Humanae
Ultrajectine Orientalium
Catolicam Ecclesia
Pastoral
Letter On The Dignity of Human Life
Bishop
Andre’ J. W. Queen, SCR, Vicar General of the Church
Catholic, In A Secular Society
In today’s Western Society,
questions have been raised about why Christianity, in its true and
unadulterated form, refuses to conform itself to the spirit of this current
age. The many secular influences upon adult, adolescent and child, can obscure,
and even obliterate a Christian understanding of the world around us. And so,
it is imperative that every Christian man, women and child, be steeped in
understanding and proper catechesis so that we all may always be ready to give
an accounting of our hope and proper defense of our faith. As Catholics, we are
called to evangelize to the world. The strongest form of evangelization is the
Catholic faith expressed in the everyday life of the believing man or woman.
Our faith is not something to be dusted off and paraded out on Sunday, in time
for
Do Not Be Fooled
There is no need to
concern or fear, at what society may say. There is no argument that can be put
to the
The Dignity of Human Life
God made man unique
from the rest of creation. We are flesh and blood, but we are also spirit. Made
in the image and likeness of God, each and every human life has an intrinsic value,
not based upon false standards of worth or value seen today. Every human being
is precious to God, and every individual has intrinsic worth and value to God.
Every human life has value and is to be protected, sacrosanct from conception
to natural death. Every human being, from conception, has an intrinsic, natural
and sacred, right to life. Every human being, regardless of mental or physical
disability, injury or ailment, has the unalienable right to life that no one
may seek to prematurely terminate. It is a sin to murder the unborn child, the
sick, the mentally or physically disabled, the elderly, or anyone else,
particularly so, in order to avoid the commitment needed to care for such, or
for any other concern of convenience.
The Death Penalty
In centuries past,
societies had no sure method to prevent their worst criminals from being
released into society to harm others, other than the death penalty. In
addition, the death penalty had, for many centuries, been seen as a deterrent
to the most violent crimes, but this deterrent has not prevented the many
violent crimes that have occurred.
Artificial Contraception
The West is
wallowing in its wealth and opulence. A society convinced that it can do
whatever it wants, and justify it accordingly. As families have gotten smaller
over the years, strangely enough, homes and cars have gotten considerably
larger – and more expensive.
Excessive wealth
and opulence can create a cold heart and closed arms. It requires us to close
our heart to anything and anyone that requires us to sacrifice our creature
comforts for the sake of others. God asks married couples to be open to the
gift of life, and challenges us, as he will always give us the grace to make
our way through life. How can we, at the end of our earthly existence, be so
bold as to ask God to be open to giving us eternal life with him, if we cannot
be open to cooperating in the gift of life here and now?
What compounds this
great sadness in this lack of love and charity, are the practical global results
we see. So-called “developed nations” are becoming rapidly concerned with a
depleted birth rate, unable to maintain the economic and industrial
infrastructures of the major cities in the very near future. These nations,
with fewer and fewer of its own citizens each year to work the necessary jobs
to keep it going, paradoxically react violently at the waves of immigrants who
comes into these countries and provide the very labor these nations need and
depend upon. It is truly ironic how a closed heart and being closed to life and
not wanting to give of one’s financial resources and time, can so act to slowly
kill a society, generation by generation.
Even devout
Christian couples have been taught that artificial contraception is
permissible, to the detriment of unknowing persons. Many have not taken the
time to truly learn what the drugs and devices actually do, or what type of
effect this can have on the physiology of the woman. Even worse, is the horror
of understanding that all contraceptive drugs are also “Abortiofacients” –
meaning that, while taking these drugs, if the woman does become pregnant,
these drugs often cause a chemical abortion to occur, without the couple ever
having been aware of the pregnancy, these drugs often cause a chemical abortion
to occur, without the couple ever having been aware of the pregnancy. This
means that a devout Christian husband and wife may have unknowingly had one or
more chemically-induced abortions, without ever having known that they were
unwittingly participants in the death of one or more of their unborn children.
In addition, there
is profound damage done, emotionally and physically as a result of chemical and
surgical sterilization. And within our own lifetime, we have seen the
involuntary sterilization of women here in the
God asks married
couples to always be open to new life. It is in this openness, and indeed in
the affirmative reception and care of this new life, that spouses further learn
Christ-like, self-sacrificing love. To turn away from openness to new life, is
to turn away from God’s call to you, as a married man or woman, to become more
like Christ in our everyday life. As Christ was obedient to the Father, and did
not withhold His self-sacrificing love from us, it is when we imitate His
selfless love, that we truly fulfill the fullness of Christ’s sacrifice on the
cross.
The Church has
always taught that children are a blessing. Somewhere, our society has devolved
into seeing children as either an economic burden or as objects to be obtained
and maintained for the sole purpose of feeding the ego of the individual
“possessing” them. Sadly, many parents in today’s society spend more time, energy
and care with their pets, than with their own children. It is gravely sinful to
be closed to new life in order to increase one’s individual wealth beyond what
is needed and necessary, to extravagant and lavish extremes. Married couples
who can have children should do so, and married couples who cannot, are urged
to open their hearts and homes through adoption. I then beg you, for your own
sake, to be open to God’s gift of life, for in molding young hearts and minds
in Christ, you reap reward for your selflessness from the Father who sees all.
Abortion
When “human rights”
only apply to a part of humanity, and not to all of humanity, then these are
not human rights at all. These are merely prerogatives given to a select few, but
not to all. True human rights, therefore, must apply to all of humanity. No
human being’s life should continue or end at the whim of another.
The right to life
is the foundation upon which all other human rights rest upon. There is no
greater social justice issue, than the right to life. From the very moment of
conception, human life is sacred and to be protected, through to natural death.
There are those who think that the church errs in her absolute prohibition
against abortion, on the grounds that since abortion is a relatively new
“medical procedure” the Church is ill-prepared to address this. Nothing could
be further from the truth, for even in the time of Christ, and well before,
there existed many of the same social ills that we see today, including
artificial contraception and abortion. Throughout the time of the Old Testament
to the present, Church fathers have taught and written against the great evil
of abortion. The position of the Church today is the same position of the
church nearly two thousand years ago, and even before that, to her Judaic
roots, that abortion is a grave sin.
The current
“abortion movement” developed, not from a culture of life, but from a culture of death.
It is back to Nazi
Germany, that we must go, to Hitler’s idea to promote a “Master race”, and to
control the population of “undesirable persons”. In his rise to power, Hitler’s
doctors carried out abortions and unspeakable experiments against pregnant
women and their unborn children. In his writings, widely read, he advocated
sterilization and abortion as a means to control the population of “undesirable
races” while, at the same time, promoting an increase in pregnancies among
Nazi-party women. Adolph Hitler’s writings on controlling “undesirable races”,
found fertile ground for growth, in the mind of a woman named Margaret Sanger.
Margaret Sanger
founded her own organization in the
In her vision of an
ideal society, the population of
minorities would be controlled through sterilization and
abortion, and she sought to place an abortion clinic in every minority
neighborhood. She founded Planned Parenthood, now an international promoter of
the culture of death.
This shameful line
of thought exists today, as abortion decimates the unborn in this country, a
concept conceived in evil and hatred, and now carried out with near impunity.
And this barbaric policy of social engineering and eugenics is being
transmitted around the world.
God commands us not
to murder. The Church has always taught that abortion is murder, and is a mortal
sin. This is because all human live is precious and has intrinsic value, as we
are all made in the image and likeness of God. No one individual’s life is more
valuable than another. It is gravely sinful to value the life of one individual
over another, with relation to basic human rights and social justice. The life
of an unborn child is just as valuable as the life of the mother who bears that
child. The unborn child has the same basic right to life that each one of us
claims. It is gravely sinful to value one individual’s life over another, or to
deem an individual’s very existence as undesirable, due to physical or mental
disability, physical or mental injury, race, gender, economic or social status,
or the circumstances surrounding an individual’s conception, and then act to
deprive that individual of their inalienable right to life.
In this country,
abortion is legal up to, and including, the ninth month of pregnancy. A thin
biological membrane is all that separate a child from a life protected, or a
life extinguished.
As if this evil
needed to be more horrible, partial birth abortion murders a child while in the
very process of birth. Abortionists deliver the child, feet first, and then,
prior to the birth of the head, pierce the base of the skull with a surgical
instrument, remove the brain, collapsing the skull, and murdering the living
child.
There have even
been reports of children who survived various types of abortion, and were born
alive, only to be denied basic medical care, or left exposed to the elements,
or swept into a hazardous materials bag and left to die, or even killed by the
abortionist through some overt act.
Our federal
lawmakers recently rejected a law designed to protect and mandate medical care
for these babies who survive abortion. Today, our society would rather let
fully delivered, alive babies die, rather than run to their protection. We must
have the temerity and the audacity to loudly cry out against this injustice.
The blood of countless innocents is on our hands as a society, and the lives of
countless more in the future are at risk. If we do not cry out, we will one day
find ourselves looking at the day when society deems our lives to be
“inconvenient”, our personal care as “too expensive a burden for society to
bear”. No member of this church who promotes, procures or supports abortion, or
any of its’ horrific counterparts in the culture of death, should consider
themselves in good standing, nor properly disposed to receive communion, nor
should any member of the clergy feel compelled, under any pretext, to
communicate to such persons the Precious Body or Blood of Our Lord.
Human Sexuality
God made us male
and female. In the loving act of creation, He made each unique and special, and
gave to each a unique set of physical, emotional and spiritual gifts that are
inherent to the person of that gender. Even today, in spite of our society’s
attempts to negate the uniqueness of the genders, scientists, psychologist,
psychiatrists and other behavioral scientists are realizing that the
differences of male and female, and seeing differences in brain activity,
emotional responses and general ways in which male and female relate to the
world around them.
These gifts that
God has given to male and female specifically are mean to complement one
another, and not compete with one another. Our society seeks to negate gender,
in order to fix a societal imbalance and inequity between genders. What this
does, is force women to deny or minimize the unique gifts God has given in
order to be seen as the equal of men. Likewise men are forced to deny aspects
of maleness in order to conform to a society that seeks to negate innate
maleness in favor of “gender neutrality”. As a result, motherhood, the
foundation of home and family, has been much maligned and downplayed. The size
of families has decreased, and society has begun to look with disdain at those
women who embrace motherhood. Fatherhood in this society has been downplayed,
and instead of having male and female complementarity in the home, children are
lacking, by design, one or more parent in the home.
Human sexuality is
mean to be complementary, wherein each gives of themselves to the other in an
expression of love, based not in what each can obtain for themselves, but
rather what each can give of themselves to the other. God created male and female to be
complementary to each other, each possessing gifts in proportions that, when
coupled with the spouse, bring two whole people into a permanent union, which
Christ describes as “one flesh”, in which the strengths of one offset the weaknesses
of the other, and vice-versa. This union, with a bride and groom who have been
properly educated in the nature of marriage in relation to God’s plan, is a
formidable force, and the sacrificial love generated there from, creates new
life. In a sense, the marital bond imitates the Holy Trinity, as individual
persons also bonded together as one flesh.
Human sexuality in
its’ deepest intimacy, is designed to be a physical manifestation of the
life-long, permanent bond between man and woman within the bonds of
sacramental, covenant marriage. Scientists today theorize that sexual intimacy
between man and woman create a chemical bond between them, linking each to the
other, on a subconscious level, as a result of that chemical bond. If true,
this would seem to indicate that God’s design included means to promote the
strengthening of the marital bond, as the man and woman grew closer in
intimacy, through love. If not true, nonetheless, there is a bond created in
the unique and intimate sexual relation between man and woman. For this reason,
the only acceptable form of relationship in which intimate sexual conduct
should be present, is within the bonds of sacramental matrimony.
An individual’s body
is unique to them, it is a part of who they are, that is precious, necessary
and intimate, and the sharing of this part of an individual should only be with
another person who recognizes the uniqueness of the gift, and who has committed
themselves to lovingly care and sacrifice for the good of that individual, and
to promote the sanctification of that individual in accord with God’s plan.
God’s plan asks us
to be chaste and continent, waiting for that individual that God has called to
be our spouse for life. As our body is special and unique, it is a great and
valuable gift. If that gift is shared with one person in our life, the special
and unique nature of that gift is realized. If however, we share that gift
indiscriminately, how valuable can it be, when it is finally presented to the
individual to whom one wishes to share the rest of one’s life with? The
intrinsic value of a gift is in the fact that it is unique, specifically for
one person, and not simply for anyone to whom one may have a passing acquaintance
with. How much more valuable is our body, which Scripture teaches us is the
temple of our soul?
The male is
designed to give of himself, in the both sexuality and in self-sacrificing
love, to his beloved, who is designed to receive his love, and nurture the new
life, born of their intimate love for one another. He is called to give his
life, if necessary, for the sake of his beloved, in imitation of Christ who
gave His life for His beloved, the Church, which Scripture describes as the
“Bride of Christ”. The woman, in her
nurturing, establishes and creates the very essence of self-sacrificial love in
the relationship. Each teaches, guides, and learns from, the other, and also
strengthens, empowers, sanctifies and emboldens the other, as is necessary for
a successful and fulfilling marital relationship.
Sexual intimacy
outside of marriage, as is seen in society today, is egocentric, where concern
is about what the other person can do, can give, and can contribute to that
individual’s gratification. It is sexual conduct that places the other person
in the position of being a sexual tool, to be used for sexual gratification,
and deprives that other of their inherent dignity as a human being. This
creates a society in which the objectification of women is the norm, and young
girls are raised to believe that their self worth is staked to physical
appearance and sexual promiscuity. Likewise young boys are raised to see women
as a collection of body parts, and not as human beings worthy of respect. These
boys grow into men, who, lacking a proper understanding of a proper
relationship with women, fail to understand how they dehumanize women, and
disrespect themselves.
Men and women,
although having different physical, emotional and spiritual gifts, are of
co-equal dignity, and those gifts of both must be properly nurtured in order to
have a proper relationship between the two within a marital bond.
It is in the
misunderstanding and inability to understand how to relate to one another in
society today, that has created the crisis we see, in which women are
encouraged not to live in the fullness of their femininity and men are taught
that inherent maleness is somehow wrong and distasteful. We see teenage girls
engaging in violent combative behavior, savagely beating others, and adult
women going to prison for violent crimes in increasing numbers. We see men
afraid to appropriately express maleness, in a society that prefers men to
imitate a docility that requires a relinquishing of the traditional place as protector
and spiritual head of the home. Likewise, society ridicules the role of
motherhood, the foundation of what a society will be in generations to come.
Pornography
The most dangerous
epidemic in our country is that of pornography. With the advent of the
internet, it is finding its way into homes, workplaces, libraries and even
schools. There is an industry pushing pornography in the
Pornography is the
single most dangerous poison successfully attacking families today. Men are
particularly susceptible, as men respond at a very high rate to visual stimuli,
although studies indicate that more and more women are also becoming addicted
to pornography.
As today’s society
seeks to demean femininity, and equate feminine traits with weakness, young
women are being socialized into seeking to be sexually promiscuous, in
imitation of young males who have also been taught to deny the dignity of
humans, in favor of objectifying the opposite sex, and embracing a societal
norm that sees women as merely a collection of body parts, with men’s only
interest in terms of using women as sexual object to obtain sexual
self-gratification.
The proliferation
of internet-based pornography means that no home is safe, and no family can let
its’ guard down for a moment. That pornography demeans and cheapens human
intimacy is, in itself, gravely sinful, this is compounded, however, by the
transmission of such images to others, who deliberately or accidentally are
subjected to these images.
Spouses must
protect each other from falling prey to this self-destructive and addictive
behavior; parents must watch and monitor exactly what their children are
watching on the internet, and what they may be exposed to in the homes of other
children they are visiting. Christian employers must ensure that such sites are
blocked, and computer activity monitored, and employees must be a sure and
solid Christian guide to their peers.
We must not fail to
act aggressively to protect our loved ones from this disease that seeks to
infect and destroy the Christian family. If allowed to infiltrate our families,
it will affect how our daughters see themselves, and regard their self worth,
as seen in the dehumanization and objectification of women, the denies of
respect for the dignity of women, and an assumption that sexual promiscuity is
an acceptable way of life. Our young sons will mature believing that women are
objects to be possessed and used, and that sexual promiscuity is an acceptable
way of life for them. They will grow up believing that sexual intimacy outside
of sacramental marriage is acceptable, cheapening the gift of their physical
bodies that should be only for the spouse to whom they would be bonded to for
life. A belief that sexual conduct outside of a permanent
marital bond undermines the institution of marriage. Pornography, not
only through the internet, but also in movies, dance videos, fashion shows and
in many other public venues, where the envelope is pushed well beyond modesty
and propriety into public acts that are, by nature, pornographic, threaten the
fabric of our society. This threat is packaged in a manner that is appealing,
and marketed to the youth today, who are very impressionable, in need of
determining their personal identity and emotionally in a state of flux, vulnerable
to a well-packaged message selling popularity, fame, fortune and even wealth if
they emulate these standards.
The objectification
of people as sexual objects is gravely sinful, and seeks to rob the individual
who is objectified, as well the individual who objectifies the other person, of
their humanity. As Christians, we must never be either, and we must always act
against, and speak out against, the evils of pornography and the lack of
propriety and modesty. We must always demand propriety and modesty, in dress,
deportment, speech and behavior of ourselves, our spouses, children and those
whom we come into regular contact with. Parents must never abdicate their
responsibility to monitor the activities of their children, or allow video
games, televisions or computers to act as surrogates for parental interaction
and supervision.
Pornography is a
great social ill, walking hand in hand with sexual slavery, prostitution, child
sexual abuse, and a myriad of other gravely sinful actions, that we, as Catholics,
must always be active in the fight against. As children of God, we must always
be the light, shining in darkness. In this great darkness, we cannot fail to
struggle against it.
Marriage
Marriage, properly
understood and entered into, within the heart of the
The divorce rate in
this country is over fifty percent, nation-wide. We have become a nation of
“throw away people”, in this society. If your unborn child is conceived at a
time conflicting with your social calendar, society says to “abort the
pregnancy”, discard the body, and then go merrily on your way. If your spouse
becomes ill or suffers some severely debilitating accident, society says not to
waste the best years of your life caring for your spouse, simply “euthanize”
them, and go on your merry way. Likewise, a spouse that does not make you
happy, fulfill your every need, or otherwise fails to serve you completely,
society says to “divorce” them, and go merrily on your way.
The inability of
people to commit to long term relationships is based, in part, upon a concern
that their significant other will see them as disposable. Afraid to give their
heart fully, they are forever in short term relationships, waiting “for the
other shoe to drop”. Society is constantly teaching anyone who will listen,
that life is all about pleasing one’s self, getting what you can from others,
and discarding them when you have no further “use” for them. People are valued
only for what other individuals get from them, and nothing more.
As Christians, we
cannot buy into a societal norm that is diametrically opposed to the core of
our faith. Every human being had intrinsic value and worth, as a child of God. Our
lives are not about what we can get from others, four our own selfish gains,
but rather what we can give of ourselves to others, for the greater glory of
God and the salvation of souls.
Applying this
profound principle to sacramental marriage, the spouse is to be concerned for
what he or she can give of themselves for the sake of the other, and the
salvation of the soul of their spouse. This responsibility of each is to assist
the other in developing the spiritual character and holiness that God calls us
to. In addition, this responsibility, each for the other, is absolute, and
organic to the marital covenant.
Christian marriage
is then patterned after Christ’s relationship with the Church. Christ, as the
bridegroom, was willing to lay down His life for His bride, the Church, so
great is His love. True love, then, is not a feeling or emotion, bereft of
conviction, but rather, love is what a spouse sacrifices or does for the sake
of his or her beloved, without any expectation of anything in return, and solely
for the sake of the beloved. The marital relationship is not about what one can
get from one’s spouse, but rather is about love, the nature of which is in the
sacrifice one spouse makes for the other. Marriage is rooted in what one spouse
can do, in love, for the welfare and care of the other. Intellectual compatibility, cultural
complementarity and physical attraction are all good things to be found within
a marital relationship, and, rightly understood, are ingredients for a healthy
marriage. However, without a true, sacrificial love for one another, no fruit
of commitment can grow.
For us, as
Catholics, we understand marriage to be a covenant bond. In secular society,
marriage is seen as a contract. This is an incorrect understanding of marriage,
because in a contract, one trades goods or services for currency. In a
contractual agreement, the focus is about getting something from someone else.
It is a simple business arrangement, designed to get what you want, and when
you do, you have no further need of the other individual.
A covenant is far
beyond what a contract is. A contract creates temporary business partners. A
covenant creates permanent familial bonds. The concept of “covenant bonds”
comes from our Mosaic roots. In a covenant between a Hebrew master craftsman,
for instance, and a young apprentice brought to him by his family to learn the
trade, the master craftsman becomes as a father to the young apprentice and the
young apprentice becomes as a son to the master craftsman, and is taken into
his home and treated as a son. Even when the training is complete the bond
between the two as father and son, remain throughout their lives. In addition,
in the creation of a covenant, the two would call upon God to bless the bond,
and solemnly state, before God and man, their obligations to each other. This
calling upon God to bless and arbitrate the covenant would also necessarily
bring God’s judgment upon a covenant-breaker. It was for this reason that no
covenant could be made with a non-Israelite, who was not obligated under the
Mosaic Law, and did not fear God.
The marital
covenant creates the most basic, yet extremely essential, familial bond. Within
the marital covenant are three parties who are bound by the vows; the bride,
the groom, and God. In the sacrament of marriage, the bride and groom confer
the sacrament upon each other, solemnly calling upon God to bless the union,
and inversely subjecting themselves to God’s judgment if they violate the covenant
vows. It is God who sanctifies this union and binds the two together as “one
flesh” for life. The minister of the church, deacon, priest or bishop, acts as
the official witness of the church, and to ensure that the proper, complete and
necessary requirements for a sacramental, covenant marriage are present. Other
witnesses and family are also present, as a covenant bond is, and has always
been, attested to publicly by the parties binding themselves to it, in
Judeo-Christian history and faith.
It is precisely
because Christian marriage is a sacramental covenantal bond, protected by God,
entered into for life, that it is indissoluble. A valid, sacramental marriage
cannot be severed, sundered, or invalidated by any means, including divorce,
and remains valid and binding until the death of one of the spouses. Not all
marriages are sacramental covenant bonds, because not all who marry are
Christian. Non-Christian marriages, called natural marriages, lack the
sacramental covenant bond, and those who enter into such marriages, do so with
the secular understanding of marriage as a contract, officiated by the state,
and dissoluble by the state. Because of this, many people enter into marriage
with the wrong understanding of what benefits they will receive from marriage,
and what duties and responsibilities they have with respect to their spouse.
Many married individuals seek counseling, for the purpose of changing something
about their spouse, and later realize that it is they who must change, in order
to effect a change in the status and composition of their marital relationship.
Unfortunately, not
all marriages that appear to be sacramental are, in fact. There are cases in
which one or both spouses entering the marital covenant without consenting to
the conditions of the marital bond, deceiving their spouse-to-be and
misrepresenting their convictions and intentions to the deacon or priest, as
they progress through the preparation process. In such cases, where there is a
defect of intent, the original marital bond was never created. Likewise, in the
event where one of the spouses was not free to marry, but deceived their spouse
into believing that they were, the marital covenant was never validly entered
into. In cases such as this, when brought to the attention of the church, and
thoroughly investigated, where there is a defect of form, matter or intent, the
Church may determine that the defect is such that no sacramental marriage ever
existed, and issue a Declaration of Nullity. In the case where no defect of form,
matter or intent is found, the Church must abide by the permanent nature of the
sacrament, and has no authority to separate or sunder, that which God has put
together. Although a couple may obtain a secular divorce, they may still be
sacramentally married. There are instances in which, for good reason, one
spouse must live separately from the other, due to addition or spousal abuse,
and for which the separation of the marital assets under secular law is
permissible, through divorce, although the marital covenant remains. No spouse
should be compelled nor coerced to remain in a relationship that is abusive.
Not every person is
called to the married state. Some are called to the single, celibate state of
life, given that charism by God. Such persons can also be open to life through
the corporal works of mercy, and service to God through service to one’s fellow
man. It is because of this unique charism, that the Church recognizes the value
of both the single celibate and the married priesthood. In addition, the work
of those in Religious Orders, as well as consecrated virgins, and widows and
widowers in the Church, giving of themselves in love to others, as examples of
Christ.
Euthanasia
Today, many feel
that when an individual’s life has become complicated due to severe illness,
mental disease or defect, debilitating injury resulting from an accident, or
the ravages of old age, that person’s life has less value than those who do not
suffer from these things; or worse, that the person’s life then has no
intrinsic value, and that the person’s life should be ended. The late Pope John
Paul II bravely showed the world that human beings who find themselves in such
conditions still have much to give society, and that their lives maintain their
God-given value. In spite of his illness, and its’ effects upon his body, he
continued serving the People of God right up to his death.
Shameful also, is
the practice of withholding the basic necessities of life to individuals who
are unable to obtain them for themselves. This church, as did this bishop, join
the struggle to try to save the life of Terri Schindler-Schiavo,
who was senselessly deprived of food and water, to cause her death, at the
order of her spouse, who was suppose to protect her.
People are being
deprived of basic, life sustaining care, such as food and water, to ease the
financial burden of others, or to release them prematurely from their
responsibility and duty of care owed to their loved one in need. So selfish and
self-centered people are becoming the norm, and this society is steadily
creating an artificial standard, forcing people to measure themselves by it,
and if found short, are being forced to “not be a burden to their friends or
family”.
Physician-Assistance Suicide
So-called
“physician-assisted suicide”, a grave sin, made notorious by Dr. Kevorkian, has
now even evolved beyond its’ evil roots, going from suicide by persons
suffering terminal diseases, to suicide by persons suffering from a chronic but
curable disease, to now, assisted suicide by persons who are simple depressed
and want to die.
No one’s life
should be in jeopardy of any kind, especially not under pretext of economic
loss of others related to one’s care and subsistence. Likewise, no one’s life
should be in jeopardy due to issues of convenience of any other person. No one
has the right to force or coerce another person into ending their own life, to
alleviate the responsibilities of those responsible for that person’s care, nor
any other reason. No one has the right to take the life of another person in
order to eliminate a standard of care that is, by natural law and the grace of
God alone, that person’s by divine right.
It is gravely
sinful to engage in, participate in, or otherwise facilitate suicide. Life, as a
gift from God, is to be cherished. The many challenges that people suffer in
life are to be offered up to God, as Christ offered His suffering on the cross
up to the Father. God will comfort all who suffer, all who are sick, and all
who are infirmed. The joy and happiness that awaits us in the
In Sweden today,
“Physician-Assisted Suicide” has become “Physician Directed Homicide”, as
doctors there have been given legal authority to determine that a particular
person’s life can be terminated, without their knowledge or consent, if
involved in a major accident, or suffering from some severe illness, and the doctor
determines that the quality of life of the patient, if he or she survives,
would have little or no intrinsic value. If the “quality of life” of the
patient, in the determination of the doctor, is poor, then the patient may very
well be “euthanized” by the doctor, without consent.
Freedom
This society
defines freedom as the ability to do whatever you want to do. It holds up as
its’ battle cry, “Choice”. It states that people have the right to do whatever
they want to do, as long as it is their choice to do it. This becomes a
standard that overrides even the most basic foundations of society. In this
version of choice, the exception becomes the rule, and society begins to decay,
because it knows no absolute right or absolute wrong, everything is relative,
subject to individual choice. What this creates, is a societal,
institutionalized anarchy, in which people are children of their passions, and
everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Society supports a mentality that
states that life is all about getting what you want, at any cost, and at the
expense of everyone else. All that matters, is that no one interferes with your
right to do whatever you want.
This type of
mentality leaves people devoid of any meaningful connections in their life, as
they are constantly evaluating what they can get from others. When we treat
other people as tools to get what we want, or as things to be used, we devalue
not only others, but ourselves as well. We begin to see people as less than
what they are, and as a “something” instead of a “someone”. We forego covenant
type familial bonds in favor of impersonal contracts.
God’s law is that
which truly liberates, and truly frees us. By living our life everyday in
accordance with our Catholic faith, we avoid many of the pains and pitfalls
that we would otherwise suffer, if we lived according to society’s concept of
freedom. God’s law protects us from many physical, mental and spiritual dangers
that we would otherwise face. What parent allows their child to go wherever
they want, do whatever they want, and give in completely to their childish
whim? When children grow into adulthood, suddenly we feel that we have no need
for the very guide that has protected us thus far. The same is so for us
spiritually, and people come up with a variety of ways to “explain away” God’s
law, how it no longer applies to them, and why they do not need to live by it
any longer. These people later find themselves deep in the danger that God’s
law would have protected them from, had they chosen to adhere to it. This is
the harvest of society’s view of freedom. A freedom which has no bounds places
all of a society at risk. If a spouse is free to violate a marital bond, if a
mother is free to have her unborn child murdered, if an adult child is free to
“euthanize” an ailing parent, if a hospital is free to deny you life-saving
medical care because you are poor or indigent, how really free are you? There
is no freedom in a life that is constantly being devalued by others, in
relationships that are temporary and transitory, in a life devoid of God’s
grace and His emphasis on life, while society emphasizes death.
Society’s concept
of freedom then, is a complete fabrication. A person who is free is one who
lives according to God’s law. Such a person is truly free, because it is in
living a Christ-like life that one finds love, fidelity, stability, family, and
a profound sense of spiritual clarity in Christ. In living the Christ-like
life, we see Christ in others, we recognize the unique gift of human life, and
how precious it really is.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Creating human life
for the purpose of destroying that life, in order to harvest that individual’s
biological material is inhuman, immoral, and gravely sinful. This is a profound
attack against the dignity of an individual human being, who can neither defend
nor voice their protest, to their murder and illicit dissection.
Contrary to recent
claims, there is no way to obtain embryonic cells without the death of the
unborn child. And research into embryonic stem cells has not yielded any cures
or medical treatments at all. In addition, very undifferentiated, yet
scientifically useable stem cells can be obtained from umbilical cord blood,
without harming the innocent.
Adult stem cell
research, likewise, does not require the death of unborn children, because
these stem cells come from adult human beings. Adult stem cell research has
already yielded over seventy medical treatments for various medical conditions,
and promises to provide far more.
Why is it, then,
that with umbilical cord blood stem cells and adult stem cells, which have
produced medical treatments and breakthroughs, is minimized, in favor of
embryonic stem cell research, which has yielded absolutely nothing? In an
attempt to emphasize the claimed “lack of humanity” of the human embryo, the
abortion movement has thrown considerable weight behind embryonic research in
an effort to gain public support for their view of the unborn child as a
“non-person”. We have seen that the so-called “Pro-Choice Movement” is itself
being controlled by an agenda favoring social engineering, population control,
and eugenics.
Embryonic stem cell
research devalues human life, by equating the life of the unborn child to the
pain or disability of an individual suffering from an injury or debilitating
disease. While it is certainly not the wish of God for us to suffer, yet sin
brought suffering into the world, we must not compound one tragedy with a
mortal sin, and put to death an innocent human being, to enhance the comfort,
or even cure a debilitating sickness. The life of the unborn child is just as
important, as valuable and containing within it, the same intrinsic value, as
every other human being. It is always gravely sinful to take the life of the
unborn, valuing it as less than that of a fellow human being who has been born.
It is always intrinsically evil to create human life, for the purpose of
killing that person and harvesting their organs or other biological materials,
for the purpose of experimentation, or any other purpose, stated or otherwise,
that denies or denigrates the inherent dignity of that human life. No human
being should be brought into this world for the sole and singular purpose of
being a medical slave of another person or persons, to be biological stock for
experimentation or as simple spare biological parts for others.
Eugenics
No human being
should be deprived of their God-given right to life on the pretext that, due to
a physical or mental disease or defect, their life would have no intrinsic
value, would not be productive (according to societal norms), or would be an
economic burden upon society, nor any other false social construct that would
deny their fundamental right to life.
The technology
available today requires also this admonition; It is likewise grave matter to
procure or facilitate an abortion of a child based upon race, color, physical
features, hair or eye color, projected physiology or any other external feature.
Dignity Is Universal To Human Life
All human life is
sacred. What an individual does in their lifetime may not be intrinsically evil
or intrinsically good, but neither affects the value of the person’s God-given
life, and it is God, and God alone who is All Righteous and All Just, who will
judge the deeds of men accordingly, and give just verdict as a Judge. He will
too, also give perfect mercy as our Divine Father, in ways in which we are far
from capable.
Repentance, Restoration and Renewal
To those who had
been mislead by the culture of death, and later realized the tragic error made,
have been, as a result of their repentance and reconciliation, restored to
their place in the family of God, and their spirits have been renewed by the
love of God. I ask all such persons to be a public witness to the glory of God,
for the salvation of souls and to defend and protect the lives of those
who, in the future, will have no voice of their own, and will
desperately need a voice to speak in their defense.
In The Image And Likeness Of God
We are called, as
Catholics, to live out our faith in everyday life. It is not enough to attend
Mass on Sunday and call ourselves faithful; we must embrace our faith in every
aspect of our life, and honor the dignity of human life, as an unmerited gift
from God, our heavenly Father. And so, I implore each of you to live out your
faith in every aspect of your everyday life. Let us be Christ, not only to one
another, but, more especially to those we do not know.
Given at my
Provincial See in the City of Chicago, on Monday, February 19nth,
the Monday after Quinquagesima Sunday,
in the year 2007 of Our Lord, in the Ninth Year of my Episcopate.
Andreas Ioannes Gulielmus Reginius
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