Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. I am happy to have this opportunity to
welcome you to the
I thank Prof. Cosmi for his kind words on your
behalf, and I assure you of the interest with which the Holy See follows
developments in your field of competence. Let me first say how pleased I am
with the convention theme: “Fetus as a
Patient”. With its focus upon the fetus as the subject of medical
intervention and therapy, your congress considers the fetus in its full human
dignity, a dignity which the unborn child possesses from the moment of
conception.
2. In recent decades, when the sense of the
humanity of the fetus has been undermined or distorted by reductive
understandings of the human person and by laws which introduce scientifically
unfounded qualitative stages in the development of conceived life, the Church
has repeatedly affirmed and defended the human dignity of the fetus. By this we
mean that “the human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the
moment of conception; and therefore from that same moment his rights as a
person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable
right of every innocent human being to life” (Instruction Donum vitae, I, 1; cf. Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, n. 60).
3. The fetal therapies now emerging in the
medical, surgical and genetic fields offer new hope of saving the lives of
those suffering from pathologies which are either incurable or very difficult
to treat after birth. They thus confirm the teaching which the Church has
upheld on the basis of both philosophy and theology. Faith in fact does not
diminish the value and validity of reason; on the contrary, faith sustains and
illuminates reason, especially when human weakness or negative psychosocial
influences lessen its perspicacity. In your work therefore, which should always
be based upon scientific and ethical truth, you are called upon to reflect
seriously on certain proposals and practices emerging in the technologies of
artificial procreation. In my Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, I noted that the various techniques of artificial
reproduction, apparently at the service of life, actually open the door to new
attacks on life. Apart from the fact that they are morally unacceptable, since
they separate procreation from the fully human context of the conjugal act,
these techniques have a high rate of failure. And not just failure in relation
to fertilization, but failure affecting the subsequent development of the
embryo, which is exposed to the risk of death, generally within a very short
space of time (cf. Evangelium vitae, n.
14).
4. A case of special moral gravity, often
deriving from these illicit procedures, is so-called “embryonic reduction”, or the elimination of some fetuses when multiple
conceptions take place at the one time. Such a procedure is gravely illicit
when multiple conceptions occur in the normal course of marital relations, but
it is doubly reprehensible when they are the result of artificial procreation.
Those who resort to artificial methods must be held responsible for illicit
conception, but whatever the mode of conception - once it happens - the child
conceived must be absolutely respected. The life of the fetus must be
protected, defended and nurtured in the mother's womb because of its inherent
dignity, a dignity which belongs to the embryo and is not something conferred
or granted by others, whether the genetic parents, the medical personnel or the
State.
5. Distinguished guests, you are specialists in
accompanying the wondrous and delicate beginnings of human life in the mother's
womb. Therefore, you know best how Catholic moral teaching strengthens and
supports a natural ethic, based upon respect for the inviolability of every
human life. Catholic moral teaching sheds a guiding light on questions
connected with the delicate process of life's dawning, so full of hope and rich
in promise for later life, and a field now ripe for the marvellous discoveries
of medical science. I trust that your work will always be inspired by a clear
recognition of the dignity proper to every human being, each of whom is an
incomparable gift of the creative love of God.
Today I wish to pay tribute to your scientific discoveries and the ways in which you apply them to protecting the life and health of the unborn child. I invoke upon you and your work the unfailing help of almighty God, and as a pledge of divine assistance I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing.