Charles Nailen/The Hoya University President John J. DeGioia presents Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of Malines-Brussels, Belgium, with an honorary degree in Gaston Hall on Monday.
University President John J. DeGioia conferred an honorary degree upon Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of alines-Brussels, Belgium, last night in Gaston Hall. Danneels’ address inaugurated the John Collins Harvey Lectureship in Health Care Ethics.
Ordained as a priest in 1957, Danneels has served as Archbishop of Malines-Brussels since 1979 and as a Cardinal in the Catholic Church since 1983. According to the statutes of the Church of Belgium, he also serves as the Chairman of the Conference of Belgian Bishops.
“I consider that being a Catholic bishop in the next few years, let alone in the third millennium, will be undoubtedly difficult,” Danneels told over 250 audience members. “It could appear that there will be nothing in the next few years but trouble. It might appear that especially Catholic scientists and researchers will have many things to fear.”
Danneels said that, because he was unqualified to speak as a physician, he would instead speak as a philosopher and a pastor.
Danneels said that past ethical issues such as abortion and assisted suicide, as well as current and future ethical questions of cloning and altering DNA, seemed alarming, but assured Catholics that there was no reason to fear the new biotechnologies of the 21st century.
“There is no reason of being afraid. It is instead a call to responsibility and generosity,” he said, reminding the audience that Jesus Christ had said, “Do not be afraid,” and that Pope John Paul II had also written to members of the Church, “Be not afraid.”
At the same time, Danneels warned of the dangers of new technologies, stating that many nations had noticed the potential for harm by passing regulations against new biological and medical technologies and treatments.
“Technology is not only unpredictably linked to side effects, but it may have reached a level of complexity beyond our imagination,” he said.
Fear of these new technologies emerged from an unwillingness to “disturb the symbolic order considered sacred,” Danneels said. He cited Frankenstein and Prometheus’ defiance of God as examples of how humans are frightened by these new technologies.
Danneels warned that the ability to do something afforded by a new technology did not mean that it should necessarily be done. “What we ought to do is not necessarily what we can do. We can poison lots of people and creatures, but that does not mean it is right to do so. The question is not if we can, but if we should.”
Danneels also discussed the relationship between ethics and technology, stating that ethics did not always have to conform to technology.
“It is nonsensical to believe that religion must adapt to science and that ethics must develop with technology,” he said. “Ethics is how we ought to live and act. Technology discusses new ways to do new things.”
Danneels encouraged the Catholic Church to continue to take a paternalistic position in order to decide what treatments and technology should be permissible and desirable for its members.
“We must have . a position that is analogous to what a parent would take to protect its children,” he said. “Their duty is to protect children against harm. Essentially, that is what the church is doing in this field.”
DeGioia, who introduced Danneels, said, “I can think of no better person to join us as we further our commitment in this area.”
Fr. Jack Mahoney, S.J., the director of the Lauriston Center for Contemporary Belief and Action in Edinburgh, Scotland, responded to Danneels’ keynote address. Mahoney was awarded with the President’s Medal earlier in the day at a ceremony in Riggs Library.
Danneels was awarded with the honorary degree for his “courage and leadership,” and his dedication to the Church, according to the program for the ceremony.
Danneels’ contributions to the Dictionary of Liturgy brought him recognition early in his career and his lectures and papers have helped shape Catholic thought. He served as a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Nations, the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, the Congregation of Divine Worship, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Danneels also served as an Episcopal advisor to the International Bioethics Study Group sponsored by the International Federation of Catholic Universities, making significant contributions to the global dialogue in religion, science, and ethics for over 15 years.
