Some physicians use the text of Pope John Paul IIs Address to International Congress on Transplants, dated August 29, 2000 to justify “cadaveric” organ transplantation. Can we accept this?
“Cadaveric” transplantation is a misnomer, and is used to describe the removal organs from a person who has been declared brain dead, but who is being kept alive by artificial means. Note that the Popes address is not a statement of the Churchs Magisterium , and that it makes no definitions or clear statements on Faith or morality. I will pass over the humanistic and naturalistic tone of this discourse, which speaks of the dignity of the human person, but not of the salvation of souls. I would, however, like to bring up the crucial statement in this document, which the Pope uses to justify his personal opinion that it is licit to harvest organs from brain dead people, who are being alive by artificial means, in order to treat medical conditions by transplantation. This statement is this: “the criterion adopted in more recent times for ascertaining the fact of death, namely the complete and irreversible cessation of all brain activity, if rigorously applied, does not seem to conflict wi
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