Choose life: workshops on the encyclical Evangelium vitae.

Ottawa, CCCB, Catholic Organization for Life and Family,

1998, 110 pages, $14.95

FR. LEONARD KENNEDY, C.S.B.

This large-size book presents four two-and-a-half-hour workshops, each on one of the four chapters of the recent papal encyclical The Gospel of Life, and also a full-day workshop on the whole encyclical. The four chapters are entitled: (1) Present-day threats to human life, (2) The Christian message concerning life, (3) You shall not kill: God's holy law, (4) For a new culture of human life.

The workshops were developed by Joanne Chafe, Diane Dupras, Helene Leboeuf, and Jennifer Leddy. They are designed according to the methods of adult education, and use a number of teaching aids such as group discussions, plenary reports, pictures, cartoons, tableaux, drawings, reflections on Scripture, a card game, newspapers, debates, and case studies.

There is no doubt that, if Catholics could get together to make use of the workshops, they would benefit greatly. There is, however, a serious criticism I would make of this book. An unprejudiced reader of the encyclical The Gospel of Life itself would notice that it is written primarily against abortion, and secondarily against mercy killing and contraception. For example, there are fourteen sections dealing with abortion (13, 16, 44, 45, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 72, 73, and 94) and another eight sections which touch on it (5, 14, 17, 20, 27, 41, 91, and 99); there are eight sections dealing with mercy killing (15, 46, 64, 65, 66, 67, 72, and 73) and another one (88) which touches on it; and there are four sections which deal with contraception (13, 16, 23, and 94), and two which touch on it (17 an 91). No other anti-life matter is given similar coverage.

Now, this book downplays the issue of abortion and totally omits the issue of contraception, which is the chief cause of abortion and which is now known to be responsible not only for most surgical abortions but also for chemical abortions, which seem to outnumber surgical abortions several times over. The book gives about equal emphasis to abortion, the death penalty, mercy killing, and new reproductive technologies, and never even mentions contraception. In the encyclical the death penalty is dealt with in only one section (56) and is touched on in only one other (27). Moreover, in 1973 the death penalty was abolished in Canada while in 1996 there were 106,000 surgical abortions and hundreds of thousands of chemical ones. As well, the death penalty is not even absolutely forbidden since it is allowed in extreme cases, while the direct killing of innocent life in abortion is always forbidden.

Pro-life supporters will continue to ask: What is the matter with the staff at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops? Have they still not grasped the central issue of the day, this after thirty years of the contraceptive mentality and the massive killing of babies in the womb? How could the writers of this book fail utterly to teach what the Pope says about contraception, and how could they downplay the issue of abortion, when the right to life is the most basic right and by far the chief social justice issue with which the encyclical is concerned? The Pope says: "We are also entrusted with the task of ensuring that the doctrine which is once again being set forth in this Encyclical is faithfully handed on in its integrity" (82). This book has failed to carry out this task.