Pontifical Academy for Life

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Basic data
Surname: Pontifical Academy for Life
(Latin Pontificia Academia pro Vita)
Seat: Via della Conciliazione 1
00193 ROMA
President: Vincenzo Paglia
(since August 15, 2016)
Chancellor: Renzo Pegoraro

The Pontifical Academy for Life ( Latin : Pontificia Academia pro Vita PAV) is a Pontifical Academy that is dedicated to promoting the ecclesiastical uniform ethics of life. She also does research on bioethics and Catholic moral theology .

structure

John Paul II founded it on February 11, 1994 with the motu proprio "Vitae mysterium". Although the Academy is considered a separate entity, it is closely linked to the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care and various other dicasteries of the Roman Curia .

The Academy has 70 members named by the Pope from various branches of biomedicine and those closely related to the problems of promoting and defending life. There are also honorary members and corresponding members who are supposed to establish contact with interested institutes and study centers in their countries.

Activities and positions

The Academy is responsible for developing and promoting many church positions on medical ethics issues including reproduction , in vitro fertilization , gene therapy , euthanasia, and abortion . She was also in part responsible for forming the church's response to allegations of sexual abuse.

On February 14, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI. an address to the members of the Academy to encourage them in their mission. He reiterated the church's opposition to laws relating to biomedical or ethical issues that are passed without moral considerations.

Internal conflicts about opening the academy to scientific knowledge and representatives who are more distant from a view of the protection of life in the tradition of Pope John Paul II, which is oriented towards the goals of the so-called right -of- life movement , as represented by the majority of the academy's members, began already in the final phase of the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

Curia reform 2016

During the pontificate of Pope Francis in the summer of 2016, there was a comprehensive reorganization and reorganization of the Academy, which in future will work with the newly created Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and no longer with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as before . The Academy for Life received a new statute calling on it to work closely with other organizations in the field of life sciences , including expressly non-Catholic and non-Christian institutions. From now on, the members of the Academy for Life are no longer appointed for life, but their appointment is limited to five years each with a possible extension for further terms of office. This is intended to rejuvenate the academy and simplify the necessary renovation.

The close connection with the dissolved Pontifical Council for the Family , which, like the Academy and the also closed Pontifical Family Institute, had long been determined by the strong dominance of Opus Dei , was broken with the restructuring. In this context, the Pope also abolished the obligation of the members of these divisions, which stems from the term of office of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as prefect of the faith, to sign an oath of allegiance which restricts freedom of conscience and stipulates certain moral theological views. At the same time, the rule was abolished that former members who have reached the age of 80 automatically become honorary members of the academy.

guide

The previous presidents of the academy were:

The Chancellor of the Academy has been the Padovese priest Renzo Pegoraro since autumn 2011 , and he will continue to hold this office in autumn 2016.

Members

Board

Ordinary members

Corresponding members

Emeritus members

Honorary members

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John L. Allen : Vatican academy mulls how pro-life is pro-life enough. In: National Catholic Reporter , May 30, 2012, accessed September 21, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b Pontifical Academy for Life is repositioning itself. In: Vatican Radio , November 5, 2016, accessed on September 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Nomina del Gran Cancelliere del Pontificio Istituto “Giovanni Paolo II” per Studi su Matrimonio e Famiglia e nomina del Presidente della Pontificia Accademia per la Vita. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , August 17, 2016, accessed August 18, 2016 (Italian).
  4. ^ Vatican: New Chancellor for the Pontifical Academy for Life , in: Vatican Radio , September 12, 2011.
  5. ↑ Personal profile for Renzo Pegoraro at his home diocese of Padua , accessed on September 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Nomina di Membri del Consiglio Direttivo della Pontificia Accademia per la Vita. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, August 5, 2017, accessed August 5, 2017 (Italian).
  7. ^ A b Nomina di Membri Ordinari della Pontificia Accademia per la Vita. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, June 13, 2017, accessed June 13, 2017 (Italian).
  8. ^ Pope appoints members of the Academy for Life . In: Vatican Radio , June 13, 2017, accessed on September 25, 2017.
  9. ^ Küng and the Austrian Opus Dei. In: Der Standard , 15./16. April 2006, accessed September 15, 2017.
  10. ^ A b Robert Hutchison: Their Kingdom Come. Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei. Doubleday, London 1997 (St. Martin's Press, New York 2006), p. 442.