Cardinal Sgreccia Shares His Memories on the Church's Involvement in Bioethics

Cardinal Sgreccia began his career in bioethics under the pontificate of Paul VI, with the publication of the encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968.

At the time, a number of Catholic university professors won over by the liberal spirit of May 1968 refused the pope’s reminders on these moral questions: the future president of the Pontifical Academy for Life therefore set to work writing the first Manual for Physicians and Biologists.

In the interview, the cardinal mentioned the special protection Padre Pio clearly procured, going so far as to call it a “miracle”. Indeed, it was the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, the private hospital founded by the stigmatized Capuchin, that financed the first European chair of bioethics, laying the foundations for a more effective battle in the defense of life.

When the Italian newspaper asked the prelate to sum up in a few words the principles that have guided him throughout his entire career, the cardinal answered that it is important to understand that the object of bioethics is “the human person and not just the body,” for “an embryo that is developing supposes a Creator.”

When the newspaper mentioned progress, Cardinal Sgreccia recalled the definition of progress given by Pius XII: “the fact of adding only ‘the true’ to ‘the true’.”