In 1993, during an international course held at the Escorial on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith—was interviewed on highly topical moral issues: abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty. His responses reflect the clarity with which he distinguished between the non-negotiable defense of innocent life and legitimate debates on criminal justice.
Abortion: a crime against the innocent
Ratzinger was unequivocal in rejecting any attempt to equate abortion with other issues. “In abortion, a completely innocent person is evidently killed, subordinating the right to life to one’s own interests,” he declared. The prefect emphasized that there is no doubt here: human life from conception possesses an absolute dignity that no political or social power can relativize.
In this vein, he explained that while some seek to relativize abortion by paralleling it with other problems, the truth is that it always destroys the most defenseless: “The child has no possibility of defense; it is the absolute victim, and therefore abortion is placed on a very different level from any other public matter.”
The death penalty: personal rejection, but without dogmatic condemnation
Regarding capital punishment, Ratzinger adopted a nuanced tone. “Personally, I support the abolition of the death penalty and the corresponding political-social goal,” he affirmed. However, he clarified: “It cannot be said that capital punishment is absolutely and forever excluded in all circumstances.”
The cardinal offered an extreme example: the Nuremberg trials and the case of Adolf Eichmann, the logistical mastermind of the Holocaust. “Can it really be said that a rule-of-law state that, in such exceptional circumstances, resorts to the death penalty, is absolutely in the wrong?” he asked.
For Ratzinger, the Church cannot elevate this discussion to a dogmatic level: “The demand for an absolute prohibition of the death penalty does not necessarily derive from the Christian creed.” It is a matter that belongs to the realm of criminal law and political prudence, not to the doctrine of faith.
Euthanasia: the false compassion that kills
As for euthanasia, the then-prefect was equally clear: the Church cannot accept it in any case. “Euthanasia is not an act of mercy, but a homicide disguised under the appearance of compassion,” he affirmed. Ratzinger explained that, although it may be presented as relief from suffering, in reality it is the denial of the value of human life in its moments of fragility and vulnerability.
“The Christian tradition teaches us that life does not belong to us, but is a gift from God. No one has the right to dispose of it, neither at the beginning nor at the end,” he specified.
The Catechism as a moral reference
Ratzinger defended the idea that the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not propose novelties, but offers the Christian people a guide that translates the faith of all time into a language accessible to our era. “It is not a book of opinion; it is the organic presentation of the Church’s perennial doctrine,” he explained.
He insisted that the purpose of the Catechism is to enlighten the conscience of the faithful amid a social context marked by relativism and ideologies. “The Church cannot remain silent in the face of attacks on life. It must offer clear criteria, founded on faith and reason, so that Christians know how to discern,” he concluded.