Day 300: Science, Bodily Integrity, and the Dead (2292-2301)

• It’s Day 300!!

• RESPECT FOR THE PERSON AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

• Scientific research can be great benefit to humankind

• At the same time, there is a guidance system here

• The system is what is best for the human person

• That always has to be the case

• Paragraph 2295 says, “Research or experimentation on the human being cannot legitimate acts that are in themselves contrary to the dignity of the persons and to the moral law. The subjects’ potential consent does not justify such acts. Experimentation on human beings is not morally legitimate if it exposes the subject’s life or physical and psychological integrity to disproportionate or avoidable risks. Experimentation on human beings does not conform to the dignity of the person if it takes place without the informed consent of the subject or those who legitimately speak for him.”

• Just because we CAN do a thing does not mean we OUGHT to do a thing

• RESPECT FOR BODILY INTEGRITY

• RESPECT FOR THE DEAD

• This is all connected to the Fifth Commandment because it is all based on the dignity of the human person

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, I give you praise and glory on this day. Thank you for every person who has pressed play and is listening to these words and is studying your teaching through the Church and through Scripture. We thank you. We thank you for continuing to guide us. Thank you for continuing to give us the strength to each day, even in the midst of our own struggles and our own weaknesses, to press play. We thank you and we ask you to please open our minds and open our hearts today that we can know, not just the limits of science, but also the guidance that you offer when it comes to any kind of technology, when it comes to any kind of research. Lord God, help us to place our skills, our intelligence, our even desire for health and healing at your service, at the service of our brothers and sisters, but always with that wise and gracious eye towards the dignity of the human person. Lord, on this day, we are also going to talk about respect for the dead. We also ask you to please bring to yourself, bring to your heart those who have died, those who are in Purgatory and those whose hearts who are being purified in this moment by your grace. Bring them close to you and help us to acknowledge the goodness of the body and the goodness of the person as we have respect for those who have died. We make all these prayers in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• Paragraph 2292 says, “Scientific, medical, or psychological experiments on human individuals or groups can contribute to healing the sick and the advancement of public health.”

• Paragraph 2293 says, “Basic scientific research, as well as applied research, is a significant expression of man’s dominion over creation. Science and technology are precious resources when placed at the service of man and promote his integral development for the benefit of all. By themselves however they cannot disclose the meaning of existence and of human progress. Science and technology are ordered to man, from whom they take their origin and development; hence they find in the person and in his moral values both evidence of their purpose and awareness of their limits.”

• Have you heard of the term SCIENTISM?

• It is the idea that science can give the answers to ANYTHING and will solve all problems

• Science is a search for natural truth

• Faith is all about truth as well

• Truth cannot contradict truth

• BUT…

• Science asks the questions WHAT and HOW

• Faith asks the question WHY

• Science cannot answer WHY

• We can never advance science at the expense of the person

• If ever there is a movement towards advancing science that does not take into account the person or violates the person or diminishes the person, then that is a grave error

• Paragraph 2294 says, “It is an illusion to claim moral neutrality in scientific research and its applications. On the other hand, guiding principles cannot be inferred from simple technical efficiency, or from the usefulness accruing to some at the expense of others or, even worse, from prevailing ideologies. Science and technology by their very nature require unconditional respect for fundamental moral criteria. They must be at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, of his true and integral good, in conformity with the plan and the will of God.”

• We are either working for the good of the person and communities or we are working against the good of the person and communities

• In a world without God, you only judge the goodness or badness of something with two metrics

• Do I like this?

• Is it useful?

• Our guiding principle is always going to be whether this is in conformity with the goodness and dignity of the human person?

• We are so busy wondering whether or not we COULD do this thing, we did not stop to ask whether or not we SHOULD do this thing Ian Malcolm Speech - Could/Should

• Praise the Lord for science

• Praise the Lord for scientists who have advanced the care of human beings, animals, the planet, etc.

• BUT…

• All of those things have to have an unconditional respect for fundamental moral criteria

• They must be at the service of the human person, his inalienable rights, his true and integral good, and in conformity with the plan and the will of God

• Paragraph 2295 says, “Research or experimentation on the human being cannot legitimate acts that are in themselves contrary to the dignity of the persons and to the moral law. The subjects’ potential consent does not justify such acts. Experimentation on human beings is not morally legitimate if it exposes the subject’s life or physical and psychological integrity to disproportionate or avoidable risks. Experimentation on human beings does not conform to the dignity of the person if it takes place without the informed consent of the subject or those who legitimately speak for him.”

• Paragraph 2296 says, “Organ transplants are in conformity with the moral law if the physical and psychological dangers and risks to the donor are proportionate to the good that is sought for the recipient. Organ donation after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as an expression of generous solidarity. It is not morally acceptable if the donor or his proxy has not given explicit consent. Moreover, it is not morally admissible directly to bring about the disabling mutilation or death of a human being, even in order to delay the death of other persons.”

• You cannot force someone to donate their kidney

• Paragraph 2297 says, “Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures. They are morally wrong. Terrorism threatens, wounds, and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity. Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity. Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law.”

• If there is a healthy part of the body and science is used to make it not work anymore, that is against the moral law

• For example, a vasectomy on a man or elective hysterectomy on a woman are against the moral law

• So why does the Church have to say that kidnapping, terrorism, and torture are wrong?

• Because they exist

• And even good people may be tempted to do these things

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike wax poetic about the TV show 24 and Jack Bauer…

• Even when it seems like it could be a good, torture is NOT a good

• Just because war has broken out does not mean that all bets are off

• Paragraph 2298 says, “In times past, cruel practices were commonly used by legitimate governments to maintain law and order, often without protest from the Pastors of the Church, who themselves adopted in their own tribunals the prescriptions of Roman law concerning torture. Regrettable as these facts are, the Church always taught the duty of clemency and mercy. She forbade clerics to shed blood. In recent times it has become evident that these cruel practices were neither necessary for public order, nor in conformity with the legitimate rights of the human person. On the contrary, these practices led to ones even more degrading. It is necessary to work for their abolition. We must pray for the victims and their tormentors.”

• This is a nod to the Inquisition

• It was a dark time in the history of the Church

• The Church adopted the practices of the civil authorities to extract confession

• This included torture and the Church did not speak out against that

• This is not meant to excuse

• This is meant to offer clarity

• There are remarkable records when it comes to the Inquisition

• When people were brought before the civil courts, they would rather be judged by the Church courts because the Church courts had a degree of fairness to them that was not always existent in the civil courts

• Also because the Church courts had less severe penalties and torture 

• Does this make everything all good?

• No it does not

• But does it demonstrate at least a little bit that the Church was trying, at least a little bit, to stand apart from the civil authorities and stand apart from the culture

• In these cases, what was accepted were the accusations, the trial, and the penalties

• The Church is trying to distance herself from that

• Could the Church have done a better job?

• Yes

• Even in the midst of the Inquisition, the Church taught the duty of clemency and mercy

• This was not a good, but there was willingness to compromise when it comes to disciplines, not when it comes to dogma and doctrine

• The Church even condemns the acts of members of the Church who may have acted in the name of the Church

• The TEACHING of the Church is always going to be guided by the Holy Spirit and preserved from error

• The ACTIONS of some people in the Church could have the potential to be sinful

• They are not always going to be sinful, they always have the potential

• The Church will always teach the truth

• BUT…

• There are those of us in the Church who are broken and we can sometimes ignore what the Lord has revealed to us and we do what we want to do

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike suggest books to learn about the Inquisition and the Crusades…

• A lot of what people have learned about the Inquisition and the Crusades has come through our culture, which is not entirely accurate

• It is better for us to know the FULL STORY rather than part of the story

• We are bound to care for those who are dying and for those who have died

• It is a WORK OF MERCY to care for the sick and bury the dead

• It honors the children of God, our temples of the Holy Spirit

• Paragraph 2301 says, “Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious. The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body.”

• There was a long time when the Church did not permit cremations for Christians

• The reason is many cultures saw the body as the “cage” that the soul was trapped in

• In order to set the soul free, the body was burned on a pyre

• The Church teaches that the body and soul are both good and are both intended for redemption and Resurrection

• Now we live in a different day and age

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT…