Questions to Guide Your Reading

Evangelium Vitae

NB: This is by no means a comprehensive list of questions, but it should do to help you prepare for your final exam. Note when I have listed the sections in the encyclical. This might help you.

1. In Evangelium Vitae 13, John Paul II warns about a “hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of sexuality, and they imply a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation as an obstacle to personal fulfillment,” and about the fact that “The life which could result from a sexual encounter thus becomes an enemy to be avoided at all costs, and abortion becomes the only possible decisive response.” Explain what he means and what consequences these warnings would have on how we approach the sexual act.

2. When, according to John Paul II, is prenatal diagnosis objectionable and when is it not?

3. Describe how Pope John Paul II uses the biblical stories of Cain and Abel?  How, does he use the story of the Pharaohs response to the burgeoning Jewish population?  (By “use,” I mean how does he interpret and apply those stories to our current situation.)

4. “A long historical process is reaching a turning-point,” writes the Pope. “The process which once led to discovering the idea of "human rights" — rights inherent in every person and prior to any Constitution and State legislation — is today marked by a surprising contradiction. Precisely in an age when the inviolable rights of the person are solemnly proclaimed and the value of life is publicly affirmed, the very right to life is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence: the moment of birth and the moment of death.  What, according to Pope John Paul II, are the roots of this remarkable contradiction? (See sections 19-23).

5. Discuss the role of freedom in the encyclical. How does John Paul II distinguish between authentic freedom and distorted notions of freedom?

6. The Pope notes that we are meant for eternal life.  What consequences does he think this has on our view of human life “in its earthly state”? (38)

7. According to the Pope: “Man's life comes from God; it is his gift, his image and imprint, a sharing in his breath of life. God therefore is the sole Lord of this life.”  What conclusion does He draw from this fact? (39).

8. What does the Pope say about the death penalty?  Explain his view. (56)

9. Some people, notes the Pope, try to justify abortion by claiming that the result of conception, at least up to a certain number of days, cannot yet be considered a personal human life. What is John Paul II’s response? (60)

10. What is John Paul II’s teaching about experimentation on human embryos? 

11. What does John Paul II say about assisted suicide?

12. One of the specific characteristics of present-day attacks on human life … consists in the trend to demand a legal justification for them, as if they were rights which the State, at least under certain conditions, must acknowledge as belonging to citizens. Consequently, there is a tendency to claim that it should be possible to exercise these rights with the safe and free assistance of doctors and medical personnel. (68)

13. It is often claimed, notes the Pope, that the life of an unborn child or a seriously disabled person is only a relative good: according to a proportionalist approach, or one of sheer calculation, this good should be compared with and balanced against other goods. It is even maintained that only someone present and personally involved in a concrete situation can correctly judge the goods at stake: consequently, only that person would be able to decide on the morality of his choice. The State therefore, in the interest of civil coexistence and social harmony, should respect this choice, even to the point of permitting abortion and euthanasia.  What is John Paul II’s response?

14. At other times, writes the Pope, it is claimed that civil law cannot demand that all citizens should live according to moral standards higher than what all citizens themselves acknowledge and share. Hence the law should always express the opinion and will of the majority of citizens and recognize that they have, at least in certain extreme cases, the right even to abortion and euthanasia. Moreover the prohibition and the punishment of abortion and euthanasia in these cases would inevitably lead — so it is said — to an increase of illegal practices: and these would not be subject to necessary control by society and would be carried out in a medically unsafe way. The question is also raised whether supporting a law which in practice cannot be enforced would not ultimately undermine the authority of all laws.  What is the Pope’s response?

15. Finally, the more radical views, says the Pope, go so far as to maintain that in a modern and pluralistic society people should be allowed complete freedom to dispose of their own lives as well as of the lives of the unborn: it is asserted that it is not the task of the law to choose between different moral opinions, and still less can the law claim to impose one particular opinion to the detriment of others.  What is the Pope’s response? 

16. In the democratic culture of our time, writes the Pope, it is commonly held that the legal system of any society should limit itself to taking account of and accepting the convictions of the majority. It should therefore be based solely upon what the majority itself considers moral and actually practices. Furthermore, if it is believed that an objective truth shared by all is de facto unattainable, then respect for the freedom of the citizens-who in a democratic system are considered the true rulers-would require that on the legislative level the autonomy of individual consciences be acknowledged. Consequently, when establishing those norms which are absolutely necessary for social coexistence, the only determining factor should be the will of the majority, whatever this may be. Hence every politician, in his or her activity, should clearly separate the realm of private conscience from that of public conduct.  Some might think that even this function, in the absence of anything better, should be valued for the sake of peace in society. What is the Pope’s response?

17. According to John Paul II, there is a need to recover the basic elements of a vision of the relationship between civil law and moral law, which are put forward by the Church, but which are also part of the patrimony of the great juridical traditions of humanity. What are these “basic elements”? (See sections 70-73)

18. A particular problem of conscience can arise in cases where a legislative vote would be decisive for the passage of a more restrictive law, aimed at limiting the number of authorized abortions, in place of a more permissive law already passed or ready to be voted on.  What is the Pope’s judgment on this problem?

19. How, according to John Paul II, can Catholics support a “culture of life”?  Discuss at least five of the ways he mentions. (Hint: evangelization; charity; conscientious objection; service; family; forming consciences; education about contraception and death; role of Catholic intellectuals; and the media)