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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Fr. Nic


Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P. came to give a lesson to our chapter, today. We had read Dignitas Personae in preparation for his visit, because that's what he talked about. My cloistered brothers asked the real world questions and Fr. Nic didn't flinch. He answered them head on.

If embryonic stem cell research will help cure illness, why does the Church forbid it?
Because you can't destroy life to save life. All life is sacred.

Why is eugenics wrong?
Because it's playing God. Who's going to decide what is desirable?

Why in some fertility treatments frown upon?
Because they aren't using the methods God created man and woman for. Actions which assist the conjugal act are allowed, but not those that replace it.

Who does a baby belong to if a woman rents a womb to carry her baby, another woman donates her eggs, a man donates his sperm, and another woman carries the baby in her womb?
Good question. That's a problem.

What about cloning perfect people?
Cloning is manipulation to make a genetic copy and is an offense to the dignity to the cloned.

This was not a negative session. Fr. Nic explained that the Church's teaching is a beautiful explanation on the dignity and inalienable value of every single and unique human being. Learning about these issues are an important part of understanding of what we are called to preach. Now further study into this document and Donum Vitae will enable us to explain these important issues.

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