OPINION:Scientific progress must be rooted in a system of ethics in order to be of benefit to humankind, writes Padraig Corkery.
THE SUBJECT of embryonic stem cell research has generated a lot of interest worldwide in recent years. Scientists, legislators and the general public have debated the potential benefits and moral significance of such research. The recent decision by UCC to get involved in this area of research resulted in a similar debate in the pages of this newspaper and elsewhere. This issue, and many others in contemporary bioethics, is addressed in Dignitas Personae(the Dignity of the Person) published in Rome on Friday by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The publication of Dignitas Personaeis timely as it celebrates the anniversary of an earlier document Donum Vitae (the Gift of Life), and it also usefully engages with bioethical developments over the past 20 years.
Both documents are appreciative of the very positive role that science and technology continue to play in our everyday lives and they alert us to the fact that advances in science and technology do not necessarily contribute to human flourishing or the common good. If science is to be at the service of the human family it must be respectful of the origin, nature and destiny of the human person and the integrity of creation. Consequently, developments in science must be evaluated from the perspective of their impact on the human person and the global human family.
The purpose and scope of this new document is, in the first place, to articulate guiding principles with which to examine and critique scientific developments. Secondly, the document examines some recent medical responses to the reality of human infertility. Finally, it investigates the ethical issues that surround the use of the embryo for therapeutic and/or research purposes.
Not surprisingly one of the fundamental principles identified and promoted by Dignitas Personaeis that of respect for the embryo from the moment of conception. The Catholic moral tradition argues that human life is a continuum from conception to natural death and is, at all times, deserving of protection and respect. Scientific evidence indicates that something new comes into existence at conception that has all the genetic material which will guide the life-long development of this individual human life.
Therefore the tradition argues that from this moment the embryo should be "treated as a person". On the basis of this starting point the Catholic moral tradition deems the direct destruction of human life - even at the very early stages - morally unacceptable.
The Christian tradition has consistently taught that good ends do not justify bad means. Anticipated good consequences do not relieve us of the duty to examine the means used to achieve such ends.
The Catholic Church's negative response to embryonic stem cell research - a stance shared by many others within the Christian family and beyond it - is based on these two principles, among others. Embryonic stem cell research has generated public interest because it has great potential to relieve human suffering.
The fundamental stance of Dignitas Personaeis a positive and prophetic one; science must ultimately be at the service of the human person and community. In order to do this it must be respectful of human life from beginning to natural end. It must include a rejection of the scientific imperative, "if we can do it, then we must do it", and its replacement by rigorous ethical inquiry and debate.
Those with an interest in this important life topic can access the text on www.catholicbishops.ie along with related video discussions by Bishop Donal Murray, chair of the Bishops' Bioethics Consultative Group and the fertility specialist Dr Phil Boyle.
• Rev Dr Pádraig Corkery is head of the department of moral theology and director of postgraduate studies at the Pontifical University, Maynooth