St. Augustine’s Press

Catholic teaching regarding human cloning is closely linked to the sanctity of life, the status of the embryo, and the meaning of sex and marriage. It addresses the tensions between the relief of suffering-which can be sought in good or bad ways-and respect for every human being. Anthony McCarthy sets out the scientific background to cloning, explains the Church's teaching, and examines secular arguments for and against human cloning.

Cooperation in evil or wrongdoing is one of the most perplexing areas in bioethics, both for those working in the field and those seeking their advice.  The papers collected in this book are written by philosophers, theologians and lawyers who have studied these problems and/or by those who have faced these problems in their own work in law, healthcare and research, and political campaigning. The volume includes both general treatments of the subject of cooperation and conscientious objection, and more specific treatments of topics such as voting to improve unjust laws, research on fetal/embryonic cells, and care of suicidal patients.  The book is offered as a guide to a field which is both of academic interest and of personal concern to those who face cooperation problems in their own lives and work.

A gathering of some of the best scholars in traditional Catholic thinking to discuss the culture of life: Luke Gormally, “Introduction”; Cardinal Thomas J Winning, “The Great Jubilee and the Culture of Life, the Culture of Death”; John Finnis, “Secularism, the Root of the Culture of Death”; Katerina Fedoryka Cuddeback, “The Global Lineaments of the Culture of Death”; Dermot Fenlon, “Dechristianizing England: Newman, Mill and the Stationary State”; Robert George, “The Political Theory of the Culture of Death”; Livio Melina, “Faith in the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Jesus and the Culture of Life”; Carlo Lorenzo Rossetti, “What Does It Mean for a Christian to Be ‘Against the world but for the World’?”; Bishop Donal Murray, “The Church as a Community of Hope in the Face of the Culture of Death”; Archbishop George Pell, “The Role of the Bishop in Promoting the Gospel of Life”; Richard Hogan, “The Role of the Priest in Promoting the Culture of Life”; Laura Garcia, “The Family and the Culture of Life”; Anthony Fisher, OP, “Some Problems of Conscience in Bio-Lawmaking”; Jorge Garcia, “The Forms and Limits of the Private Defence of Innocent Human.”

“This book goes a considerable way towards filling a gap which Christian nurses may become aware of when studying ethics i.e. a clear exposition of a Christian perspective on ethical issues affecting nursing.” – Dorothy Whyte, Ethics and Medicine

In a society where euthanasia is strongly supported by many, and where supporters make appeals to Christian virtues such as mercy, compassion, and love, it is more important than ever for the Church's real teaching to be known. Is “mercy killing” ever right? This booklet explores the Catholic Church's teaching on why euthanasia is always wrong and explodes popular myths and misconceptions.

“This book is a wonderful antidote for anyone tempted to despair of the obfuscation, duplicity and just plain muddleheadedness of many of the participants in the public debate about euthanasia. . . . If you are interested in the debate over euthanasia (and none of us can afford not to be) beg, borrow or buy this book.” – Karin Clark, News Weekly

Introduction. Background Science: Genes. Genetic disorders, ‘Preventing’ genetic disorders. Germline gene therapy. Somatic gene therapy. Genetic enhancement. Delivering genes. Risks and benefits. Cloning. Cloning for birth. Cloning for research/transplantation. Stem cell research. Catholic Teaching: Respecting the embryo. Non-therapeutic interventions. Respect for liberty. Designer babies. In vitro fertilization [UK]. Cloning. Family relationships. Enhancement. Genetic enhancement. Germ-line therapy: Moral concerns. Somatic therapy: Moral concerns. Conclusion. Further Reading. Glossary.

“[This book] will be of immense interest to all ethicists, regardless of whether or not they are involved in human genetic intervention, or are Roman Catholic. . . .

This volume argues that there is a need for an alternative to prevailing understandings of the ethical requirements which healthcare allocation policy should meet. It offers a detailed critique both of liberal-welfarist and utilitarian approaches to healthcare allocation. The authors maintain that an ethically adequate approach to resource allocation in healthcare must be based on specific ('contentfull') understandings of the human person, of human needs, of human community and the common good, and of the nature of healthcare. Only if policy is informed by such understandings can it avoid serious injustice to patients and the abandonment of values essential to healthcare practice. The volume details the normative requirements allocation policy should meet, and highlights injustices which are encouraged by current tendencies in policy, reinforced by decisions in the courts.

As infertility rates among couples increase, so do the lengths to which people go to have children. In this booklet Agneta Sutton looks at the Church's teaching in the area of medically assisted conception, exploring the effects of modern treatments on the couple and the child.

“It conveys predictably that Catholic bioethics has as much concern with philosophical issues about body and soul as it has to do with medical casuistry. Less predictably it offers some welcome indications that current Catholic discussion is biblically, as well as philosophically formed: a rather good section called ‘Anthropology’ contains two memorable essays, one by Professor John Haldane on the philosophy of the body and one by Gregory Glazov on biblical anthropology. There are discussions of sexual ethics (with especial reference to John-Paul II’s allocutions) as well as of the vocation of health care and the vocation to suffer. But there is attention to practical questions, too. Six contributions concern themselves with the relation of Catholic medical practice to the norms of contemporary secular society, and especially the problem of cooperation in evil, an understandable preoccupation.” – Oliver O’Donovan, New Blackfriars

A Brief History of Transplant Medicine: Problems of rejection. Breakthrough. Moral Issues in Organ Transplantation: Receiving an organ. Taking organs from dead bodies. Taking organs from living donors. Finding new sources of organs. Sharing out organs and sharing out costs. Thinking about the transplant movement as a whole. The Official Teaching of the Catholic Church: Before the era of organ transplantation. Pope Pius XII. Dignity of the Body. Pope John Paul II. Donations as free gift. Abuses. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Recent teaching. Definition of death. Weighing up the Arguments: The principle of totality. Having the right attitudes. Brain death. Organ donation as Christian selfgiving. Tentative Conclusions and Unresolved Questions. Further Reading. Glossary.

“The breath of Sutton’s analysis is vast. She draws on biological, medical, legal, and sociological information. The analysis also includes a review of Roman Catholic tradition concerning abortion and canonical penalties.” Kevin T. Fitzgerald, S.J., Theological Studies