Resources
In this section you will find our resources library. Either use the subject categories to navigate or the search and filter system.
Skip to resources searchThe resources provided by this website broadly fall in to three categories.
First there are papers on bioethical topics written or commissioned by members of the network. In some cases these will be papers that have previously been published in other contexts and are republished here with permission and/or are already in the public domain.
Secondly there are links to documents by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church (that is, by a Pope or an Ecumenical Council or by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith) that are relevant to bioethics. These links will be accompanied by a short description but the description is not to be understood as a commentary or interpretation. It is provided only as an aid to help find material on particular topics.
Finally there are resources that have been produced by other organisations, such as reports or guides. These resources will generally have been published before and may be available on other websites, but are reproduced here for convenience. Where the organisation is operational and/or owns the copyright, these resources will reproduced only with permission.
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Address of The Holy Father John Paul II to the 18th International Congress of the Transplantation Society
Magisterial Documents
August 29, 2000
Description Pope John Paul II emphasises the ‘great ethical value’ of organ donation,[3] while making clear that to ‘commercialize human organs’ is ‘morally unacceptable’.[3] This Magisterial document is the first to address the determination of death by neurological criteria, also known as ‘brain death’. On this topic, the Pope first lays down the ethical principle
Evangelium Vitae: On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life
Magisterial Documents
March 25, 1995
Description This Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II is the fruit of the cooperation of the Episcopate of every country of the world, and was intended as a precise and vigorous reaffirmation of the value of human life and its inviolability in the face of new threats to human life. It is structured in
Declaration on Euthanasia
Magisterial Documents
May 5, 1980
Description In response to questions asked by ‘a number of Episcopal Conferences’, this document sets out the Church’s teaching on euthanasia. Note the date which is prior to moves in the Netherlands for the legal toleration of euthanasia. It is in four sections: I. Human life is the basis of all human goods and all