Folia Theologica 19. (2008)
Hámori Antal: Human dignity in church Teaching
HUMAN DIGNITY IN CHURCH TEACHING 55 ty of the human being, to the golden rule, and to the holiness of the Creator. The law forbidding it is universally valid: it obliges each and everyone, always and everywhere.82 In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, „You shall not kill," (Mt 5:21) and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek,83 to love their enemies.84 He did not defend himself and told Peter to leave his sword in its sheath.85 b) Prohibition of abortion Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.86 „Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you" (Jer 1:5). „My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth" (Ps 139:15).87 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: „You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish."88; „God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes."89.90 82 CCC2261. 83 Cf. Mt 5:22-26,38-39. 84 Cf. Mt 5:22-39,44. 85 Cf. Mt 26:52; see CCC 2262; 2268-2269. 86 DonumV 1,1. 87 CCC 2270. 88 Didache 2,2; cf. Epistula Pseudo Barnabae 19,5; Epistula ad Diognetum 5,6; Tertullianus, Apologeticum 9,8. 89 GS 27, 51. 90 CCC 2271.
