Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics

by Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco

*Engages contemporary moral questions raised by biology and medicine from a sound Catholic perspective*

How are the patient, the physician, the nurse, and the scientist called to grow in holiness in their particular vocations? This introductory text, written from within the Catholic moral tradition, narrates a bioethics that emphasizes the pursuit of beatitude in the lives of those who are confronted by moral questions raised by biomedicine and the other life sciences.

The Catholic moral vision that informs this volume is rooted in the moral life described by the Lord Jesus Christ in his Sermon on the Mount. As Pope John Paul II taught in his moral encyclical, Veritatis splendor, we imitate Christ by seeking, with God's grace, to perfect ourselves through our actions and the virtues they engender. In this way, Catholic bioethics differs from other contemporary approaches to bioethics that focus on either the outcomes of human acts or the procedures that protect the autonomy of the human agent.

Besides ethical questions raised at the beginning and the end of life, Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., discusses the ethics of the clinical encounter, human procreation, organ donation and transplantation, and biomedical research. Finally, the text discusses the realities faced by citizens of faith living in a free and democratic society that is at the same time postmodern, secular, and liberal.

Genres: Catholic, Medicine, Faith, Science, Philosophy

336 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2011

About the author

Austriaco first attended the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Science Engineering (B.S.E.) in 1989. He went on to earn a Ph.D in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1996. In 1997, he entered the Order of Friars Preachers, from where he was able to attend the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies where he earned his Master of Divinity degree and licentiate in theology. From there he also earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology, through the University of Fribourg, 2005.

In 2001 he joined the National Catholic Bioethics Center as a scientific adviser. Since 2005, Austriaco has served on the faculty of Providence College as a tenured associate professor of biology. In the same year he became an investigator at the National Health Institute-Rhode Island Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Program. One year later, in 2006, he was hired as a staff ethicist at The Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York.

In addition to his other work and publications, Austriaco is the founder and chief researcher at the Austriaco Lab. The laboratory is located at Providence College and is composed of both students and faculty. The laboratory researches programmed cell death (PCD) such as cell senescence and apoptosis. Research is done on yeast cells, which are genetically manipulated and observed in order to better understand PCD.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

My biggest problem with this book is captured by something the author—a college biology professor and Catholic (specifically Dominican) priest—says toward the end of the final chapter: “the narrative in this book is directed toward moral friends [another philosopher’s term for those who share one’s moral convictions, as contrasted with “moral strangers”] who affirm the premises of the Catholic moral tradition.” This stance in itself doesn’t bother me—I personally do agree with these same moral premises—but I am troubled by the fact that the author only clearly states that this is the book’s intended audience and approach *twelve pages from the end* of his book. Given this, I’m also somewhat disappointed that he has subtitled the book “An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics.” To my mind, a book initially presented in this way might be of interest to many people who do not agree with all of the Church’s moral teachings (such as the universal sanctity of life), especially about bioethics: a few examples might be bioethicists (or people interested in bioethics, like physicians) who are not Catholic but want to learn more about Catholic approaches to these issues; or people who are Catholic but might not have been educated about, or might even have thoughtful objections to, some of the Church’s teachings. Fr. Austriaco’s assumption that his audience agrees with all of his premises, which comes across not only in this one sentence but also in the rather cursory way (given their importance) they are discussed in the book as a whole, and, especially, the fact that he fails to present this fact clearly in the framing of the book, means that I think it will, unfortunately, fail to reach many people who might be at least educated —though not necessarily persuaded of all of its conclusions—by it. Especially because it is largely presented as just an introduction, I think its tone will likely be alienating to many readers. I think Fr. Austriaco should either have written a less dogmatic and more explanatory—to my thinking, more genuine and even more charitable—introduction, or at the very least made clear from the outset that he was writing for an audience that already agrees with the Church. The phrase “preaching to the choir” kept coming to mind, though I guess it’s more “teaching bioethics to the choir.”

That being said, for those who do agree with the Church on fundamental moral questions, this is a very good, though not perfect, treatment of complex issues in bioethics and medicine. The author is good at explaining complex medical issues and the moral debates surrounding them, though as alluded to above he doesn’t always justify the Church’s positions on them as much as a more “introductory” introduction might. The sections of each chapter dealing with the importance of particular virtues for the Catholic in preparing to approach various bioethical issues are excellent, probably the best parts of the book. He is very thorough in citing various Church documents and Papal statements about the many issues he raises, so the book is an excellent resource for Catholics looking for documentation of the Church’s teachings. The discussion of the philosophical underpinnings of bioethics (both secular and religious) are thorough but a bit dense, and assume somewhat more familiarity with philosophy and its terminology than I had. The writing is mostly very good but is a bit clumsy at times, especially when Fr. Austriaco is giving his individual opinion on some still-unsettled issue on which the Church has not formally decided. He often does not make clear that something is his personal opinion rather than an agreed-upon moral teaching of the Church. This comes across initially as just minor omissions on a sentence level (e.g., leaving out “in my opinion”), but it happened so regularly that by the end of the book I began to suspect it had been done intentionally, likely to give his opinions more weight and downplay the views of those who differ from him. This was my main complaint from a “reading as a faithful Catholic” perspective.

*Edited to add: I was also very confused by the book’s discussion of the definition and medical determination of death (discussed at length in the chapter on organ transplants, which was very informative otherwise), as Fr. Austriaco clearly thinks the current definition/determination is inadequate, but he doesn’t explain how the alternative criteria he proposes for determination could be put into practice, and at least on the face of it, it appears that it would be almost impossible to use in the vast majority of cases, and make actually harvesting organs almost impossible (at least from my limited understanding, adhering to the suggested criteria would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to get viable organs from donors). I’ll have to do more research, I guess, as I finished that section feeling lost and frustrated.*

In closing, again, I think this is a good book for morally orthodox Catholics who are interested in bioethics, but I would be more comfortable if it were either aimed at a more general audience or, at the very least, made its expectations of the audience clearer up front.

[Dan DalMonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fr. Austriaco is incredibly learned and gives a thorough presentation of Church teaching on major issues in bioethics like abortion, contraception, IVF, etc. He provides a wealth of secondary sources that can assist in research. I think his language at times sounds too much like a bureaucratic Church document. Repeated mention of phrases like "the dignity of the person" or "unitive and procreative" start to become repetitive and kind of empty. The idea that contraception is wrong, because it means the individuals in the relationship do not fully accept one another, which would include fertility, is an example of this sort of complacent language. We have to accept one another fully--so someone can't get a haircut? Of course, there is a distinction that is very important but it needs to be clear in vivid language. There needs to be more philosophical substance for what these ideas mean, and there should be a fresh language in virtue of which we can think about moral issues. That said, Fr. Austriaco is just awesome!

[Michael McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The moral life is our response to Christ’s call to perfection and beatitude. Thus, bioethics involves more than determining what is permitted or forbidden… Instead, both the Catholic bioethicist and the acting person who is being confronted by a bioethical dilemma are called to seek excellence, that perfection of a human action in a particular situation that would contribute to the sanctification and transformation of the human being, his community, and his world.”

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not an introductory text. This book is only for people who fully accept and are well versed in Catholic dogma and propaganda. It is clear the author does not understand opposing view points. I still have no idea what beatitudes are and how they are related to bioethics. Surprisingly, “Bible” is not listed in the index.

I can’t believe the author’s a microbiologist. His ability to objectively evaluate data is clearly suspect because he cherry picks outlying studies that support his supposition while ignoring data that does not. After reading this book, I have learned that the Catholic Church believes only they know the ultimate truth. They also believe Science is the pursuit of truth. The problem arises when science does not support the Catholic “truths”. That’s when Austriaco offers confusing and convoluted explanations that lead nowhere. Isn’t it Occam’s razor that says the simpler explanation is usually correct?

I wouldn’t have said this before reading the book but I’m pretty certain the Catholic Church ranks women’s lives and women’s human dignity below all others. I was told by my professor-who is also a priest-that the reason a woman could not get an abortion even if she and the baby were guaranteed to die was because the woman’s life was less innocent than the fetus and you can never justify saving the mother by killing an innocent even if doing nothing condemns them both to death. I do not believe this would be their stance if they valued the sanctity of the mother’s life as equal to the unborn fetus.

[Matt Cavedon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction and strong virtue-based approach; more solid substance than innovation