Abortion and Euthanasia

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Contraception, as a social practice, goes back to the earliest days of recorded history. When Christianity entered the world, the followers of Christ were warned against conforming to the pagan society in which they lived. They were given four successive precepts on sexual morality: “You shall not use magic. […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. I. Euthanasia Until a few decades ago, euthanasia (easy death) was scarcely understood even as a word, let alone discussed except in a small circle of social theorizers. Many people still think of it in terms originally defined by the Euthanasia Society of America as “the termination of human […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Introduction: There is no stopping abortion without the Eucharist. Abortion is murder. It is on a scale today greater than all previous combined abortion murders in human history. Public demonstrations and statements of all kinds and sizes are all very important. They offer the opportunity for the pro-life Catholic […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. There are pressing reasons why a Catholic should know the history of the Church’s doctrine on contraception. In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul appeals to the “landmarks in the human Christian vision of marriage,” and to the “teaching of the Church on the regulation of birth,” for declaring that artificial […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. We know what the word “sacrifice” means. It means the surrender of something precious to the god in whom a person believes. Sacrifices have been part of world religions since the dawn of recorded history. Without exception, the deities of all the religions of the ancient world demanded sacrifices […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The future of the pro-life movement throughout the world depends on the Roman Catholic Church. To know this is to begin to understand the real issues underlying the wanton murder of over fifty million unborn children every year. To believe this is also to see some hope of stemming […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The future of the human race depends on the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion. This is the statement I wish to prove in this lecture. Before we go any further in my presentation, let me first explain what I mean. I mean that the survival of the human race […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Humanae Vitae, is surely the most discussed and controverted papal document of modern times. To some people it is a symbol of an outmoded ethical mentality. But to loyal, believing Catholics, it is a blessed gift from the Vicar of Christ. My purpose here is […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. It must seem strange to call anything our “gravest moral responsibility.” There are so many moral problems in the world today. How can any one of them pose our gravest responsibility. But so it is. In my judgment, the contraception mentality is the single deepest issue facing Western society. […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. In my judgment abortion and euthanasia are at the heart of the crisis that is plaguing and destroying the modern world. I do not intend to address the issue of defending the rights of the unborn or the aged in this discourse. They obviously have these rights, and abortion […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. It was the present Vicar of Christ who gave us two terms that describe the modern world. There is a culture of life and a culture of death. The culture of death had become the dominate philosophy of the affluent countries, including our own beloved United States. I never […]