Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Seoul (Agenzia Fides) – The medical profession, with the scientific progress and new experimentation, is presented with ever-new challenges in trying to reconcile all this with the Catholic faith. This has formed the principal behind the new “Guidelines for Catholic Medical Ethics,” promoted by the Church in Korea and published by the Catholic Medical Center in Seoul. It is a reference guide for all health care workers who, in their right conscience, try to live their profession according to Christian values.
This issue is especially present in Korean society, where the new bio-technologies and experiments performed on human embryos that are employed in some Centers and scientific laboratories have given way to many other things, such as attempts to clone humans, all of which has lead to a widespread debate on both a national and international level. The Catholic Church has always indicated the dangers of such practices, indicating them to be distortions and degenerative practices within the profession of men of science and medicine, when they make themselves manipulators and new “creators” of life.
At the heart of this new publication of Guidelines, is the need to mention the dignity of human life and indicate Jesus Christ as the model for every doctor in his own actions and in his relation to patients. The text also highlights the urgent need to respect every patient and his right to receive the best treatment that medicine can offer.
An considerable part is dedicated to the issue of scientific research that, it says, “cannot go against Divine Providence and should remain at the service of humanity.”
The new Guidelines are the result of work performed by the Catholic Bio-ethical Institute, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Seoul’s Commission for Life. They hope it will become a reference point for all Catholic faithful who work in the medical field, in science, research, etc. They also hope it will be a means of clarifying the Church’s teaching and guiding public opinion on themes like abortion, euthanasia, heroic treatment, organ transplants, artificial fertilization, cloning, and bio-technologies. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 11/6/2008)
