Understanding the Right to Life in the Catholic Tradition

Abstract

Cardinal Paul Shan is known for his promotion of the view of the Catholic Church that in today’s society the death penalty is no longer necessary. He grounded this view in a consistent ethic of respect for life from the moment of conception to its natural end. Without going into the clinical complications involved in defining the end of life, this paper will look at the underlying metaphors of life and show how secular and Catholic views differ. Finally, I will argue that the Church can learn both from Jewish and Chinese traditions to provide its view of the right to life with firmer theoretical foundations. Moreover, this approach has been confirmed in Pope Francis’ recent statement (October 2017) on this issue.