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13 Germ-Line Intervention and the Moral Tradition of the Catholic Church
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c h a p t e r t h i r t e e n Germ-Line Intervention and the Moral Tradition of the Catholic Church Albert Moraczewski, O.P., Ph.D. From the outset the reader should be clear about the perspective from which this chapter is written. It is an honest effort to state with accuracy and clarity what the moral tradition of the Catholic Church says on the matter of germline intervention. To be precise, it should be noted that only the head of the Church (the pope), general councils in union with the pope, and bishops united to the pope in their respective jurisdictions can speak authoritatively for the Church.1 No individual bishop or Bishops’ Conference, or a fortiori no priest or lay person, can speak, on their own account, for the Church. However, all the above can present and teach what they hold to be Church teaching by citing relevant official documents in support of their assertions. This chapter is just such an endeavor. The principal authoritative documents used in this essay include the sacred Scriptures (as interpreted by the Magisterium2 when there is doubt or conflict regarding the meaning of a biblical text), the documents of Vatican Council II, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (hereafter CCC),3 which was produced by a host of scholars drawing on a rich collection of previous Church documents, ancient and modern, reviewed by all the Catholic bishops and ap- proved by Pope John Paul II on June 25, 1992. The pope subsequently ordered its publication on October 11, 1992, in an Apostolic Constitution in which he stated:“[It] is a statement of the Church’s faith and of Catholic Doctrine. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching this faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion.”4 It should be noted that with regard to the sacred scripture for Christians,the Bible is normative for the morality of human behavior. For Catholics, the Bible is normative, but with the proviso that the Church believes that Jesus has given her the power to articulate an authentic interpretation of its teachings.5 This having been said, the challenge for the Church is to apply the relevant teachings to contemporary issues. Clearly, one would not expect to find in the Bible an explicit treatment of modern biological developments. Hence, one must find pertinent biblical teachings that can reasonably be applied to the issue. It is not a question of “proof texts,” of isolated statements, often taken out of context and forced to carry an inappropriate burden, but a matter of presenting a view that reflects the overall teachings of the Bible. Respect for human life, for example, which is a central value in both the Jewish and Christian faiths, is represented by the fifth commandment, “You shall not kill,”6 and is a theme woven throughout the sacred scriptures, especially in the New Testament. To understand the meanings of biblical statements, the Church today consults the early church fathers (bishops and theologians who wrote in the first six centuries of Christianity), formal teachings of the Church’s ecumenical councils , such as that of Nicaea (325), Chalcedon (451), Vatican I (1870), and Vatican II (1965), and the writings of contemporary theologians, especially biblical exegetes .7 The composition of the CCC itself is one example of such a process. In its moral analysis of specific issues, such as the use of newer reproductive technologies, the Church depends on an accurate description of the biological and medical facts supplied by relevant experts in the field. The Church will then consult a variety of scholars and theologians who have sought to provide theological or ethical reflections on the issue under consideration . Then if it is judged that the matter requires a specific intervention by the Church, the appropriate dicastery (an agency of the papal curia), or the pope, will make a statement such as was done with regard to in vitro fertilization (IVF) by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Donum vitae, 1987) and to treatment withholding/withdrawing (Declaration on Euthanasia , 1980), while Pope John Paul II explained in some detail the Church’s 200 Albert Moraczewski [3.90.33.254] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 20:27 GMT) teaching on the sacredness and dignity of human life (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, 1995). And so it is with the matter of germ-line genetic...