These answers are designed to be brief, informative but incomplete; for more exhaustive explanation, further study and prayer are necessary.

What is the culture of life or the pro-life movement?

From a Catholic perspective, the Culture of Life embodies the Catholic Church’s teachings with respect to the inherent dignity of life and its logical consequences.  Jesus echoes these sentiments in John 10:10.  Although most see these implications with respect to abortion, it also has implications on other issues such as the death penalty, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and suicide.  By extension, it also places dignity on one’s sexuality and hence has implications to God’s call to holiness within marriage, family, and the conjugal act.

What encyclicals form the core of these teachings?

The Church’s teachings emanate from many sources, but the core of her teachings can be found in Humanae Vitae, Evangelium Vitae, and the Theology of the Body.  Other encylclicals such as Familiaris Consortio indirectly speak on the same themes.

Why is the Church against abortion?

Many places in the Bible, we see that God has a relationship with us even before birth (Psalm 139:13-16).  And there is an inherent dignity by the fact that we have been created in the image of God (Gen 1:27).  Therefore it would be considered murder to kill that being which has been made in God’s image, has a relationship with Him, and has been already loved by Him.

Why is the Church against euthanasia, suicide, and the death penalty?

By logical extension of the previous principles concerning abortion we can see why the Catholic Church is opposed to the above actions.  Every human being is deserved of dignity and the opportunity for forgiveness.  So the dealth penalty denies one the right to life and forgiveness (although this principal must be balanced with the general  self-defense of peoples).  The act of suicide and euthanization implies the unworthiness of one’s life, which although might be filled with suffering or pain, is still fully valued with supreme love by our Creator.

Why is the Church against embryonic stem cell research?

Contrary to popular opinion, the Church is not against all stem cell research.  The Church supports adult or umbilical stem cell research (which has scientific merit, see http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/winter01/stem_cell.html) in which human life is not sacrificed.  Since human life begins in the womb at conception (again, Psalm 139), it would be considered murder to destroy that which has the potential to full human life.  Embryonic stem cell research involves the creation of the embryo and its destruction to allow for the possibility (no conclusive therapy has ever been proven) of theoretical therapy.  Similar “ends-justifying-the-means” arguments would have been made by the Nazis who in parallel fashion performed medical experiments on Jews, which resulted in the destruction of many human lives.

Besides these national, in-the-news issues, are there other common implications in our everyday lives?

One can see that these principles therefore show that all people must treat the poor (who we often look down upon), the elderly (who we often see as burdensome once they lose their economic value), the terminally ill, women (who are often valued only for their sexual attractiveness), and the handicapped with equal dignity and equality.

 Why is the Church against contraception?

The Church believes that there is still meaning behind the conjugal or marital act (i.e. sexual intercourse).  One can see that by natural design (and one can not deny that), there is a unitive meaning behind the act, as well as a procreative meaning.  It is unnatural to willfully separate these two meanings (or deny them) as intended by God.  Sigmund Freud (obviously a non-Catholic) said that “ the abandonment of the reproductive function is the common feature of all perversions...we actually describe a sexual activity as perverse if it has given up the aim of reproduction and pursues the attainment of pleasure as an aim independent of it.”  Gandhi said that “Nature is relentless and will have full revenge for any such violation of her laws…..if contraceptive methods become the order of the day, nothing but moral degradation can be the result.”  Pope Paul VI also stated that “man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”  We can therefore see that contraception, although seemingly a “personal” issue, has far-reaching implications on the treatment of women, stability of society and our culture in general.

Why is the Church against tubal ligation and vasectomies?

The Church is therefore against human sterilization as it denies the true meaning of sex (just as does contraception)  – God’s plan for the unity of love and procreation.  As echoed by Sigmund Freud (who definitely was not trying to argue on the behalf of the Church), the Church recognizes a perversion of the dignity of the conjugal act when one resorts to tubal ligation and vasectomies.  The act is not open to the will of God when one is sterilized and reduces the conjugal act to a mere physical act made to fulfill physical sensation.

Why is the Church against In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)?

Once again, IVF denies the true meaning of the conjugal act, although in reverse of contraception.  In IVF, the procreative act is made separate from the unitive act of conjugal love.  And practically, once an IVF has taken place, often abortions must take place when “too many children have been inadvertently conceived.”  And it does not seem to be in God’s natural plan that human life was meant to be created by sticking up a conduit into the womb and inserting viable cells to implant in the reproductive organs of a woman.

So are Catholics supposed to have at least 10 children per family?

No!  The Church teaches that we are called to “responsible parenthood” and have as many children as we feel we can adequately nurture.  Couples are called to Natural Family Planning (NFP).  NFP, if performed correctly, can be up to 99% efficacious.  NFP is accepted by the Church as it is open to the procreative action of the marital act and does not deny the true divine meaning behind the conjugal act.  We know that among the general population, the divorce rate is about 50%.  Among those who practice NFP and realize a true meaning in the marital act, the divorce rate is an incredible 1-2%!

Is NFP the same as the Rhythm method?

The Rhythm method was the Church’s original plan to “count the days” to when a woman was most fertile, and to avoid intercourse around those days.  This does not work in cases where a woman has irregular cycles.  In NFP, one interprets many cyclical, physical signs of a woman’s body (her change in body temperature, her viscosity of cervical fluid) to determine when a woman is most fertile.  The couple can then decide whether to abstain or not during those times.  A Biblical basis for this can be found in 1 Corinthians 7:5.

What is the meaning of sex?

Through Humanae Vitae and the Theology of the Body, the Church teaches that there is true meaning of the conjugal act.  Rather than the act being that for our own selfish desires, it is meant to communicate true love.  It is meant to be the ultimate “gift of self” to another to express a free, full, faithful, and fruitful love to another.  We can again see the implications of contraception, as contraception implies that the conjugal act is a mere physical act to satisfy our own pleasures rather than to give love completely to another.

What is the meaning of our bodies?

Many Christians are taught that the body is a necessary evil to live a holy life – that we live a constant battle between the flesh and the spirit (as might be misinterpreted in Romans 8).  But the Church teaches that we live an integrated life of body and spirit (Romans 8 echoes a lustful flesh rather than a flesh integrated with holiness).  The body “makes visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine” as Pope John Paul II said.  Our bodies are made to transmit God’s love to the world.

So what is the meaning of marriage?

Marriage, which in this modern culture seems to be a temporary state rather than a permanent stage in life, is meant to fully echo this love of God to one another.  We see in the Bible (the relationship of Hosea to Gomer in the book of Hosea, the wedding feast of the Lamb in the book of Revelation, the call for husband and wives in Ephesians 5,  and the Bridegroom and His expectant brides in the Gospels) that God’s love for us is most analogous to a marriage.  Jesus gave himself on the cross fully, faithfully, freely, and fruitfully.  And from Ephesians 5, we are called to a similar love between husband and wife.  Husbands must completely and sacrificially give themselves to their wives as Christ gave Himself to the Church.  If we truly make a “gift of ourselves” to our spouses (this is called by Pope John Paul II the “nuptial meaning of the body”) we “fulfill the very meaning of our being and existence.”

Why are we made to love this way?

We are made in God’s image (Gen 1:27-28).  So just as in the Holy Trinity there is an eternal exchange of love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that each entity in the Trinity is called to give their love away to each other, we are made in similar fashion.  We are called to give our love away in communion just as in the Trinity.  So through marriage (for example) we gain a more in depth understanding of God by participating in this self-giving love.

For further study see:

1.  Humanae Vitae at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

2.  Theology of the Body at
http://www.theologyofthebody.net/ or http://www.christopherwest.com/works.asp or http://www.tobet.org/index.asp

 3.  Evangelium Vitae
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/gospeloflife.html