The Gospel of Life V

Details: 12 October 2012

Chapter three of Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) is entitled "Thou Shall Not Kill." In this chapter, Blessed John Paul II explains and reaffirms the Church’s consistent teaching that abortion and euthanasia are grave violations of the law of God.

Pope John Paul begins with another reminder of man’s sacred dignity: "Man, as the living image of God, is willed by his Creator to be ruler and lord." He punctuates this with the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa: "God made man capable of carrying out his role as king of the earth… Created to exercise dominion over the world, he was given a likeness to the king of the universe."

"Man’s lordship however is not absolute, but ministerial," John Paul emphasizes. "Hence man must exercise it with wisdom and love, sharing in the boundless wisdom and love of God. And this comes about through obedience to God’s holy law: a free and joyful obedience (cf. Ps 119), born of and fostered by an awareness that the precepts of the Lord are a gift of grace entrusted to man always and solely for his good, for the preservation of his personal dignity and the pursuit of his happiness."

Pope John Paul focuses on the divine commandment or precept "thou shall not kill." "God proclaims that he is absolute Lord of the life of man, who is formed in his image and likeness. Human life is thus given a sacred and inviolable character, which reflects the inviolability of the Creator himself. Precisely for this reason God will severely judge every violation of the commandment ‘you shall not kill.’"

Regarding Church teaching against abortion, John Paul II points out that "Christian tradition…is clear and unanimous from the beginning up to our own day in describing abortion as a particularly grave moral disorder." He cites this quote from the Didache, the most ancient nonbiblical Christian writing:

"From the beginning, the living Tradition of the Church… categorically repeated the commandment "You shall not kill"… In accordance with the precept of the teaching... you shall not put a child to death by abortion nor kill it once it is born…"

John Paul II also cites Greek (Athenagoras) and Latin (Tertullian) authors condemning abortion as well as more recent papal documents (Pius XI and Pius XII) which have vigorously reaffirmed the Church’s consistent teaching against abortion.

Regarding Scripture, the Pope acknowledges that the "texts of Sacred Scripture never address the question of deliberate abortion and so do not directly and specifically condemn it. But they show such great respect for the human being in the mother’s womb that they require as a logical consequence that God’s commandment ‘you shall not kill’ be extended to the unborn child as well."

"Given such unanimity in the doctrinal and disciplinary tradition of the church," John Paul states, "Paul VI was able to declare that this tradition is unchanged and unchangeable." Citing the "authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors, in communion with the bishops" John Paul reaffirmed the teaching: "I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being."

Pope John Paul also reaffirms the Church’s consistent teaching against euthanasia saying "I confirm that euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person." "True compassion," he says, "leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear."

On the practice of capital punishment, Pope John Paul says that "the intrinsic value of life and the duty to love oneself no less than others are the basis of a true right to self-defense… Unfortunately, it happens that the need to render the aggressor incapable of causing harm sometimes involves taking his life. In this case, the fatal outcome is attributable to the aggressor whose action brought it about…"

Pope John Paul balances the Church’s teaching that the death penalty can be legitimately used in rare cases with this admonition: "Today, however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare if not practically nonexistent."

You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.