Catholic Christianity and human genetic engineering

Abstract

The 21^stcentury has seen tremendous strides in science and technology. This is felt all the more in the areas of information and communication technology which has made the world, today, a global village. It is also seen, among others, in the areas of transportation, education, agriculture, health-care delivery as well as in the area of biomedical technologies, especially, genetic engineering. The paper looks at the reality of human genetic engineering. It considers what it is and the implications it holds for Christianity as it relates the image and worship of the Christian God. It is found out that it would lead, in most cases, to a distortion and diminishment in the image of the Christian God as the omnipotent Creator with the possibility even that this Christian God could, today, be created. It equally leads to a loss of faith in the worship of the same God while seeing to an increase in the faith and worship of the god of science and technology. But human genetic engineering not only occasions a distortion in the way God is perceived, it also sees to a distortion n the image of man, a consequent ‘thingification’ and ‘commodification’ of human life, as well as a distortion of the institution of marriage, and then, of the family, which ought to be the domestic Church. The paper also considers the role that Catholic Christianity has to play in the face of such implications. It is found out as well that while it does not need to condemn per se all aspects of biomedical sciences especially those that could lead to the cure of many diseases, it has the responsibility, however, to continue to draw the attention of all those involved in human genetic engineering to the fact that human life is sacred and ought to be respected and that reality is so big that it cannot only be looked at from the scientific perspective. There is also the spiritual-cum-metaphysical perspective to the same reality. It is hoped that the paper would be a valuable addition to the growing literature exploring today the interchange of religion with techno-science.

Keywords: Catholic Christianity, Human Genetic Engineering, Science, Technology, Church