The Gospel of Life proposes an alternative vision of law and culture, one that provides an antidote to the nihilistic pragmatism that produces a culture of death. It seeks to recapture the essential relationship between the civil law and the moral law, and to foster a culture in which all human life is valued and authentic human development is possible.
The fundamental premise is that the human person must be at the center of all legal systems and culture and that human life is inviolable, an end in itself, not a means to an end. We recall an old Latin saying: Hominum causà jus constitutum est—“Law is established for the benefit of mankind.”
This insight is at the heart of Pope John Paul’s call for “a general mobilization of consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of life.” It is also necessary to reestablish the relationship between the civil law and the moral law.
