does not claim a privileged place in this field; in fact, it is satisfied when the civic consciousness, on various levels, is able to reflect, to discern and to operate on the basis of freedom and rational openness and the basic values of persons and of society. In fact, responsible civil maturity itself is a sign that the planting of the gospel - this yes, entrusted and affirmed in the Church - has borne fruit, managed to promote the search for truth and for goodness in the complex human and ethical questions.
In essence, it's a matter of serving mankind, all mankind, all men and women, with particular attention and care - as was previously pointed out - for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged who are struggling to make their voices heard, as well as those who cannot yet, or those who can no longer make their voices heard. On these grounds the ecclesial and civil communities meet and are called to collaborate, both according to their respective skills.
This committee has repeatedly dealt with issues related to respect for the integrity of the human person and the protection of health from conception to natural death, considering the person in his or her own self, always as an end and never simply as a means. This ethical principle is also essential with regard to the application of biotechnology in the medical field which may never be used in a manner detrimental to human dignity, and which should never be guided solely by industrial and commercial concerns.
Bioethics was created to compare the reasons and conditions required for the dignity of the human person through critical efforts through the developments of science as well as biological and medical technology which, at their accelerated pace, risk losing every reference that is not either related to usefulness or profit.
How difficult it is at times to identify these reasons and the many and various ways attempts are made to argue them, evidenced by the opinions formulated by the National Committee for Bioethics. And therefore the demanding work of research for the ethical truth is ascribed to the merit of all those who have done so, all the more so in a context marked by relativism and not very trustworthy in the capacities of the human reason. You are aware that such research on complex bioethical problems is not easy and does not always quickly reach a harmonious conclusion; that it always requires humility and realism, and does not fear confrontation with different positions and that, finally, the witness given to truth contributes to the maturation of the conscience.
I would like to encourage your work, in particular, in some realms which I will briefly recall.
1. The inter-disciplinary analysis of the causes of environmental degradation. I hope that the Committee will be able to formulate guidelines in the fields that concern the biological sciences, to stimulate interventions of conservation, preservation and care of the environment. In this regard, a comparison between the bio-centric and anthropocentric theories would be well worth the effort, in search of ways that recognize the correct centrality of man in respect to other living beings and to the whole environment, as well as to help define the inalienable conditions for the protection of the future generations. Once when I said this about protection of the future generations, a somewhat saddened and skeptical scientist answered me: Tell me, Father, will there be any?
2. The subject of the disability and marginalization of vulnerable subjects in a society inclined to competition and to the acceleration of progress. It is the challenge of opposing the throwaway culture, which has so many expressions today, among which is treating human embryos as disposable material, and also sick and elderly persons approaching death.
3. An ever greater effort towards an international confrontation in view of a possible and desirable, even if complex, harmonization of the standard and rules of biological and medical activities, rules that recognize fundamental values and rights.
Finally, I express my appreciation for the fact that your Committee has sought to identify strategies of sensitization of public opinion, beginning with schools, on bioethical questions, for instance, for understanding biotechnological progresses.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your visit and for this moment of reflection and encounter. May the Lord bless each one of you and your valuable work. I assure you of my sympathy and my remembrance in prayer, and I trust that you will also do so for me. Thank you.
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