Cloning

Cloning by Anthony McCarthy – CTS ‘Explaining Catholic Teaching’ Series

This booklet is by a Research Fellow at the Linacre Centre, the Catholic institution specialising in healthcare ethics. It addresses a complex set of issues, both scientific and moral, and requires some concentration to understand. However, it is essential reading for any Catholic who wishes first to understand and then to explain the Church’s teaching in this area.

The first chapter is on the scientific background to the controversial issue of cloning. McCarthy explains what cloning is, the different methods of cloning, why it is undertaken, and why stem cells are so significant. There are some technical terms used, but each one is highlighted the first time it appears, and is explained clearly in a glossary at the end of the book.

The second chapter explains the Church’s teaching. McCarthy explains the status of the embryo as a human person, the moral problems inherent in nonsexual reproduction, and the essential link between sex and marriage. From these considerations it is crystal clear why the Church opposes ‘all ways of conceiving children which distort the natural and spiritual bonds of family members with each other.’

However, McCarthy is well aware that we are more likely to be arguing with people who do not share our Catholic Faith than with those who do. Therefore the next chapter seeks to examine the arguments in ways which people of other faiths, or no faith, can appreciate. This is a wide-ranging chapter, covering issues from human experimentation to issues of identity. It also picks up five of the arguments which may be used against the Catholic position, and shows us ways to demonstrate that they are wrong.

On finishing this booklet, the reader feels firstly that complex issues have been made understandable; secondly that the Church’s position is just and good; and thirdly that the reader is better placed to engage in constructive and positive discussion of these issues in ways that demonstrate the wisdom of the Catholic approach.