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A Consistent Ethic of Life: An American-Catholic-
Dialogue
Gannon Lecture, Fordham University
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
December 6, 1983
It is a privilege to be invited to give the Gannon Lecture
at Fordham University. Fr. Gannon's life as a priest,
a Jesuit and a scholar offers a standard of excellence
which any Gannon lecturer should seek to imitate.
I was invited to address some aspect of the U.S. Catholic
bishops' pastoral letter, "The Challenge of Peace:
God's Promise and Our Response." I am happy to
do so, but I want to address the topic in a very specific
manner The setting of today's lecture has shaped its
substance. The setting is a university, a community
and an institution committed to the examination and
testing of ideas. A university setting calls for an
approach to the pastoral which does more than summarize
its content; six months after its publication, it
is necessary to examine the document's impact and
to reflect upon the possibilities for development
which are latent in its various themes.
More specifically, Fordham is an American Catholic university,
an institution which has consistently fostered the
work of enriching American culture through Catholic
wisdom and has simultaneously sought to enhance our
understanding of Catholic faith by drawing upon the
American tradition.
Today I will discuss the pastoral letter in terms of the
relationship of our Catholic moral vision and American
culture. Specifically, I wish to use the letter as
a starting point for shaping a consistent ethic of
life in our culture. In keeping with the spirit of
a university, I have cast the lecture in the style
of an inquiry, an examination of the need for a consistent
ethic of life and a probing of the problems and possibilities
which exist within the Church and the wider society
for developing such an ethic.
I do not underestimate the intrinsic intellectual difficulties
of this exercise nor the delicacy of the question--ecclesially,
ecumenically and politically. But I believe the Catholic
moral tradition has something valuable to say in the
face of the multiple threats to the sacredness of
life today, and I am convinced that the Church is
in a position to make a significant defense of life
in a comprehensive and consistent manner.
Such a defense of life will draw upon the Catholic moral
position and the public place the Church presently
holds in the American civil debate. The pastoral letter
links the questions of abortion and nuclear war. The
letter does not argue the case for linkage; that is
one of my purposes today. It is important to note
that the way these two issues are joined in the pastoral
places the American bishops in a unique position in
the public policy discourse of the nation. No other
major institution presently holds these two positions
in the way the Catholic bishops have joined them.
This is both a responsibility and an opportunity.
I am convinced that the pro-life position of the Church
must be developed in terms of a comprehensive and
consistent ethic of life. I have just been named the
Chairman of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops'
Pro-Life Committee; I am committed to shaping a position
of linkage among the life issues. It is that topic
I wish to develop today in three steps: (1) a reflection
on the pastoral letter on war and peace; (2) an analysis
of a consistent ethic of life; and (3) an examination
of how such an ethic can be shaped in the American
public debate.
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