Catholic bioethics from Pius XI to Pope Francis I

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dc.contributor.authorO’Leary, Donen
dc.date.accessioned2025-09-01T14:41:54Z
dc.date.available2025-09-01T14:41:54Z
dc.date.issued2025-02-28en
dc.description.abstractThe papacy played a central role in the development of Roman Catholic teaching about bioethics. Pope Pius XI’s Casti connubii (1930) condemned contraception, sterilization, and abortion. Papal teaching was broadly accepted by Catholics before the 1960s. Widespread dissent in the Church greatly increased after the publication of Pope Paul VI’s Humanae vitae (1968). The first successful IVF procedure in 1978 raised new bioethical issues relating to the status of human embryos outside the womb. The Catholic hierarchy was more successful in lobbying politicians to enact restrictive laws, or obstruct liberal reforms, than in persuading the laity to accept its teaching on birth control and assisted human reproduction. A rift emerged between mainstream Catholic culture and the institutional Church. The Church is now circumscribed in meeting the challenges presented by complex ethical issues, such as surrogacy and assisted dying, because of the papacy’s inflexible stance on these matters.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationO’Leary D. (2025) 'Catholic bioethics from Pius XI to Pope Francis I', in Rollo-Koster, J., Ventresca, R. A., Eichbauer, M. H. and Pattenden, M. (eds.) The Cambridge History of the Papacy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 455-485. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108662994.020en
dc.identifier.doi10.1017/9781108662994.020en
dc.identifier.endpage485en
dc.identifier.isbn9781108662994en
dc.identifier.isbn9781108493772en
dc.identifier.isbn9781108725521en
dc.identifier.startpage455en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/17820
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherCambridge University Pressen
dc.relation.ispartofThe Cambridge History of the Papacyen
dc.rights© 2025, Cambridge University Press. This chapter is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use. en
dc.subjectAbortionen
dc.subjectAssisted dyingen
dc.subjectCasti connubiien
dc.subjectContraceptionen
dc.subjectHumanae vitaeen
dc.subjectIVFen
dc.titleCatholic bioethics from Pius XI to Pope Francis Ien
dc.typeBook chapteren
dc.typebook-chapteren
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