Evangelium Vitae
Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life) March 25, 1995 is the eleventh encyclical of Pope John Paul II You is subtitled: To the Bishops, priests and deacons, religious and lay faithful and all people of good will - about the value. and the sanctity of human life and includes four major chapters.
Chapter I.
Your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground - the present threats to human life
Looking back at the fratricide of Cain to Abel ( " Your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground " Gen 4), the encyclical "present threats to human life " in mind: to be the root of the violence against life in the eclipse of the value of life, identified in a degenerate notion of freedom and in the eclipse of the sense of God and man. This first chapter concludes by pointing to signs of hope and with an invitation to commitment for life.
Chapter II
I am come that they might have life - The Christian message about life
In the second chapter the Christian message about life under the life auspicious word of Jesus ("I am come that they might have life " ) is presented. For Christians, Christ himself is " the word of life " and therefore the life " always good". Because Jesus " in the uncertainty of human existence, " the meaning of life the end " " brings light up the glory of God "on the face of man ." This gift of eternal life " is directly linked to the " respect and love for the life of all ", because in the Old Testament it is stated by God :" For the life of man I will demand an accounting from each of his brethren " (Gen. 9, 5 ). thus man has towards life responsibilities, he has the dignity of the unborn child to pay just as much as life in old age and in suffering. This is already the message of the "Law of Sinai ", the more but had the "Gospel " filled with the life of the tree of the Cross.
III. chapter
Thou shalt not kill - The holy law of God
In the third chapter the gospel is " Thou shalt not kill " commandment applied to the concrete: if human life is sacred and inviolable, the abortion is to be rejected a despicable crime and euthanasia. The state law has to be in conformity with the moral law, and therefore the task to promote life, not destroy it. For this reason, the imposition of the death penalty must be restricted to " serious cases ". Such an exception to the general rejection should only apply " if the protection of society otherwise not possible " is today only " very rare, if not practically no longer " such cases occur but before (No. 56).
Chapter IV
That you did for me - for a new culture of human life
However, over the state laws, it needs a " new culture of human life." God has called Christians to a " people of life and for life ", which proclaims the " Gospel of life ", celebrates and serves him. It is emphasized that the family is the " sanctuary of life " and that would all " as children of light " ( Eph 5, 8) live the Gospel from life, to bring about a cultural shift in the company of people.
Appreciation
On June 16, 2013 Pope Francis " Evangelium Vitae " celebrated in St. Peter's Square, a Holy Mass for the Day of the encyclical.