To the
participants in a Conference of Surgeons
MAY ETHICAL AND MORAL PRINCIPLES
GUIDE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
John Paul II received
the participants in a conference of surgeons sponsored by the Italian Branch
of the
Gentlemen:
1. I
feel a deep joy at being able to meet you, distinguished participants in the
Conference of the Italian Branch of the International College of Surgeons, who
have gathered in
I
greet you all most cordially, particularly Professor Gianfranco Fegiz, director of the First General Surgical Clinic of “La
Sapienza”
With
this meeting in
God, the author of
life
2.
Your presence prompts me to reflect on certain questions which arise in your
profession, not, certainly, to enter into their technical aspects, but because
you yourselves are convinced - and your presence here is proof - that, together
with problems of a technical and practical nature, there exist questions on the
human, spiritual and moral plane which are of no less importance, questions
which you must face on a daily basis. In
the exercise of your profession, in fact, you are constantly dealing with the
human person, who entrusts his body into your hands, trusting in your
competence as well as in your solicitude and care. You deal with the mysterious and great
reality of the life of a human being, with his suffering and his hope. You are aware of this, and you know well the
responsibility which weighs upon you at every moment.
Precisely for this reason I wish to express all my admiration for such a
difficult, delicate, yet providential profession as yours, while I congratulate
you on the advances that your art continues to make in the service of all. Many persons threatened by the most varied
forms of illness look with hope and expectation to the great steps taken by
your science, steps amply attested to by the conference you are holding. It is precisely this service to man that must
stimulate and give meaning to all your research and experimentation: the good of man, sought constantly and
assiduously, is the fundamental motivation which must guide you in your
efforts. In the thrilling recognition of
the bold advances which have been made, the intrinsic end of your mission
becomes ever clearer; the affirmation of man's right to his life and dignity.
3.
From this perspective, the moral responsibility intrinsic to your profession
acquires greater clarity. This was aptly
expressed by my predecessor Paul VI when he affirmed that your work, since it
draws on values of the spirit, can transform itself into religious activity
(cf. Insegnamenti di Paolo VI,
l, 1963, p. 141). The growing capacity
to exercise control over the body, over its organs, and, in the last analysis,
over the lives of the persons entrusted into your hands, allows you more and
more to appreciate the significance of these essential threads that tie every
human creature to God, the author of life.
It is in this light that you must always act, concerned that your work
be carried out always within the limits of respect for the life created by God,
and defending the right of the person to express himself in a manner worthy of
a human being. The norm which must
inspire each decision you make is that of the best interest of the person,
considered in his totality. There is a
particular imprint of God in every sick person you encounter, and you are
called to act in such a way that it is never degraded, obscured or
violated. The dominion over nature ever
more clearly evidenced by your science allows you to intervene with growing
safety and effectiveness, in such a way that the life and integrity of those
who give themselves into your care is not put at risk. Indeed, it allows you to work in such a way
that the transcendental dignity of man, a creature of God, a child of God who
is loved by God, is more clearly affirmed.
You
will be most highly attentive, then, to the ethical norms that emerge from the
religious consideration of man. Let this
be your commitment, this your witness, especially when
you are called upon to intervene in circumstances which are complex,
unforeseen, hazardous. Both individuals
and the entire community will truly benefit from your profession if your
methods of investigation and proof always aim to guarantee the highest values,
to which science must subordinate its service.
In
this regard, I wish to repeat what I have already affirmed, in analogous
circumstances, concerning the much-discussed question of experimentation: Ethical norms founded on respect for the
dignity of the person, must illuminate and discipline the phase of research
just as much as that of the application of the results achieved through it (cf.
Insegnamenti, II-2, 1980, p. 1008). Scientific research, which is more concerned
for itself than for the men and women it should serve,
does not respect the fundamental moral criterion which should guide you. You well know that all research must be
conducted and applied with all the precautions necessary to guarantee, as much
as possible, the safeguarding of life, together with the fundamental values of
the person. I ask you to give effective
testimony of equity and charity in this field.
4.
Allow me, finally, a thought regarding the relationship between you and your
patients. This is an extremely important
aspect of your profession. The influence
that a patient's will to recover has in clinical treatment is in fact well
known, and experience shows to what extent this will finds its support in the
dialogue that a doctor succeeds in establishing with his patients. Now you know better than anyone else the risk
to which every clinical treatment is exposed, the risk, that is, that
technology takes the place of the rapport of dialogue between doctor and
patient, sometimes with very negative consequences even for the therapeutic
process. In other words, the risk is
that a dehumanized form of medicine might find acceptance. Every treatment involves, in and of itself, a reciprocity, and it requires authentically human
relations. On the one hand, the
patient's entrusting himself to you involves a more or less explicit
recognition of your competence and skill, a consent to your intervention,
confidence in your discretion and responsibility. On the other, you yourselves need to understand
the patient in his whole life context, so as to offer him personalized
assistance. It is necessary, then, that
there be established a link between the psycho-affective sphere of the one
suffering and your interior world as human beings, first, and then as
professionals. The patient-doctor relationship
must, therefore, increasingly become “an authentic meeting between two free
men...between a “trust” and an “awareness” (cf. Insegnamenti,
II-2, 1980, p. 1010). The goals to be
attained in this field can be suggested to you precisely by Christian justice and
charity, inspired by the model of Christ, healer of bodies as well as of
souls. It is charity that leads to
friendship, empathy, an interior closeness to the anxieties, fears and hopes of
the one suffering. Charity will render
your heart ever more sensitive to the personal values of the patient. In this regard, seek to remove, as much as
you can, any obstacle to an attentive humanization of the relations between
patients and medical staff: develop
around you that lively sense of man which is born from the model of evangelical
charity. I sincerely invite you to
render ever more noble, indeed, to elevate, your
spirit of humanity, thus giving to your every meeting with the suffering the
exalted value of a sacred act. It is
Christ who says to you: “As you did it
to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).
5.
With these reflections, and trusting in the noble intentions which have led you
to this meeting, and above all recognizing the strong humanitarian motives
which daily inspire your work, I sincerely wish for you effective progress in
your research, progress in favour of all mankind and each individual.
May
Christ, who suffers in the flesh of each patient, crown your efforts and your
research with the success you desire and merit. With these intentions, I give you all my
heartfelt Apostolic Blessing.