By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-23 23:46:25 | Updated at 2025-01-24 03:34:38
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, released a pastoral letter addressing critical issues surrounding life, family, and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The bishop’s letter, titled “The Christian Family, In Vitro Fertilization, and Heroic Witness to True Love,” seeks to guide the faithful on understanding the sanctity of life, the dangers and immorality of IVF, and the importance of family as central tenets of Catholic teaching.
Beginning his letter by addressing the sensitive nature of fertility and IVF, Bishop Burbidge noted that the subject must be “treated with a spirit of accompaniment, compassion, and understanding.”
“It is important that we proceed with care,” he said. “Whether or not we are aware of it, we know or encounter others who have experienced fertility challenges or whose lives have been affected by IVF in some way.”
Bishop Burbidge acknowledged the natural desire for family and the pain experienced by couples facing infertility. Recognizing that IVF has become widely accepted — with a significant percentage of Catholic Americans supporting its use — he warned against its harmful and immoral nature.
“Unfortunately, and despite the good intentions and aspirations of many married couples, IVF is contrary to justice and remains replete with moral difficulties,” the bishop wrote.
IVF leads to the destruction of embryonic life, which contradicts the Church’s teaching that every child is a gift from God, deserving respect from the moment of conception.
“A great moral injustice of IVF is that many of the embryonic children brought about by the process will either be discarded, having been deemed undesirable, or frozen, having been deemed desirable but unnecessary,” Bishop Burbidge explained. “As practiced, IVF both creates life and destroys life.”
The bishop explained that since the advent of IVF, more than 12 million children have been born through this method. However, tens of millions of children have been deliberately destroyed, used for experiments, or frozen in liquid nitrogen, preventing them from reaching their full developmental potential.
“Every successful IVF procedure results in a living child with many missing siblings,” Bishop Burbidge wrote.
Affirming the value of lives conceived through IVF, the bishop reiterated the Church’s opposition to the method.
“All children conceived and born through IVF possess inalienable human dignity,” he said. “Indeed, their innate dignity is the reason for the Church’s opposition to their being instrumentalized and made into objects by means of IVF, which eugenically selects some to live and others to die.”
The bishop also warned against the dangers of treating children as “products or property,” and highlighted the need for a loving, self-giving approach to procreation. He firmly opposed any government mandates that would promote IVF as a solution to family formation, asserting that such actions would undermine the sanctity of marriage and the family structure.
In his final points, the bishop urged “all people of faith and goodwill” to pray for couples facing infertility and for effective, life-affirming fertility care, and reminding readers of the importance of openness to God’s love and the acceptance of His will. He reiterated the threats posed by IVF to human dignity and rights, noting that these threats can be both obvious and subtle, and called for deeper reflection on the costs and dangers of the IVF industry.
Finally, he urged elected officials to collaborate in creating laws that promote the well-being of all individuals, particularly families.
“The Christian family is called to a heroic witness to true love in every generation, and in a particular way in our time,” Bishop Burbidge said in his conclusion. “The human person bears within himself or herself the very image and likeness of God who is love, and by looking to and relying upon the God who offers true hope and the possibility of everlasting happiness, all persons may enjoy the fulfillment of their good and natural desires in the fullness of time.”
