Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Papacy
- The Cambridge History of the Papacy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- General Introduction
- Part I Spaces, Liturgies, Travels
- Part II Women, Gender, Sexuality
- Part III Science, Medicine, Technology
- 14 Medicine in the Court of the Avignon Papacy
- 15 Popes, the Body, Medicine, and the Cult of Saints after Trent
- 16 Catholic Bioethics from Pius XI to Pope Francis I
- 17 The Popes and Magic
- 18 Heavens: The Papacy, Astrology, and Astronomy to 1800
- 19 Care for Our Common Home: The Papacy and the Environment
- 20 Popes and the Media
- Part IV Education, Culture, Arts
- Select Bibliography
- Index
16 - Catholic Bioethics from Pius XI to Pope Francis I
from Part III - Science, Medicine, Technology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2025
- The Cambridge History of the Papacy
- The Cambridge History of the Papacy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- General Introduction
- Part I Spaces, Liturgies, Travels
- Part II Women, Gender, Sexuality
- Part III Science, Medicine, Technology
- 14 Medicine in the Court of the Avignon Papacy
- 15 Popes, the Body, Medicine, and the Cult of Saints after Trent
- 16 Catholic Bioethics from Pius XI to Pope Francis I
- 17 The Popes and Magic
- 18 Heavens: The Papacy, Astrology, and Astronomy to 1800
- 19 Care for Our Common Home: The Papacy and the Environment
- 20 Popes and the Media
- Part IV Education, Culture, Arts
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The papacy played a central role in the development of Roman Catholic teaching about bioethics. Pope Pius XI’s Casti connubii (1930) condemned contraception, sterilization, and abortion. Papal teaching was broadly accepted by Catholics before the 1960s. Widespread dissent in the Church greatly increased after the publication of Pope Paul VI’s Humanae vitae (1968). The first successful IVF procedure in 1978 raised new bioethical issues relating to the status of human embryos outside the womb.
The Catholic hierarchy was more successful in lobbying politicians to enact restrictive laws, or obstruct liberal reforms, than in persuading the laity to accept its teaching on birth control and assisted human reproduction. A rift emerged between mainstream Catholic culture and the institutional Church. The Church is now circumscribed in meeting the challenges presented by complex ethical issues, such as surrogacy and assisted dying, because of the papacy’s inflexible stance on these matters.
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- The Cambridge History of the Papacy , pp. 455 - 485Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025