Easter and Catholic Bioethics
Charles Le Brun, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1674.
Catholic bioethics is tied not just to the ethical teachings of Jesus Christ but to the transformative reality that human beings have a unique dignity and destiny to be raised from the dead and hopefully spend all eternity with God. St. Paul was very blunt about the overwhelming importance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus to all followers of Christ. “For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15: 16-17). The Easter mystery we celebrate each year is the core of our faith and hope. Christ’s Resurrection and Redemption of our sins by his Passion and death on the cross are truly astonishing, especially when looked at through pagan or non-Christian eyes.
The radical affirmation that God took on our human nature and lived among us, culminating in a horrific and freely accepted death to pay the price for our sins and then resurrected from the dead, is a unique claim among humanity’s religious traditions. The normative religious paradigm was the opposite. Humans made sacrifices to gods and served them, not the other way around. No wonder St. Paul said preaching the Crucifixion and Resurrection represented a stumbling block for the Jews and complete foolishness to the Gentiles.
Catholic medical ethics and bioethics reflect a deep commitment to the belief that we will live forever after our deaths and what we do in this earthly life, and especially how we are disposed at the time of our deaths, will determine our going to Heaven or Hell. The Resurrection is properly seen as the “first fruits,” with Christ going before and opening the path for the rest of us.
During the COVID-19 pandemic there were many tragic examples of institutions and hospitals refusing to allow priests to have access to dying patients who asked for the last rites. This reflected a very materialistic attitude that the spiritual needs of persons were relatively unimportant as opposed to saving physical lives. Thus, the mistaken absolute prioritization of personal protective equipment for medical professionals. The Christian perspective is that eternal life is real and more consequential than this earthly life, although both are important and closely linked. The Catholic tradition attempts to heal both the patient’s body and soul. This hearkens back to the famous miracle of Christ who told the paralytic man his sins were forgiven before he healed his legs.
Our ethical attitude and standards will be very different whether we think persons only have this physical life or believe their souls are immortal and will be reunited with their resurrected bodies at the end of time. The most obvious difference is the way ethicists view euthanasia and assisted suicide. It is much easier for an atheist or materialist to accept mercy killing than it is for a Christian. If this world is all that exists and a person is suffering without hope of recovery, it is tempting to despair and agree to end it all. Our Christian faith tells us that our final attitude at the moment of death is vitally important for our eternal life. This informs Catholic teaching that requesting or cooperating with euthanasia or committing suicide are catastrophic mistakes.
The recent letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Samaritanus bonus strongly reaffirmed in section 11 that the sacraments cannot be given to persons who have made the decision to be euthanized or to take their own lives. It is basic to the Sacrament of Penance or Confession that the penitent must express true contrition for sins and a firm commitment to sin no more, which is completely contradicted by an intention to accept euthanasia or commit suicide in the future. The document gives pastoral guidance that priests should accompany patients and be available for a deathbed conversion but cautions that they cannot be physically present for euthanasia or suicide as it could easily be misinterpreted as church approval for those acts.
Again, St. Paul’s explanation of Christian doctrine is illuminating. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6: 19-20). The great dignity of the human person created in the “image and likeness of God” and redeemed by Christ means that we must not misuse our freedom and act in ways abusive to our bodies or deliberately end our lives.
It is interesting to reflect that the glorified resurrected body of Christ sill bears the wounds of his Passion. What we do with our bodies matters, and some of the most significant things could be visible for eternity.
Catholic bioethics is rooted in Christian anthropology based on our relationship to God transformed by the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ. Our ethical worldview is informed by the basic truths about the human person that began with Genesis and culminated with the Resurrection and the promise that those who believe and follow God’s Will shall have eternal beatitude in Heaven.
