GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 21, 2002 (VIS) - In the Vatican from February 25 to 27, the eighth general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life will be held on the theme: "Nature and dignity of the human being as a foundation for the right to life."

Over the three days, specialists in philosophy, ethics, law and theology will hold discussions on the theme of the gathering. A communique on the subject reads: "The subject matter was prepared by the group of relators during earlier meetings. They reflected at length on the various viewpoints and implications of this immense and delicate topic."

On the one hand, says the communique, "there exists a desire to discover the laws that govern the cosmos and the biosphere in order to be able to control them and, in this way, create new technologies. On the other hand, today, many widespread schools of thought reject the concept of nature in the ontological sense, as an essential and perennial structure of the human being." In the same way, "the concept of natural law in the ethical sense is frequently contested and thus the concept of natural rights is not admitted as the basis of the positive law created by legislatures at national and international level."

"The right to life is the discriminating and fundamental limit in the progress driven by the impulse of modern technology. This is the cardinal point of law and the first cornerstone on which society is built."

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