Catholic Social Teaching Principles October, 1999
The Principle of Respect for Human Life
Article by Fr. Byron
Lesson Plans
Primary (K-2)
Intermediate (3-5)
Middle School (6-8)
Secondary (9-12)
Facilitator's Guide
Scripture and Doctrinal References:
from Matthew 25:40
"I assure you, as often as you did it for the least of my brothers, you did it for me."
from Matthew 22: 37-39
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it.: ‘ Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ The whole law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments."
from Deuteronomy 30:19
"I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God’s blessing and God’s curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life."
from Psalm 139:15
"When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother’s womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - you saw me before I was born."
from Jeremiah 1:5
"...I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet..."
from Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
"Every person, from the moment of conception to natural death, has inherent dignity and a right to life consistent with that dignity." (Pp.1-2)
from Catechism of the Catholic Church
"Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God." (#2319)
"The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator. (#2320)
"Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstances claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being." (#2258)
from The Catholic Northwest Progress, publication of the Archdiocese of Seattle, article by Rev. William Byron, SJ
from the papal encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II, 1965
"Life, especially human life, belongs to God; whoever attacks human life attacks God's very self. (#9)
'I repeat the words of the Second Vatican Council condemning crimes and attacks against human life: "-whatever is opposed to life itself such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction; -whatever violates the integrity of the human person such as mutilation, torments indicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; - whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; - as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons… all these things and others of their kind are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from injury. Moreover, they are a dishonor to the Creator" (GS 27). (#3)