tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14011761.post6050414911918483419..comments2023-11-05T16:19:05.197+08:00Comments on Unam Sanctam: Oldest Bishop in China returns to the LordAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09356738924839809045noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14011761.post-89321971093324693372007-01-18T09:24:00.000+08:002007-01-18T09:24:00.000+08:00Thanks, Mike, for your comments.
Ensoulment is th...Thanks, Mike, for your comments.<br /><br />Ensoulment is the process by which the immortal soul in infused. The Church has always taught that human life begins with ensoulment, that God’s infusion of an immortal soul is what separates humans from other lifeforms. The point at which ensoulment occurs has been the subject of some debate. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that it was at four months. Current magisterial teaching has put it at the moment of conception.<br /><br />This is quite a complex issue as twins or triplets separate from each other at a later point from conception, so there is a philosophical question on when the soul in infused in such cases. But this in no way alters the Church's belief and teaching of the sanctity of life from conception until natural death. I, of course, affirm all the the Holy Catholic Church holds and teaches. =)<br /><br />The pertinent modern reference occurs in an Instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith entitled Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation: Replies to Certain Questions of the Day or <i>Donum Vitae</i>, issued in 1987, where it states:<br /><br /><i>[t]he Magisterium has not expressly committed itself to an affirmation of a philosophical nature [as to the time of ensoulment], but it constantly affirms the moral condemnation of any kind of procured abortion. This teaching has not been changed and is unchangeable. The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception, and therefore from that same moment his or rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life.</i><br /><br />More on the Church's teaching can be found on the <a href = "http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/embryo/embryapp.htm">USCCB's site here.</a> and well as the <a href = "http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/donumvitae.htm">Priests' for Life site, here.</a><br /><br />A good overall discussion on the thought of <a href = "http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/ash/ash_01cloningaquinas1.html">St. Thomas Aquinas (Which the Magisterium has, in time, disagreed with)can be found here</a> and <a href = "http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=4295">James Akin has a good paper out on the topic as well.</a><br /><br />Thanks for visiting and commenting, Mike and do drop by again.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09356738924839809045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14011761.post-30223951885089940572007-01-18T08:51:00.000+08:002007-01-18T08:51:00.000+08:00errr "ensoulment"? are you suggesting that at conc...errr "ensoulment"? are you suggesting that at conception there is no soul, that somehow it is given sometime later?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14011761.post-27896329195056951822007-01-17T09:20:00.000+08:002007-01-17T09:20:00.000+08:00Thanks for visiting, anonymous, and for the stimul...Thanks for visiting, anonymous, and for the stimulating comment.<br /><br />It is God who creates the soul and infuses the soul into the body during <i>ensoulment</i>.<br /><br />So, in a way, having been created by God, the soul, upon death, can also be said to return to Him for the particular judgment, and then, being internally illuminated as to their state, of its own initiation takes its course either to Hell, Purgatory or Heaven.<br /><br />So, perhaps in the case of the faithful Bishop, it would not be too presumptuous to state that his soul, in that sense, has indeed returned to the Lord.<br /><br />Thanks again for the though provoking comment and do drop by again.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09356738924839809045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14011761.post-75782581474151171682007-01-17T08:27:00.000+08:002007-01-17T08:27:00.000+08:00Had he been to the Father before? Surely it is onl...Had he been to the Father before? Surely it is only the Son who has done that.<br /><br /><br /><br />Great blog, foregive the pedantry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com