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Priests for Life Canada Volume 2003, Issue Two                                           Summer 2003  We can rely on our patrons Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Joseph & St. Michael

Morality: The Truth of the Matter

    The dependence of Christian morality on Catholic faith is clearly synthesized in Pope John Paul II’s encyclical: “Veritatis Splendor1” (V.S.). Fr. John A. Hardon points out that pro-life disciples look to Pope John Paul II for moral discernment in this document. There cannot be any Christian morality unless it is based on Christian truth. Whereas faith identifies what we are to believe with our minds, morality identifies what we are to choose with our wills. Modern man, surrounded by the ‘culture of death’, has lost his grasp and understanding of truth. He is confused and wanders, searching for a freedom apart from truth. Truth, in Christ’s own words, is to shine forth and witness to the world. This ‘shining forth’ may be called Christian Morality, but it is authentic Christian morality only if based on the truth as revealed by Christ, and in Christ. He is truth (Catechism on the Splendor of Truth, Rev. John A. Hardon, S.J., 1996, p. 4)2.

The Underlying Purpose

The underlying purpose of this document is to offer a synthesis of the Church’s moral teaching in regard to human sexuality, the family, and the social, economic and political life as founded on the Gospel and explained by the Church’s Magesterium (V.S. #4). Pope John Paul II presents the principles necessary for proper discernment in sound moral doctrine, answering the questions: 1) What is man? 2) What is the meaning and purpose of our lives? 3) What is good and evil? 4) What is the purpose of suffering? 5) What is the way to attain true happiness? and 6) What is death?. The fact is that in our society, in our world today, we have an epidemic of modern errors of serious dissent, which deny or destroy the Church’s moral teachings (V.S. #4). Catholic moral doctrine is being called into question on the basis of certain presuppositions. The existence of natural law is often rejected, along with the permanence, universality and unchangeable validity of the precepts of natural law. Being rejected as well is the Church’s right to tell individuals that some actions are objectively wrong (V.S. #4). In higher institutions of learning, and in some seminaries and Faculties of Theology, prevalent errors abound: the possibility of loving God and one’s neighbour without obeying the ten commandments; faith alone is sufficient to be a Catholic; there is no necessary and unbreakable bond between faith and morality. In the area of sexual and conjugal ethics, some moralists claim that each person is to decide for himself what is right or wrong in regard to contraception, direct sterilization, homosexuality, masturbation, premarital sexual relations, and artificial insemination. The most basic atheistic error is that of separating human freedom from dependence on God, making the subjective conscience a ruler in moral matters apart from the mind and will of God. Conscience becomes the final judge for each person regarding what is right or wrong, independent of the objective laws of God (V.S. #32). Genuine freedom is the freedom we have to choose to do God’s will (V.S. #34).

Essentials of the Church’s Moral Teaching

Whereas, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a systematic exposition of Christian moral teaching, the Splendor of Truth encyclical focuses on the ‘principles of Christian morality’ and exposes dissenting, deceptive and erroneous teachings, along with their destructive consequences. The essential elements of the Church’s moral teachings are: a) Man’s subordination to the mind and will of God, b) human morality as the condition for attaining eternal life, c) the following of Christ, d) the need of the Holy Spirit to provide the source and means for living out the ‘new creation’ brought into the world by Jesus Christ (V.S. #28). In Christian morality, the doctrine has remained constant, with a growth in understanding, clarity and applicability of this revealed truth.

Basic Concepts of Moral Law

Many people today find themselves uncertain and burdened with weakness and sinfulness, for they have abandoned Christ. It is only by returning to Christ that they will come to know their purpose in life. He is the only true answer to their needs. The basic truth that God alone is ‘the One who is good’ forms the core of moral law. By observing the basic laws, the Decalogue, the will of God, Christ teaches us the meaning of life and the way to obtain supernatural light for our minds as well as happiness, a foretaste of eternal life (V.S. #12). In the commandments we have five precepts, basic concepts for loving God and our neighbour, foundational laws of safeguarding the dignity of the human person and the solidarity of human society: 1) the sanctity of life, 2) the communion of persons in marriage and the family, 3) the right to private property, 4) the need for truthfulness in human communication, 5) the right to one’s good name (V.S. #13).

Invitation to Follow Christ

How the followers of Christ are to keep the commandments is outlined in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, the Magna Carta of Christian morality (V.S. #15). Christ’s moral teaching is found in the eight beatitudes which are invitations to follow in his footsteps, to detach ourselves from all creatures and then follow Him along the path of love: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. Both the self-denial and the Cross are expressions of our selfless love for others (V.S. #20). The peak of our assimilation to Christ is the sharing in the Eucharist, the Sacrament of the New Covenant, because the Eucharist is Christ, the source of our eternal life and the source of our total self-giving to others out of love of God (V.S. #21). We can persevere in our love for God and our neighbour if we cooperate with God’s grace by keeping His commandments. It is the gift of charity or supernatural love, which enables us to keep the commandments of God, because we love Him (V.S. #23).

Eternal Law and Man’s Destiny

We are guided to our destiny by ‘Eternal Law’, the eternal reason of the Creator and Ruler of the universe:

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psalm 19 (18): 8-9; V.S. #44)

The law of God is the law of the Holy Spirit, dwelling in our hearts by His grace, teaching us what He wants us to do, while at the same time, inclining our affections to want to do His will out of love (V.S. #45). We shape our lives to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, fulfilling the destiny for which we were made, for which we are predestined by God (V.S. #45). The acid test of our love of God is to be prepared to die rather than sin, rather than do evil. Christ’s teachings made this truth clear to us: “If you wish to have eternal life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17; V.S. #52). The teaching of Christ is the basis for Catholic morality. We depend on God to tell us what is right and wrong. We depend on God to provide us with the grace we need to be submissive to His divine will (V.S. #46). V

1 A copy of Veritatis Splendor is available free of charge to members of Priests for Life Canada. Additional copies are $2.00 plus shipping. This encyclical is also available in various languages on the Internet at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/index.htm

2The Catechism on the Splendor of Truth by Rev. John A. Hardon, S.J., can be ordered from: Eternal Life, 902 W. Stephen Foster Ave. Bardstown, KY 40004, USA; Tel: 800-842-2871; Fax: 502-348-2224; $2.50US plus $6.00US shipping; or via the Internet at: http://www.lifeeternal.org

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Fr. Joseph Hattie, OMI

    Conscience and truth go together like a horse and carriage.  Conscience is “man's most secret core and sanctuary.  There is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths” (Cf. Vatican II, GS 16).   In this sanctuary the person stands before God, who is truth, and the conscience was created to hear and respond to that truth.  Its response is manifested in the practical moral judgment it makes in harmony with the will of God.  God's will is based on the truth of objective reality, the truth that sets us free to walk in love with God and neighbour.
Conscience is designed for truth.  It can know objective reality and work with the truth so that it can make good moral judgments and recommend these to the free will, which in turn chooses to act on this or that recommendation of the informed conscience.
 
For example, when a researcher is asked to do stem-cell research, and given the goal of using that research to discover the cure of a particular physical illness.   Before saying yes, he must first inform his conscience about the moral issues involved with stem-cell research.  
The objective reality is that the human body does have some cells, called stem cells, which have the potential to develop into any tissue of the human body.  For this to happen, the right code in the stem cell must be activated and when necessary, turned off.  If stem-cell research can find ways to activate the codes needed for particular tissues, this would make it possible to use stem cells  to do a great deal of good for people suffering from various illnesses, say of the liver, or the brain. 

Another truth about stem cells is that there are two kinds, which are called:  “adult” stem-cells, and “embryonic” stem cells. The adult stem cells come from places such as the bone marrow, and the placenta and its blood, after the birth of a child.  Embryonic stem cells come from the newly conceived human being.  These are the new cells formed after fertilization when the single human cell begins to divide and multiple.    The first cell divides into two; with the next cell division there are four cells, then eight, and then sixteen.  These are the stem cells that will differentiate and develop into all the parts of the new human being’s body.

 If anyone’s conscience has doubts about the fact that a new human being comes into existence at fertilization, he or she need only to consult the scientific evidence.  All the text books of human embryology state it clearly. It has been in these books for at least a hundred years. The solid scientific fact is that the human’s life begins with fertilization, and is a continuum until the person dies of natural causes. One human embryologist has stated it very clearly:  “Every human embryologist, world wide, states that the life of the new individual human being begins at fertilization”. (American Bio-ethics Advisory Commission Quarterly, Fall 2002).

The moral problem, therefore, of using embryonic stem cells for research and later therapy, is that in order to so use them, the new human being must first be killed.   Such an action does grave and lethal harm to the new human being. It violates the Fifth Commandment and also violates a basic moral principal, which states that: “The end never justifies the means”.

Having gone through this process of discovering the truth, the objective reality, the conscience of the person asked to do stem-cell research would say to his free will, “you can choose to do research on “adult” stem cells, but not on embryonic stem cells, since research on the embryonic ones would mean first killing new, and very innocent human beings”.  

The politician, asked to vote on legitimizing stem-cell research should also inform his conscience about stem cell research as the researcher did.  When his conscience is properly informed, it would then recommend to the person’s free will:  You can vote to legalize and encourage “adult” stem cell research but you cannot vote in favour of legitimizing embryonic stem-sell research.  Such a vote would legitimize the creation of new human being in a petri dish, for the purpose of destroying them to use their body parts.

 Hopefully these examples will help you to better understand the splendour of truth and why conscience and truth go together like a horse and carriage.

PRIESTS FOR LIFE, CANADA           
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION       
AS OF JUNE 30, 2002   

     In the past, mailings have been sent to supporters four times per year. In addition to the ‘Priests for Life, Canada’ newsletter, sample copies of both the ‘Catholic Life and Family’ and ‘The Facts for Life’ have been sent. In response to requests from members, and with the additional support provided by our new Ottawa Pro-Life Centre, mailings will now be increased to six times per year as follows:

                                           Month                             Newsletters being mailed

                                            September                       Priests for Life, Canada

                                            November                       Catholic Life and Family
                                                                                   Facts for Life

                                            December                        Priests for Life, Canada

                                            February                         Catholic Life and Family
                                                                                   Facts for Life

                                            March                             Priests for Life, Canada

                                            June                                Priests for Life, Canada

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Fourth Annual Priests for Life Canada Symposium: Saturday, October 25, 2003, Our Lady of Fatima Parish, 153 Woodroffe Avenue, Ottawa, ON. See elsewhere in this publication for details.

National Pro-Life Conference: November 6-8, 2003. Edmonton AB, hosted by Alberta Pro-Life, Life Canada and Campaign Life Coalition: contact Life Canada at  1-866-780-LIFE.

Priests for Life Canada - Parish Pro-Life Mission: Saturday, January 31, 2004 to Wednesday, February 5, 2004. Holy Trinity Church, 2775 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, BC, Pastor: Rev. Fr. Terry Larkin. Fr. Jim Whalen, Priests for Life Canada, presiding.

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