Pope John Paul II spoke of how the world has been overtaken by a “culture of death” that chooses to deal with difficult situations by eliminating those persons whose existence it perceives as problematic. The Catholic Church has been steadfast in its stance that all human life has a God-given value and destiny and therefore needs to be reverenced and defended against anything that seeks to devalue its existence or attack its dignity.  The Church has maintained that there must be a consistent ethic of life.  The goal of this text is to state the Church’s position on critical life issues and to provide guidance regarding the ethical considerations of developing technologies in this area.

Gospel perspectives provide a basis for a clear, consistent ethic of life.  Contents include the Church’s reasoning about abortion, reproduction technologies, euthanasia, scientific experimentation, capital punishment, and war.  Reflective questions for the reader include “Have you or someone you’ve known had to face questions about the prolongation of life or the use of heroic measures?  What principles guided the outcome of that decision?” and “How do you reconcile personal or corporate self-defense in light of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, his direction to love our enemies, and his admonition not to repay evil with evil?”