ST.

JOHN
PAUL II AS
GUARDIAN
OF LIFE
TERMS TO PONDER
The term originated in
moral theology,
CULTURE OF LIFE especially that of the
Catholic Church, and
describes a way of life was popularly
based upon the belief that championed by Pope
human life at all stages John Paul II; it has been
widely used by religious
from conception through
leaders in evangelical
natural death is sacred. Christianity as well. The
It also promotes policies that philosophy of such a
culture is a consistent
"lift up the human spirit with
life ethic.
compassion and love."
TERMS TO PONDER

CULTURE OF DEATH
is a culture that is deemed Some commentators
to be inconsistent with the
would add to that list
concept of a "culture of
life", such as cultures that homosexuality,
support abortion, contraception and other
euthanasia, degradation, phenomena perceived to
humiliation, human cloning, attack marriage and the
self-absorption, apathy, family.
poverty and capital
punishment
INTRODUCTION
As faithful moral defender,
St John Paul II issued
letters and statements
protecting life in general.
He strongly believed in the
fundamental truth that life
is SACRED.
Whatever poses threat or danger against life, he
never missed a single opportunity to stand up for the
truth.
1. RIGHT TO LIFE
It is the most basic right
and the condition of all
other personal rights,
constituting the
foundation of every human
community and the
political community itself.
St. John Paul II famously noted that if human life itself is
not respected, then respect for all other rights—for
example, the right to health, to marriage, to culture, to
religion—is “false and illusory.”
CONT…
Human rights of every kind
are “incomprehensible”
without the right to life.
The Church acknowledged
the dignity of human life and
exert efforts to achieve
legal and constitutional
protection for every human
person at the international,
national, state, and local
levels.
2. THE CULTURE OF LIFE
The expression "culture
of life" entered popular
parlance from Pope John
Paul II in the 1990s.
This expression was first used by
Pope John Paul II during his visit to
the United States in 1993.
He also used the term in his 1991
encyclical Centesimus annus
then more fully expanded upon it in
the 1995 encyclical Evangelium
vitae ("Gospel of Life”)
EVANGELIUM VITAE
In the encyclical, the pope
noted that even those who
were not Catholic "can
appreciate the intrinsic
value of human life."

He also issued "a pressing appeal addressed to

each and every person, in the name of God:
Respect, protect, love, and serve life, every human
life! Only in this direction will you find justice,
development, true freedom, peace and happiness!"
CONT…
Pope John Paul II linked
this to Catholic teaching,
which believes every
person is created in the
image and likeness of God
and is intimately loved by
God.
The Church, then, must build a culture of life that values
each person as a person, not for what they own, do, or
produce. It must also protect every human life, especially
those that are threatened or weak.
3. THE CULTURE OF DEATH
Pope John Paul II also
used the opposing term
"culture of death" in
Evangelium vitae (April
1995).

In fact, while the climate of widespread moral uncertainty

can in some way be explained by the multiplicity and gravity
of today's social problems, and these can sometimes
mitigate the subjective responsibility of individuals, it is no
less true that we are confronted by an even larger reality,
which can be described as a veritable structure of sin.
CONT…
This reality is
characterized by the
emergence of a culture
which denies solidarity
and, in many cases, takes
the form of a veritable
'culture of death.'
This culture is actively fostered by powerful
cultural, economic and political currents which
encourage an idea of society excessively concerned
with efficiency.
CONT…

He argued that there was

"a war of the powerful
against the weak: a life
which would require
greater acceptance, love
and care is considered
useless, or held to be an
intolerable burden, and is
therefore rejected in one
way or another."
CONT…

Those who are ill,

handicapped, or just
simply threaten the
well-being or lifestyle
of the more powerful
thus become enemies
to be eliminated.
CONT…

He added his belief that

every time an "innocent
life" is taken (dating back
to the time of Cain and
Abel) that it was "a
violation of the ‘spiritual’
kinship uniting mankind in
one great family, in which
all share the same
fundamental good: equal
personal dignity."
CONT…

Any threat to the human

person, including wars,
class conflict, civil
unrest, ecological
recklessness, and
sexual irresponsibility,
should therefore be
regarded in his opinion
as part of the "culture
of death."
CONT…

Advocates of a
culture of life argue
that a culture of death
results in political,
economic, or eugenic
murder.

They point to historical events like the USSR's Great

Purges, the Nazi Holocaust, China's Great Leap Forward
and Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge as examples of devaluation
of human life taken to an extreme conclusion.
CONT…

The term is used by

those in the
consistent life ethic
movement to refer to
supporters of
embryonic stem cell
research, legalized
abortion, and
euthanasia.
CONT…

Pope John Paul II

condemned a growing
and widespread
"culture of death" in
which moral "crimes"
such as abortion and
euthanasia are
viewed as individual
rights.
CONT…

The pope also

addressed capital
punishment for the first
time in an encyclical,
opposing it "except in
cases of absolute
necessity," which he
said were "very rare, if
not practically
nonexistent."
 CONT…

The encyclical
warned of "a new
cultural climate" in
which abortion and
other "crimes against
life" are justified in
the name of individual
freedom.
"This culture is actively fostered by powerful cultural,
economic and political currents which encourage an idea of
society excessively concerned with efficiency."
CONT…
In response to a question
about the pope's position
on women who have
abortions, Pope John Paul
II expressed a great
concern for them, and he
reaches out to them and
says even though you have
procured an abortion, you
must remember that God
loves you, that forgiveness
is possible.
4. AGAINST WAR AND VIOLENCE
Humanity in the past century
has been sorely tried by an
endless and horrifying sequence
of wars, conflicts, genocides,
and "ethnic cleansings" which
have caused unspeakable
suffering: millions and millions
of victims, families, and
countries destroyed, an ocean
of refugees, misery, hunger,
disease, underdevelopment, and
the loss of immense resources.
CONT…
At the root of so much
suffering there lies a
logic of supremacy
fueled by the desire to
dominate and exploit
others, by ideologies of
power or totalitarian
utopias, by crazed
nationalisms or ancient
tribal hatreds.
CONT…
The twentieth century
bequeaths to us above all
else a warning: wars are
often the cause of
further wars because
they fuel deep hatreds,
create situations of
injustice, and trample
upon people's dignity and
rights.
CONT…
Wars generally do not
resolve the problems for
which they are fought
and therefore, in addition
to causing horrendous
damage, they prove
ultimately futile.

War is a defeat for

humanity.
CONT…

Only in peace and

through peace can
respect for human
dignity and its
inalienable rights be
guaranteed according
to Pope John Paul II.
5. ON WORKING TOWARDS PEACE
At the dawn of the new
millennium, Pope John
Paul II wished to propose
once more the message of
hope which comes from
the stable of Bethlehem:
God loves all men and
women on earth and gives
them the hope of a new
era, an era of peace.
CONT…
His love, fully revealed in
the Incarnate Son, is the
foundation of universal
peace.
When welcomed in the depths of
the human heart, this love
reconciles people with God and
with themselves, renews human
relationships, and stirs that
desire for brotherhood capable
of banishing the temptation of
violence and war.
CONT…
Pope John Paul II affirmed
that peace is possible.
It needs to be implored
from God as his gift, but it
also needs to be built day
by day with his help,
through works of justice
and love.
To be sure, the problems which make the path to peace difficult and
often discouraging are many and complex, but peace is a need
deeply rooted in the heart of every man and woman.
CONT…
We cannot of course foresee
the future. But we can set forth
one certain principle: there will
be peace only to the extent
that humanity as a whole
rediscovers its fundamental
calling to be one family, a
family in which the dignity and
rights of individuals-whatever
their status, race, or religion-
are accepted as prior and
superior to any kind of
difference or distinction.
6. IN DEFENSE OF HUMAN FAMILY
The family is an active and
vital agent in establishing
a civilization of love and
the renewal of Christian
culture.
St. John Paul II believed the
family would play a vital role
in the new springtime of
evangelization and was much
more than mere bystander in
the Church’s evangelizing
mission.
CONT…

He presented an
inherently positive and
bold view of marriage and
family life.
He was confident that no
ideology, however daunting,
can extinguish what God has
set in motion.
While the family finds itself in the midst of an eroding cultural
crisis, facing militant attempts to redefine marriage contrary to
reason and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, John Paul II redirects our
gaze to the truth of Christian marriage as a fruit of the redemption
of Christ.
CONT…

He saw the family in its

full potential in the order
of grace—that if lived
according to this potential
in Christ, it could change
the culture and the world.
For John Paul II, the family is
an active and vital agent in
establishing a civilization of
love and the renewal of
Christian culture.
CONT…

John Paul presented the

family as rooted in the
economy of salvation—
that is, God’s act of
creating the world and
offering salvation through
Christ—with an important
role to play in the order of
redemption
The family, as such, must continue the work of Christ and
this work must begin first within itself, within each
individual family before affecting the extended community.
CONT…
The family, which is
founded and given life by
love, is a community of
persons: of husband and
wife, of parents and
children, of relatives…
without love the family is
not a community of
persons and, in the same
way, without love the
family cannot live, grow
and perfect itself as a
community of persons
CONT…

Pope John Paul II said “to

maintain a joyful family
requires much from both
the parents and the
children.

Each member of the

family has to become, in a
special way, the servant
of the others and share
their burdens.”
REFLECTIONS
we need to promote the
“culture of life” in every
circumstance.
We have to be vigilant in
every sort of attack
against life and family.
We are also reminded the
importance of love in the
family for without love the
family is not a community.
REFLECTIONS
Prayer is also much
needed for the family to
stay united with God as
the center of their life.

we have to respect life

at all times.