See preceding page for earlier posts on 2/25/12, including the translation of the Holy Father's lectio divina to the Roman clergy on Feb. 23. Another teaching tour de force by B16.
Pope encourages medical solutions
for infertility, not artificial techniques
February 25, 2012
“The Church pays great attention to the suffering of couples with infertility, she cares for them and, precisely because of this, encourages medical research.”, said Pope Benedict XVI, in his address Saturday to members of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Over the past week the Academy has gathered together experts from the world of medicine, scientific research, theology and philosophy to the Vatican to discuss infertility, how it is diagnosed, how it can be treated and how it impacts couples.
Pope Benedict said : “The human and Christian dignity of procreation, consists not in a "product", but in its connection with the conjugal act, an expression of love of the spouses, their union which is not only biological but also spiritual”.
He said: “This approach is moved not only from the desire to gift the couple a child, but to restore fertility to couple and with it all the dignity of being responsible for their own reproductive choices, to be God's collaborators in the generation of a new human being. The search for a diagnosis and therapy is scientifically the correct approach to the issue of infertility, but it must also be respectful of the integral humanity of those involved. In fact, the union of man and woman in that community of love and life that is marriage, is the only "place" worthy for the call into existence of a new human being, which is always a gift”.
But what happens when even science cannot provide the answer to a couples desire for parenthood? Here the Pope warned against what he described as “the lure of the technology of artificial insemination” where “scientism and the logic of profit seem to dominate the field of infertility and human procreation, to the point of limiting many other areas of research”.
The Holy Father noted that “So I would like to remind the couples who are experiencing the condition of infertility, that their vocation to marriage is no less because of this. Spouses, for their own baptismal and marriage vocation, are called to cooperate with God in the creation of a new humanity. The vocation to love, in fact, is a vocation to the gift of self and this is a possibility that no organic condition can prevent. There, where science has not yet found an answer, the answer that gives light comes from Christ”.
Pope Benedict concluded: “I encourage all of you gathered here for these study days, and who sometimes work in a medical-scientific dimension where the truth is blurred: to continue on their journey of a science that is intellectually honest and fascinated by the constant research for the good of man", not forgetting in this intellectual journey, the dialogue with faith.
Citing his appeal expressed in the Encyclical
Deus Caritas Est, Pope said that Faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly. "(n. 28). On the other hand, precisely the cultural matrix created by Christianity - rooted in the affirmation of the existence of truth and intelligibility of reality in the light of Supreme Truth - has made the development of in modern scientific knowledge possible in medieval Europe, a knowledge that in earlier cultures had remained but a seed".
“Distinguished scientists and all of you members of the Academy who undertake to promote the life and dignity of the human person, also keep in mind your important cultural role in society and carry out the influence you have in shaping public opinion…people trust in you, who serve life, they trust in your commitment to support those who need comfort and hope. Never succumb to the temptation to treat what’s best for people by reducing it to a mere technical problem! The indifference of conscience to what is true and good, represents a dangerous threat to genuine scientific progress”.
Here is a translation of the Pope's address:
Dear Cardinals,
Venerated Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Dear brothers and sisters:
I am happy to meet you on the occasion of your work in the XVIII General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
I greet and thank you all for your generous service in defense and in favor of life, especially your president, Mons. Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, for the words which he addressed to me in your name.
The way you framed your work manifests the confidence that the Church has always shown in the possibilities of human reason and rigorously conducted scientific work which always considers the moral aspect.
The theme that you chose for this year's discussions - "Diagnosis and therapy of infertility" - besides having human and social relevance, possesses scientific value and expresses the concrete possibility of a fruitful dialog between the ethical dimension and biomedical research.
Facing the problem of infertility in couples, you have chosen to underscore and attentively consider the moral dimension, researching the ways towards a correct diagnostic evaluation and a therapy that corrects the causes of infertility.
This approach comes from the desire not just to give the couple a child but to restore fertility to the spouses and all the dignity of being responsible for their own procreative choices, to be collaborators with God in the generation of a new human being.
The research for a diagnosis and its corresponding therapy represents the most scientifically correct approach to the question of infertility, but it is also that which is most respectful of the integral humanity of the persons involved.
Indeed, the union of a man and a woman,in that community of love and life which matrimony is, constitutes the only 'place' worthy for calling to life a new human being who is always a gift.
My wish therefore is to encourage the intellectual honesty of your work, the expression of science that maintains its spirit of searching for truth, in the service of man's authentic good, avoiding the risk of being merely functional practice.
The human and Christian dignity of procreation, in fact, does not consist in having a 'product', but in its link with the conjugal act, expression of the spouses' love for each other, of their intimate union which is not just biological but also spiritual.
The Instruction Donum vitae (Gift of life) reminds us, in this respect, that "by its intimate structure, the conjugal act, even as it unites the spouses in the deepest way, makes then aware of the generation of new life, according to laws inscribed in the very being itself of man and woman". (No. 126).
[The legitimate parenthood aspirations of a couple who find they are infertile must therefore find, with the help of science, an answer which fully respects their dignity as persons and spouses. .
The humility and the precision with which you have examined these problem - considered by some of your colleagues obsolete in view of the fascinating new technologies of artificial procreation - deserve encouragement and support.
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the encyclical Fides et ratio, I recalled how "easy profit, or even worse, the arrogance of supplanting the Creator, carry out, at times, a determinative role. It is a form of hubris of reason which can assume characteristics that are dangerous for mankind itself" (Address to the participants of the International Congress sponosred by the Pontifical Lateran: University, 18 October 2008: AAS 100 [2008], 788-789).
In effect, scientism and the logic of profit seem to dominate the field of infertility and human procreation today, to the point of limiting many other areas of research.
The Church pays much attention to the suffering of infertile couples, seeks to relieve them, and precisely because of this, it encourages medical research. But science is not always able to respond to the desires of so many couples.
Therefore I wish to remind spouses who are suffering from infertility, that this ought not to frustrate their vocation for matrimony. Spouses, by their very baptismal and matrimonial calling, are always called to collaborate with God in the creation of a new humanity.
The vocation to love, in fact, is a vocation to give oneself, and this is a possibility that no organic human condition can impede. Therefore, where science has not found an answer, the answer that gives light comes from Christ.
I wish to encourage all of you who have carried out these days of study in a medico-scientific context where the dimension of truth can be obfuscated: Continue along the path of science that is intellectually honest and passionate in the continual search for man's good. In your intellectual journey, do not disdain dialog with faith.
I address to you the urgent appeal expressed in the encyclical Deus caritas est, "If reason is to be exercised properly, it must undergo constant purification, since it can never be completely free of the danger of a certain ethical blindness caused by the dazzling effect of power and special interests... Faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly." (No. 28)
On the other hand, the very cultural matrix created by Christianity - rooted in the affirmation that Truth exists, and that the real is intelligible in the light of the Supreme Truth - made possible in the Europe of the Middle Ages, the development of modern scientific knowledge, knowledge which in preceding cultures had only remained in germination.
Distinguished scientists, all of you Academy members who are engaged in promoting life and human dignity, always keep in mind as well the fundamental cultural role that you play in society and the influence you have in forming public opinion.
My predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, underscored that scientists, "precisely because they know more, are called to serve God" (Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Nov. 11, 2002: AAS 95 [2003], 206).
People put their trust you who serve life, they trust your commitment to sustain those who need comfort and hope. Never yield to the temptation to treat persons by reducing them to a mere technical problem. The indifference of conscience to the true and the good represents a dangerous menace to authentic scientific progress.
I wish to conclude by renewing the wish that the Second Vatican Council addressed to men of thought and science: "Happy are those who, possessing the truth, continue to seek it in order to renew it, to know it more deeply, to give it to others" (Message to men of thought and science, Dec, 8, 1965: AAS 58 [1966], 12).
It is with this wish that I impart to all of you who are present and to your dear ones the Apostolic Blessing.
Pope urges couples to avoid
artificial procreation
VATICAN CITY, Feb. 25 (AP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday urged infertile couples to shun artificial procreation, decrying such methods as a form of arrogance.
Speaking at the end of a three-day Vatican conference on diagnosing and treating infertility, Benedict also reiterated church teaching that marriage is the only permissible place to conceive children. Matrimony “constitutes the only 'place' worthy of the call to existence of a new human being," he said.
The Pope pressed the Church ban against artificial procreation, saying infertile couples should refrain from any method to try to conceive other than sex between husband and wife.
"The human and Christian dignity of procreation, in fact, doesn’t consist in a 'product,' but in its link to the conjugal act, an expression of the love of the spouses, of their union, not only biological but also spiritual," Benedict said.
He told the science and fertility experts in his audience to resist "the fascination of the technology of artificial fertility. Benedict cautioned the experts against "easy income, or even worse, the arrogance of taking the place of the Creator,” an attitude he indicated underlies the field of artificial procreation.
Sperm or egg donation and methods such as in vitro fertilization are banned by the Church for its faithful.
The emphasis on science "and the logic of profit seem today to dominate the field of infertility and human procreation," the Pope said.
But he added that the Church encourages research into medical cures to infertility.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/02/2012 10:48]