As Christians we often speak of our commitment to pro-life matters. Typically, the first specific pro-life issue that comes to mind is that of abortion. This is understandable, as other pro-life issues obviously would not come into play if a child were refused the opportunity for birth, growth, and all the complexities that follow. A good deal of work is being done to protect life from the point of conception up until birth.
However, life does not end (for most of us) at birth. Life as it is lived after birth is messy. Pregnancies that result in children with special needs require support (financial and otherwise) to meet the ongoing medical, social and educational needs of those children. Many parents (especially, but not exclusively, single parents) struggle to feed and clothe their families. Too many families, in this country and others, are living in abject poverty. Single women and men without children or other family connections can become isolated and often struggle financially. The physical, spiritual and social needs of the elderly are rampant, leading them (and legislatures), too often, to consider assisted suicide or euthanasia. People make mistakes, sometimes terrible mistakes, leading them to incarceration in institutions that are often demeaning to their human dignity, and the death penalty is still on the table in many states. And wars continue to rage on, in a fruitless effort to settle sociopolitical conflicts that cost (and damage) thousands of civilian and military lives daily.
Our Catholic tradition offers a concept drawing these needs together into a coherent understanding of the breadth and depth of our concern for the dignity of life. Then-Archbishop Humberto Medeiros of Boston was one of the first to coin the term “consistent ethic of life” in 1971, to emphasize that all human life is sacred and should be protected by law. In 1983, Cardinal Joseph Bernadin further developed this theme in a speech at Fordham University, stating: “The spectrum of life cuts across the issues of genetics, abortion, capital punishment, modern warfare, and the care of the terminally ill.” He further stated, in a speech in Portland, Oregon, “When human life is considered “cheap” or easily expendable in one area, eventually nothing is held as sacred and all lives are in jeopardy.” Eileen Egan, a Catholic journalist, pacifist and close friend of Servant of God Dorothy Day and St. Teresa of Calcutta, coined the term “seamless garment” in 1971, referring to the seamless robe worn by Jesus, then left whole rather than dividing it after his execution. (John 19:23)
St. John Paul II, in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“Gospel of Life”) stated: “In our present social context, marked by a dramatic struggle between the “culture of life” and the “culture of death”, there is need to develop a deep critical sense, capable of discerning true values and authentic needs.” He also stated: “Respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness.”
Moral theology, which in one form or another has been evolving over more than two thousand years, challenges us to weigh our secular values against the Gospel values that, as Christians, ground and guide us. For example, in the area of capital punishment, Pope Leo XIV most recently stated that “Human dignity is not lost even after serious crimes are committed”, and that “Effective systems of detention can be and have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.” (Vatican News) and cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”. Likewise, regarding war, Pope Leo, in his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, stated that “Without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the “just war” theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated.”
Some of these issues can be difficult to struggle with as we navigate the complex landscape of today’s world. Our personal growth as Christians and our ability to evangelize the Good News make it necessary for us to pick up the challenge.