Summary of Evangelium Vitae
I. SUMMARY of Evangelium Vitae
Evangelium Vitae (Latin: "The Gospel of Life") is the name of the encyclical written by Pope John Paul II which expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding the value and inviolability of human life. The Pope issued the encyclical on March 25, 1995.This affirmation of the Gospel of Life, which is part of and inseparable from the entire Gospel of Christ, is fundamental to the Church’s mission to the world, and part of the necessary witness of every Christian — especially in our present culture, where the very meaning and value of human life is under grave threat: “Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!”
The encyclical consists of four chapters, and begins by outlining the present situation, where assaults against human life lead the pope to characterize society today as a “culture of death”.
In Chapter I, “The Voice of Your Brother’s Blood Cries to Me from the Ground”, Pope John Paul reviews the roots of human violence, and the very serious threats to human life we see today. He draws heavily on Scripture (especially the account of Cain and Abel) in his explanation of the way in which, from the beginning, personal sin undermines the very basis for affirming love and life. “At the root of every act of violence against one’s neighbor there is a concession to the ‘thinking’ of the Evil One, the one who ‘was a murderer from the beginning’. A distorted and “perverse idea of freedom” justifies crimes against life at its most vulnerable — abortion and euthanasia — as “rights”, and underlies the present conflict between the “culture of life” and the “culture of death”.
Christ’s words, “I Came That They May Have Life”, are the title of Chapter II. Here the pope reviews the history of man created in the image of God, and explains the implications of our being so created. Human life has its meaning within the context of the good Creation, and is fulfilled only in union with
Evangelium Vitae (Latin: "The Gospel of Life") is the name of the encyclical written by Pope John Paul II which expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding the value and inviolability of human life. The Pope issued the encyclical on March 25, 1995.This affirmation of the Gospel of Life, which is part of and inseparable from the entire Gospel of Christ, is fundamental to the Church’s mission to the world, and part of the necessary witness of every Christian — especially in our present culture, where the very meaning and value of human life is under grave threat: “Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!”
The encyclical consists of four chapters, and begins by outlining the present situation, where assaults against human life lead the pope to characterize society today as a “culture of death”.
In Chapter I, “The Voice of Your Brother’s Blood Cries to Me from the Ground”, Pope John Paul reviews the roots of human violence, and the very serious threats to human life we see today. He draws heavily on Scripture (especially the account of Cain and Abel) in his explanation of the way in which, from the beginning, personal sin undermines the very basis for affirming love and life. “At the root of every act of violence against one’s neighbor there is a concession to the ‘thinking’ of the Evil One, the one who ‘was a murderer from the beginning’. A distorted and “perverse idea of freedom” justifies crimes against life at its most vulnerable — abortion and euthanasia — as “rights”, and underlies the present conflict between the “culture of life” and the “culture of death”.
Christ’s words, “I Came That They May Have Life”, are the title of Chapter II. Here the pope reviews the history of man created in the image of God, and explains the implications of our being so created. Human life has its meaning within the context of the good Creation, and is fulfilled only in union with