Volume 9, Issue 3, Autumn 2009
E. Christian Brugger
Pages 461-483
Symposium on Dignitas personae
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the prefecture of Joseph Ratzinger, published its instruction Donum vitae in 1987 to provide moral guidance on bioethical issues. Since 1987, many new ethical issues have arisen, especially in the areas of regenerative medicine (which includes stem cell
research) and assisted reproduction. To address these the CDF, under the prefecture of William Levada, published the bioethical instruction Dignitas personae in
December 2008. The present symposium includes reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the new document by six moral theologians noted for their
work in bioethics: Christian Brugger, John Finnis, Luke Gormally, Christopher Kaczor, William E. May, and Peter F. Ryan, S.J. National Catholic Bioethics
Quarterly 9.3 (Autumn 2009): 461–483.