We are living in a time of experimentation with life. Photo: Shutterstock

Priests are often falsely accused of meddling in politics. However, in the light of the current debate on the proposed amendments to the Embryo Protection Act, I would be rather shocked to see fellow priests refraining from taking a stand and tacitly complying with that which imperils human life.

A couple of days ago, I came across a short yet significant speech that Pope Francis delivered to participants in a commemorative conference of the Italian Catholic Physicians’ Association on November 15, 2014. Pope Francis warned against “false compassion” which holds that “it is a scientific breakthrough to ‘produce’ a child, considered as a right rather than a gift to be welcomed; or to use human lives as laboratory animals, allegedly in order to save others”.

The Pope admitted that “we are living in a time of experimentation with life. But it is harmful experimentation. Making children, rather than accepting them as a gift. Playing with life. Be careful, because this is a sin against the Creator: against God the Creator, who created things this way”. 

Pope Francis, whose pontificate is unquestionably marked by his charism of mercy and compassion, doesn’t mince his words. Yet he is only reiterating the Church’s Magisterium on this subject matter. The Pope’s powerful message to the Italian doctors is a continuation of decades of belief, inspired by the Word of God, and advocated by giants like Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, among others.

The Church’s teaching on IVF is clear and the arguments brought against certain reproductive techniques are valid and still hold true today. These practices “cannot be morally justified in any way and under no circumstances. It is never morally permissible for a bad action… to atone for a good cause…. It is a well-known moral principle that the end does not justify the means”. (Mgr Paul Cremona, Mgr Mario Grech, ‘Celebrating Human Life’, pastoral letter, July 26, 2012).

Now it is up to us Catholics to accept and uphold this teaching in its entirety. We are often faced with delicate situations that leave us between a rock and a hard place. The words of Jesus come to my mind: “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Luke 16, 13).

When will we stop playing God? May we find the strength to be His servants, to serve Him and Him alone, to cherish His law and obey Him rather than men.