(Conclusion)
How did Pope John Paul II reshape commitment? Through his 1995 encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae” (The Gospel of Life), and ways by which he communicated to leaders and authorities across the world and generations. In that work, he already decried how, at the end of the 20th century, the inspiring achievements of democracy and human rights were being undone.
The “culture of death” as he described it: a perverse and pervasive notion of freedom decapitated from moral truth. Secular humanism seemed to forget what humane meant by introducing moral relativism. The simple, deceptively harmless right to free speech—“I may not agree with what you say, but I agree that you have a right to say what you want to say”—becomes distorted and extends to: “I may not agree with what you legislate, but I agree that you have the right to legislate it.” This nihilist thinking dangerously attacks and destroys the very root of human rights and democracy. He began to suggest how we can change that speech by drilling down on the responsibility for sustaining human and humane life, whereof the one who speaks.
John Paul II dared to propose nothing less than a new humanism that is at the service of the entire human community—Catholic or non-Catholic. It is there where he explicitly and unequivocally said that abortion, euthanasia, embryo research, the rights of the physically and mentally handicapped, techniques of artificial reproduction, and the need for policies favoring adoption, the moral corruption of the medical profession, the temptation of eugenics, illegitimate means of population control, and capital punishment are not just about sectarian religious doctrine or policy options in the political arena. These are burning debates about what it means to be human, and about the institutions required to ward off these unremitting attacks upon human dignity. We need this servant leader who frames the Church’s witness in this compelling way that rouses non-Catholics, those who do not adhere to the Judeo-Christian moral tradition, humanist intellectuals and activists. We need more like him who makes us realize that laws that legitimize the killing of innocent human beings are unjust and devoid of moral authority. We need more like him who would remind public officials responsible for such laws that they cannot claim to separate their private conscience from their public actions, nor can they plead the pressure of public opinion. We need more like him who will knock on the door of international organizations, as well as some governments and foundations, are actively promoting a “culture of death” that, “by pitting the strong against the weak and by turning crimes into rights,” would have us “revert to a state of barbarism which one hoped had been left behind forever.”
There is a third way. Seek the Holy Spirit to pray for us in sighs too deep for words, reminds me of the Prayer for Graces Through the Intercession of Blessed Pope John Paul II: “O Blessed Trinity, we thank You for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care, the glory of the Cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him. Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life, and is the way to achieving eternal communion with You. Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among Your saints. Amen.”
Let us pray that through John Paul II’s intercession, we may all be healed from the more insidious Parkinson’s disease of gradually losing our senses of what is moral and humane—the “culture of life” that marks the grand innovation of democratic life and governance.
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