VATICAN - “Organ donation is a unique testimony of charity,” says the Pope, asking “that the multiplication of transplant petitions do not change around the ethical principles upon which it rests...the body can never be considered as a mere object.”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Organ donation is a unique testimony of charity,” said the Holy Father Benedict XVI, on November 7, in addressing the participants in the international congress "A Gift for Life. Considerations on Organ Donation," which is sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life, the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, and the Italian National Transplant Center.
“Tissue and organ transplants represent a great conquest of medical science, and are certainly signs of hope for those suffering serious, and often grave, illnesses,” the Pope said in his address, also referring to the “the long waiting list of those whose only hope for survival is linked to the small number of non-useful donations.” He then explained that “that the multiplication of transplant petitions don't change around the ethical principles upon which it rests. As I said in my first encyclical, the body can never be considered as a mere object; to do otherwise would impose on it the logic of the market. The body of each person, together with the spirit that is given to each one individually, constitutes an inseparable unity upon which is impressed the image of God himself. To ignore this dimension brings to mind points of view that are incapable of understanding the totality of the mystery present in each person.”
Thus, Benedict XVI said, “priority must be given to respect for the dignity of the human person and the protection of individual identity. Regarding the technique of organ transplants, this means that one can only donate if this act doesn't put one's own health and identity in serious danger, and if it is done for a valid moral and proportionate reason. Any reasons for the buying and selling of organs, or the adoption of utilitarian and discriminatory criteria, would clash in such a way with the meaning of gift that they would be invalidated, qualifying them as illicit moral acts. Abuses in transplants and organ trafficking, which frequently affect innocent persons, such as children, must find the scientific and medical community united in a joint refusal. They should be decidedly condemned as abominable. The same ethical principle must be reiterated in the case of the creation and destruction of human embryos destined for therapeutic objectives.”
With frequency, organ transplantation takes place as a completely gratuitous gesture on the part of the family member who has been certifiably pronounced dead, the Holy Father explained. “In these cases, informed consent is a precondition of freedom so that the transplant can be characterized as being a gift and not interpreted as a coercive or abusive act. In any case, it is useful to remember that the various vital organs can only be extracted 'ex cadavere' [from a dead body], which posses it's own dignity and should be respected. Over recent years science has made further progress in ascertaining the death of a patient. It is good, then, that the achieved results receive the consensus of the entire scientific community in favor of looking for solutions that give everyone certainty. In an environment such as this, the minimum suspicion of arbitrariness is not allowed, and where total certainty has not been reached, the principle of caution should prevail.”
After encouraging them to increment interdisciplinary research and study, “in such a way that the public is presented with the most transparent truth on the anthropologic, social, ethical and legal implications of a transplant,” the Holy Father said that in these cases, “respect for the life of the donor should be assumed as the primary criterion, in such a way so that the extraction of the organs only take place after having ascertained the patient's true death. The act of love, which is expressed with the gift of one's own vital organs, is a genuine testament of charity that knows how to look beyond death so that life always wins. The recipient should be aware of the value of this gesture that one receives, of a gift that goes beyond the therapeutic benefit. What they receive is a testament of love, and it should give rise to a response equally generous, and in this way grows the culture of gift and gratitude. The path that must be followed, until science discovers new and more advanced possible therapies, needs to be that of the formation and diffusion of a culture characterized by solidarity and that opens itself to others without excluding anyone. Organ transplants that are in line with ethic of giving require the commitment of all sides to invest every possible effort in formation and information, so as to increasingly awaken consciences to a problem that directly affects the lives of so many.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 10/11/2008)