Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

The biblical vision inspires the behaviour of Christians in relation to their use of the earth, and also with regard to the advances of science and technology. The Second Vatican Council affirmed that man “judges rightly that by his intellect he surpasses the material universe, for he shares in the light of the divine mind”^{946Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 15: AAS 58 (1966), 1036.}. The Council Fathers recognized the progress made thanks to the tireless application of human genius down the centuries, whether in the empirical sciences, the technological disciplines or the liberal arts^{947Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 15: AAS 58 (1966), 1036.}. Today, “especially with the help of science and technology, man has extended his mastery over nearly the whole of nature and continues to do so”^{948Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 33: AAS 58 (1966), 1052.}. For man, “created in God's image, received a mandate to subject to himself the earth and all that it contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness, a mandate to relate himself and the totality of things to him who was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. Thus, by the subjection of all things to man, the name of God would be wonderful in all the earth. [The Council teaches that] throughout the course of the centuries, men have laboured to better the circumstances of their lives through a monumental amount of individual and collective effort. To believers, this point is settled: considered in itself, this human activity accords with God's will”^{949Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 34: AAS 58 (1966), 1052.}.

The results of science and technology are, in themselves, positive. “Far from thinking that works produced by man's own talent and energy are in opposition to God's power, and that the rational creature exists as a kind of rival to the Creator, Christians are convinced that the triumphs of the human race are a sign of God's grace and the flowering of His own mysterious design”^{950Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 34: AAS 58 (1966), 1053.}. The Council Fathers also emphasize the fact that “the greater man's power becomes, the farther his individual and community responsibility extends”^{951Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 34: AAS 58 (1966), 1053.}, and that every human activity is to correspond, according to the design and will of God, to humanity's true good^{952Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 35: AAS 58 (1966), 1053.}. In this regard, the Magisterium has repeatedly emphasized that the Catholic Church is in no way opposed to progress^{953Cf. John Paul II, Address given at Mercy Maternity Hospital, Melbourne (28 November 1986): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 9 December 1986, p. 13.}, rather she considers “science and technology are a wonderful product of a God-given human creativity, since they have provided us with wonderful possibilities, and we all gratefully benefit from them”^{954John Paul II, Meeting with scientists and representatives of the United Nations University, Hiroshima (25 February 1981), 3: AAS 73 (1981), 422.}. For this reason, “as people who believe in God, who saw that nature which he had created was ‘good', we rejoice in the technological and economic progress which people, using their intelligence, have managed to make”^{955John Paul II, Meeting with employees of the Olivetti workshops in Ivrea, Italy (19 March 1990), 5: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 26 March 1990, p. 7.}.

The Magisterium's considerations regarding science and technology in general can also be applied to the environment and agriculture. The Church appreciates “the advantages that result — and can still result — from the study and applications of molecular biology, supplemented by other disciplines such as genetics and its technological application in agriculture and industry”.^{956John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (3 October 1981), 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 12 October 1981, p. 4.} In fact, technology “could be a priceless tool in solving many serious problems, in the first place those of hunger and disease, through the production of more advanced and vigorous strains of plants, and through the production of valuable medicines”^{957John Paul II, Address to the participants in a convention sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, for the bicentenary of its foundation (21 September 1982), 4: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 4 October 1982, p. 3.}. It is important, however, to repeat the concept of “proper application”, for “we know that this potential is not neutral: it can be used either for man's progress or for his degradation”^{958John Paul II, Meeting with scientists and representatives of the United Nations University, Hiroshima (25 February 1981), 3: AAS 73 (1981), 422.}. For this reason, “it is necessary to maintain an attitude of prudence and attentively sift out the nature, end and means of the various forms of applied technology”.^{959John Paul II, Meeting with employees of the Olivetti workshops in Ivrea, Italy (19 March 1990), 4: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 26 March 1990, p. 7.} Scientists, therefore, must “truly use their research and technical skill in the service of humanity”,^{960John Paul II, Homily during Mass at the Victorian Racing Club, Melbourne (26 November 1986), 11: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, IX, 2 (1986), 1730.} being able to subordinate them “to moral principles and values, which respect and realize in its fullness the dignity of man”^{961John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (23 October 1982), 6: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, V, 3 (1982), 892-893.}.

A central point of reference for every scientific and technological application is respect for men and women, which must also be accompanied by a necessary attitude of respect for other living creatures. Even when thought is given to making some change in them, “one must take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system”.^{962John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 34: AAS 80 (1988), 559.} In this sense, the formidable possibilities of biological research raise grave concerns, in that “we are not yet in a position to assess the biological disturbance that could result from indiscriminate genetic manipulation and from the unscrupulous development of new forms of plant and animal life, to say nothing of unacceptable experimentation regarding the origins of human life itself”.^{963John Paul II, Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 82 (1990), 151.} In fact, “it is now clear that the application of these discoveries in the fields of industry and agriculture have produced harmful long-term effects. This has led to the painful realization that we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well-being of future generations”.^{964John Paul II, Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 6: AAS 82 (1990), 150.}

Man, then, must never forget that “his capacity to transform and in a certain sense create the world through his own work ... is always based on God's prior and original gift of the things that are”.^{965John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 37: AAS 83 (1991), 840.} He must not “make arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without restraint to his will, as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose, which man can indeed develop but must not betray”.^{966John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 37: AAS 83 (1991), 840.} When he acts in this way, “instead of carrying out his role as a co-operator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature, which is more tyrannized than governed by him”.^{967John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 37: AAS 83 (1991), 840.} If man intervenes in nature without abusing it or damaging it, we can say that he “intervenes not in order to modify nature but to foster its development in its own life, that of the creation that God intended. While working in this obviously delicate area, the researcher adheres to the design of God. God willed that man be the king of creation”.^{968John Paul II, Address to the 35th General Assembly of the World Medical Association (29 October 1983): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 5 December 1986, p. 11.} In the end, it is God himself who offers to men and women the honour of cooperating with the full force of their intelligence in the work of creation.