Evangelium Vitae was released on 25 March 1995 by Pope John Paul II. It begins with the stirring lines, “The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message. … At the dawn of salvation, it is the Birth of a Child which is proclaimed as joyful news.” <== from the official translation into English found here.
This theology is also understood in the same way by the Orthodox. It is in the Incarnation, in the assumption of human nature by the Second Person of the Trinity that the beginning of our salvation is found. “He became what we are so that we might become what He is, (St. Irenaeus of Lyons).” Here is where we disagree with classical Protestantism. What we received was not merely a juridical exchange in which we are considered as though we were innocent and as though we had never sinned. Human nature itself was redeemed and we received the opportunity to partake in the divine nature as St. Peter wrote in 2 Peter. Evangelium Vitae calls it “sharing the very life of God.” Something new and wonderful has happened.
The official translation of the Exsultet, sung by Catholics on Easter Eve even contains the following words. “Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed. … O happy fault [referring to Adam’s sin] that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! … O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to the human.” This is what is the foundation of Evangelium Vitae, the wedding of the divine to the human, and it is a foundation for the Orthodox as well.
It is this reality that makes life doubly-precious for both Orthodox and Roman Catholic. It is not enough that we were created in the Image of God. That, by itself, would already make life incredibly valuable. But, the fact that our common human nature is now present in the Trinity in the Son of God makes our existence doubly valuable. The Passion and Resurrection broke the doors of hell down and finished opening the doors for us to become like God.
The fact that our human nature is taken up by the Son of God means, as Pope John Paul II said, “… for this reason whoever attacks human life, in some way attacks God himself.” In particular, abortion is brought up over 80 times in this document. The document states as particularly horrifying the prospect that a parent take the life of their own child. It is the polar opposite of God loving us so much that his Son willingly came to die for us and, yes, with us. In passing, this is but one of the reasons why the Orthodox oppose the theology of penal substitution so strongly.
Yet, it is crucial that we not miss that abortion is nowhere near the only anti-life sin that is addressed. In this document, Pope John Paul II has an extensive quote from Vatican Council II. It gives the definition of what it is to be prolife. For Catholics, since it comes from the documents of a Council, the definition is binding on them. I would argue that the Orthodox would agree with the definition.
“Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others like them are infamies indeed. They poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator”
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, 27
Notice that there are many issues that are additionally listed as being life issues. Thus, it is possible to be anti-abortion but on the main still not really be pro-life. If one opposes abortion, but has little concern or worries about “subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, … disgraceful working conditions,” etc. then one’s pro-life credentials are not only sadly limited but are nearly non-existent. There is a strong warning in the quote above for those who find excuses to allow the sins listed above. Pope John Paul II says, “They poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury.”
The failure to be truly concerned about all the other sins listed by the Second Vatican Council and repeated by Pope John Paul II leads to a poisoning of the soul which shrinks down and loses its compassion for suffering humanity. In the end, that shrunken soul finds excuses for why it shows no perceptible care for those suffering from the variety of sins. The soul that fixates on only one of the sins listed to the exclusion of the rest will end up poisoned and shrunken. Let us read then the first two paragraphs of the final prayer of the Vitae written by Pope John Paul II. In them, you will see the priorities that we are to hold as Christian. Note that elective abortion is listed first, as it is the worst of the anti-life sins. I will finish with this prayer.
O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
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