John Paul II's Encyclical Veritatis Splendor and Bioethics

In an article in the inaugural issue of the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Romanus Cessario, O.P., asserted: “This short essay on method in Catholic bioethics assumes that the development of Catholic bioethics must proceed from the principles embodied in Veritatis Splendor”(2001, pp. 53-54). Cessario’s own essay focused on the encyclical’s emphasis on the complementarity between divine law and human freedom, contrasting this with the understanding of freedom found in proportionalist writers. It did not, however, seek to show how the teaching of this encyclical can and should inwardly shape “Catholic” bioethics.