Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Pontifical Academy started its 11th assembly yesterday, 21 February during three days of intense work it will consider the theme of “quality of life and ethics of health”.
In a message for the occasion Pope John Paul II thanked the members for their diligent work “ever more valuable in these days marked by no few problems connected with defence of life and the dignity of the human person.”
With regard to the Assembly the Pope said “the terms ‘quality of life’ and the ‘promotion of health’ refer to one of the main goals of society today which rise to questions often ambiguous and sometimes tragic contradictions and which therefore call for careful discernment and full clarification.” The Holy Father also said “the human person must be recognised and respecedt whatever his or her condition of health, infirmity or disability” and “human persons whatever society they belong to have equal dignity.”
Lastly the Pope said: “treating illness and making every effort to prevent it are permanent tasks for the individual and of society because of the dignity of the person and the importance of health as a good. The forces of science and wisdom must be mobilised at the service of the true good of the person and of society everywhere in the world, in the light of that basic criterion, the dignity of the person, in whom the image of God is impressed”.
Following an address of welcome by Archbishop Elio Sgreccia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Cardinal Lozano Barragan, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, dwelt on the different understandings of quality of life from the psychological to the pragmatic and utilitarian points of view, for the latter life is of value only it is of a certain grade of ‘quality’. With regard to the social-biological viewpoint he said the balance of forms of life in the world is considered indispensable for quality of life. The Cardinal then described quality of life, “as universal harmony, values, self-giving, divine and human creative life, quality of life like the Most Holy Trinity, wellbeing and awareness.”
This was followed by a talk by Father Faggioni, guest Professor in bio-ethics at Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome, on quality of life in the light of Christian anthropology. Then it was the turn of Dr. Le Mene, President of the Jerome Lejeune Foundation in Paris who reflected on ethics of health and management of world health, penalised in countries in the south of the world. Mgr Shooyans, former Professor of philosophy at the University of Louvain, in Belgium, spoke of reproductive health and population policies with reference to a World Health Organisation report 2004 “Reproductive Health”.
In the afternoon professor Gómez-Loboillustrated the lights and shadows of the understanding of quality of life whereas Prof. Zamagni spoke about the principle of justice and the right to treatment. The last intervention of the day came from professor Hengstschlager, docent in Medical Genetics at the Medical University of Vienna who spoke on drugs as a medicine, a commercial product and a consumer “good” . (AP) (22/2/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:46 Parole:574)
