For the 30th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s landmark Encyclical ‘Evangelium vitae,’ the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life publishes a Pastoral Framework, titled ‘Life is always a good,’ on how to start and advance Church efforts in promoting pastoral care of human life, with the aim of defending, safeguarding, and promoting it worldwide.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Today, 25 March 2025, marks the 30th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae on the value and inviolability of human life.
For the occasion, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life published a Pastoral Framework, titled ‘Life is always a good,’ from the Encyclical’s 31st paragraph, on how the Church can promote ‘a Pastoral Care of Human Life,’ with the aim of defending, safeguarding, and promoting it in different geographical areas and cultural contexts, especially where human rights are often violated.
The volume is available for free use and download in English, Italian and Portuguese on the Dicastery’s website, and French and Spanish will be made available in the near future.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Prefect of the Dicastery, introduces the work observing how life, in all situations and states, must be safeguarded.
“In a time marked by extremely serious violations of human dignity, with many countries afflicted by wars and all sorts of violence – especially against women, children before and after birth, adolescents, people with disabilities, the elderly, the poor and migrants,” he underscored, “we must forge a genuine Pastoral Care of Human Life…”
Putting into practice
The Cardinal, moreover, insists this is key for “putting into practice” what is also reiterated in the recent Declaration Dignitas infinita of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, that reiterates that each person has “an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state, or situation the person may ever encounter.”
“Therefore,” Cardinal Farrell reaffirmed, “every person’s life should always be respected, safeguarded, and defended. This principle, which is recognizable even by reason alone, is to be implemented in every country, village, and household.”
The Pastoral Framework, which is result of an ongoing dialogue with the bishops, presents an updated method to promote a Pastoral Care of Human Life in a widespread manner across dioceses worldwide.
For this reason, the Dicastery encourages every bishop, priest, religious man and woman, and lay person to read this Pastoral Framework, and to “strive to develop an organic and structured Pastoral Care of Human Life,” which “can provide workers, educators, teachers, parents, young people, and children the right formation to respect the value of every human life.”
