By Bishop Robert Vasa
“The dignity of a person must be recognized in every human being from conception to natural death.”
So begins the Sept. 8, 2008 Instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the dignity of the human person. This instruction is a follow-up and updating of a previous instruction from the same Congregation titled, Donum Vitae (The gift of life). The new instruction is not long and I would certainly encourage that it be read. It can be found on the Vatican website … ” There are a few areas which Dignitas Personae, as the instruction is titled in Latin, tackles which bear repeating and comment upon here:
*A human embryo is a human person
*Every human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception
*Some forms of so-called ‘contraception’ take a human life
*Dignitas Personae helps Catholics form their consciences
