Even a casual reader of the letter will notice that
abortion and euthanasia are the only
issues given extended discussion in each chapter.

Does Evangelium Vitae
weave a seamless garment?

By Ryan J. Barilleaux

n The release of Evangelium Vitae in the spring of 1995 was greeted in the American news media by an almost predictable response. Headline writers looked for a newsworthy pronouncement in the text-and found it in the Holy Father's strong words about capital punishment-while other reports dismissed the encyclical letter for repeating the Church's traditional teaching on the sinfulness of abortion and contraception. What captured the attention of careful observers, however, was Pope John Paul's proclamation that "The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message."

The Holy Father teaches us that "every person sincerely open to the truth and goodness" must recognize the "sacred value of human life from its very beginning until its end" and "affirm the right of every human being to have this primary good respected to the highest degree."2 This message of the inviolability of life is then examined over the course of four chapters, each with its own specific concern: present-day threats to human life (I), the Christian message concerning life (II), God's law on the subject of life (III), and a call for a new culture of life to replace the prevailing "culture of death" (IV). It is a bold statement of Catholic teaching about life and our responsibility for it.

What is the meaning of the letter?

One major theme in the American commentary on the encyclical letter was the assertion by many analysts that it vindicated those who advocate a "seamless garment" approach to political and moral issues involving life. In a 1983 speech, Chicago Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Bernardin argued that all aspects of life are part of a "seamless garment," which means that all affronts against life are essentially equivalent. While repeating the Church's prohibition against abortion, he also denounced the nuclear arms race, homelessness, and other social/political problems as part of a larger whole. Taking a position that has engendered considerable controversy in Catholic circles, Cardinal Bernardin advocated a "consistent life ethic" that would guide Catholic social and political action. For over a decade now, the seamless garment has been an animating principle of many of the pastoral letters of the American bishops.

In the days that followed the publication of Evangelium Vitae, several bishops and other Catholic commentators claimed that the Holy Father had embraced the consistent life ethic. Bishop Norbert Dorsey of Orlando asserted that Pope John Paul II had been directly influenced by the thinking of Cardinal Bernardin,3 a sentiment echoed by Bishop Anthony Bosco of Greensburg.4 Carol Crossed, executive director of the Seamless Garment Network, a group that represents "150 organizations opposed to abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia, assisted suicide and war,"5 eagerly interpreted the encyclical as embracing the consistent life ethic preached by her organization.6 While Cardinal Bernardin himself did not openly claim that Evangelium Vitae reflected his thinking, he did not discourage those who made the connection or asserted his influence.

This position-taking certainly left many who had not read the document itself-most American Catholics-rather confused about the Holy Father's actual message. Was this encyclical an endorsement of the seamless garment approach? Or did it distinguish between murder and other injustices, as Catholic thinking had traditionally done?

The answers to these questions, while not easily available to American Catholics, are important to the faithful. The Church's teaching on the message of Christ, as it is authoritatively transmitted by the Holy Father, has important consequences for believers. Public debate in recent years has featured considerable disagreement among prominent American Catholics over which political positions are most consistent with the Gospel message, whether on abortion, welfare, defense, or other issues. If Evangelium Vitae is to serve as the guide for the faithful that the Holy Father intended it to be, then Catholics need a clear understanding of what it says and means.

In order to answer the questions raised above, we need a careful examination of what Pope John Paul II has written. As Etienne Gilson commented on the interpretation of papal encyclicals, "the first thing to do is to make a new effort to understand exactly what it does actually say."7 For, as Gilson has further commented, "When a Pope writes such a document, he does so in the full awareness of his spiritual responsibility. He knows very well that each and every sentence, word, noun, epithet, verb and adverb found in his written text is going to be weighed, searched and submitted to the most careful scrutiny by a crowd of countless readers scattered over the face of the earth."8 The only way to get at the meaning of an encyclical is to see what it does and does not say. We shall find out whether or not Evangelium Vitae weaves a seamless garment.

The Gospel of Life
and the seamless garment

What evidence is there for claims that the Holy Father has accepted the seamless garment approach? A look at each chapter will provide some answers. Chapter I surveys an array of threats to life in our time. Specifically mentioned are attacks on others through murder, war, slaughter, and genocide. Even more to the point, the Holy Father asks "And how can we fail to consider the violence against life done to millions . . . who are forced into poverty, malnutrition and hunger because of an unjust distribution of resources between peoples and between social classes?"9 He also mentions a "scandalous arms trade," armed conflicts around the globe, "reckless tampering with the world's ecological balance," drugs, and illicit and dangerous sexual activity. "It is impossible to catalog completely the vast array of threats to human life . . . ."10

After this listing, however, the encyclical draws particular attention to certain threats to life that stand out above others. Characterizing these threats as part of a structure of sin and a war of the powerful against the weak, the Holy Father identifies abortion and contraception, artificial reproduction, and euthanasia as grave evils that are especially prominent in our times. Due to distorted notions of human freedom and worries about overpopulation, many advocates for these evils attempt to portray them as positive goods.

Chapter I does not merely identify these threats, but points to hopeful signs that coexist with the culture of death. Among these signs are individuals, couples, organizations and movements who commit themselves to promoting life. As regards the seamless garment, the Holy Father points to "a new sensitivity ever more opposed to war," growing public opposition to the death penalty, "and attention to ecology."11 These signs are included among married couples who readily accept children, individuals and groups who provide alternatives to abortion, and those developments in medicine that aid in reducing suffering and disease.

Chapter II discusses the value of life in more general and theological terms. It is rarely specific, so says little that either supports or denies the idea of a consistent life ethic. Rather, its purpose is to remind Christians and "every person sincerely open to the truth and goodness" of the need to take seriously the dignity of life, the divine spark in humanity, and the reality of eternal life.

In contrast, Chapter III is far more specific. As a meditation on the Fifth Commandment, it reflects on the teachings of God's Holy Law on life. Here the advocates of the seamless garment find the strongest evidence that the Holy Father might embrace their position. Here Pope John Paul II also makes headlines: he sharply circumscribes the circumstances under which the death penalty can be employed by the state and remain true to justice and human dignity. Going further than has often been the case in much of Catholic social thinking, the Holy Father teaches that the state must not execute offenders "except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent."12

Chapter IV turns away from death to call for the development of a new culture of life. In a general way, this idea of a culture of life corresponds to the language of many seamless garment advocates-although, to be accurate, it also corresponds to much of traditional Catholic teaching and the language of pro-life activists. Beyond this general similarity, the Holy Father's words offer little of substance to support the claim that he has embraced the idea of a seamless garment. The letter does remind civil leaders that it is their duty to serve the people and the common good. It also encourages cultural change to reorder our priorities, a message clearly directed at the people of the West: "to adopt a new life-style . . . on the basis of a correct scale of values: the primacy of being over having."13 As before, while these words correspond to positions taken by advocates of the seamless garment, they also reflect ancient Catholic Christian teaching on man in the world and the role of the state in society.

What Evangelium Vitae says
and does not say

In his introduction to the social encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII, Etienne Gilson reminds us that "Another rule to observe is not to yield to the temptation of 'improving' the doctrine of the Popes."14 In other words, we cannot expand upon what the Successors of Peter have declared nor take away from it; we must take them-quite literally-at their word. This caution is relevant in considering the claim that Evangelium Vitae weaves a seamless garment.

As our review of the letter has shown, the Holy Father has used some language and references that one might consider as exhibiting what Cardinal Bernardin calls a consistent life ethic. But the evidence for this claim is not exactly overwhelming. Indeed, when we consider more explicitly all that the encyclical says and does not say, we find that the message of Pope John Paul II is more consistent with traditional Church teaching than with the seamless garment approach to defining and defending life.

A careful reading of Evangelium Vitae reveals four major points that the faithful must consider in order to understand the Holy Father's message. Let us examine each of these in turn.

1. The amount of attention given to certain problems over others clearly indicates their relative importance. To be blunt, the Holy Father's discussion of abortion and euthanasia is so extensive as to overshadow any other "life issues." The Introduction gives special attention to "unborn children in particular."15 In Chapter III, an extended discussion on civil and moral law is followed immediately by further condemnation of abortion and euthanasia. In the next Chapter, the Holy Father issues a call for a culture of life that focuses on protection of the unborn, families, and the elderly. Even a casual reader of the letter cannot help but notice that abortion and euthanasia are the only issues given extended discussion in each chapter.

2. The encyclical makes a distinction among evils. While the Holy Father decries conditions of poverty, injustice, and violence, he does so in general terms. This treatment comes in direct contrast to the direct and specific language he employs on questions of abortion, euthanasia, and contraception. In Chapter IV, the discussion of the world's need for a culture of life does not mention war, racism, or poverty, but it does say bluntly that the consequences of the Gospel of life "can be summed up as follows: human life, as a gift of God, is sacred and inviolable. For this reason procured abortion and euthanasia are absolutely unacceptable."16 Clearly, certain threats to life-once regarded by society as unacceptable, now seen as a right by many-far outweigh others in their gravity and urgency.

The absolute evils of abortion and euthanasia are contrasted by a number of qualified evils, including the death penalty, violence, and war. While Evangelium Vitae goes farther than previous Church documents in its teaching on capital punishment, the Holy Father stops short of an absolute condemnation of executions. Rather, he says that the death penalty can be used justly when "it would not be possible otherwise to defend society."17 Nor is war an absolute evil, because it is right to stop an aggressor even at the cost of his life.

3. A true defense of life is more subtle and complex than the so-called consistent life ethic. Distinguishing between evils is one seam in the garment of life. Another is the Church's recognition that the "values proposed by God's law seem to involve a genuine paradox."18 Christians are often faced with situations-such as aggression-that cannot be answered by an everything-is-equivalent consistent life ethic. The Gospel of life is consistent, but it is not simplistic.

Some seamless garment advocates were disappointed that Evangelium Vitae did not condemn just war theory. To be consistent in support of life, they hold, one must renounce the idea of self-defense. This is the argument for Christian pacifism. Yet the Holy Father's discussion of war is not incomplete nor a matter of oversight.

While reminding his audience that God is the "master of life," the Holy Father repeats the language of the Catechism on defense against threats to life: "legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life, the common good of the family or of the state."19 We not only have the right to defend ourselves, but have a responsibility to defend others, even if deadly force is required to do so. As explained in Evangelium Vitae, the true defense of life requires a more careful analysis of circumstances than is suggested by the seamless garment approach. In the matter of "criminals and unjust aggressors," the Holy Father makes clear that "great care must be taken to respect every life."20 But "the commandment 'You shall not kill' has absolute value when it refers to the innocent person."21

This distinction between great care and absolute value is neither accidental nor is it a seamless approach to understanding and defending life. A plain reading of the letter makes clear that the Holy Father is endorsing traditional Catholic teaching on war and the state's responsibility for protecting its citizens.

4. We must consider what is not in the letter as well as what is there. Evangelium Vitae includes much that is inconsistent with the seamless garment approach and leaves out key elements in the consistent life ethic. The letter does not proscribe capital punishment, but it does set limits on its application. It does not repudiate just war theory-it affirms the duty of defense against unjust aggressors. And it does not treat all affronts against life as equivalent to one another. Perhaps it is because of these holes in the seamless garment that Cardinal Bernardin did not himself embrace the encyclical as a vindication of his ideas.

The authentic Gospel of Life

Does it really matter whether or not Evangelium Vitae weaves a seamless garment? The answer can only be an affirmative one. This letter, like Humanae Vitae and other important social encyclicals, stands as an authoritative statement of Church teaching. The letter sounds a trumpet for Catholic social action. It is vital that the faithful understand its message if we are to offer an authentic response to its call for a culture of life.

Clearly, the message of the Holy Father is that the cause of life is of utmost importance, but it is not to be treated simplistically. In all that it says and does not say, Evangelium Vitae affirms traditional Church teaching on life and its protection. It does not endorse a so-called consistent life ethic; rather, it calls for a culture of life that is consistent with the authentic Gospel of life.

One need not work very hard to see that the Holy Father calls us to something greater than the simplistic and misleading metaphor of the seamless garment. While Cardinal Bernardin has kept the list of issues he wants to place under seamless garment relatively brief, others who invoke the concept have included a veritable laundry list of topics: civil rights, racism, sexism, animal rights, gay rights, nonviolence, and even gangster rap lyrics!22 As far back as a decade ago, Colman McCarthy castigated the killing of animals "for food or fur" as equivalent to abortion, capital punishment, environmental pollution, and "weapons systems."23

This simplistic equivalence has no logical endpoint, nor does it do much for the victims of abortion and the Western world's growing tolerance for euthanasia. The idea of a consistent life ethic certainly sounds appealing, but it is such a slippery concept that it can only distract us from the real work ahead in the defense of life. What Catholics need instead is the authentic Gospel of life that is presented in Evangelium Vitae. n

1 Evangelium Vitae, March 25, 1995, p. 1. All page numbers given in this paper are references to the English-language edition of the encyclical letter published by Pauline Books and Media.

2 Ibid., pp. 12-3.

3 "Cardinal Bernardin Led Way," Orlando Sentinel, August 13, 1995, p. G6.

4 "Gospel for Catholic Life," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 30, 1995, p. A1.

5 "In God's Hands," Atlanta Journal, June 25, 1995, p. 2B.

6 Ibid.

7 Etienne Gilson, "How to Read the Encyclicals," in The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Teachings of Leo XIII, edited, with an introduction by Etienne Gilson (Garden City, N.Y.: Image Books, 1954), p. 21.

8 Ibid.

9 Evangelium Vitae, p. 25.

10 Ibid., p. 25.

11 Ibid., pp. 49-50.

12 Ibid., p. 91.

13 Ibid., p. 154. Emphasis in the original.

14 Gilson, p. 21.

15 Evangelium Vitae, p. 17.

16 Ibid., p. 130.

17 Ibid., p. 91.

18 Ibid., p. 90.

19 Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2265. Quoted at Ibid., p. 90.

20 Ibid., p. 92. Emphasis added.

21 Ibid., p. 92. Emphasis on "absolute value" has been added. Emphasis on "innocent person" is in the original.

22 See, for example, Arthur Jones, "Seamless Garment Week to Celebrate Life," National Catholic Reporter, January 13, 1995, p. 3.

23 Colman McCarthy, "The Seamless Coalition," Washington Post, February 9, 1995, p. A19.