Is it possible to reconcile cultural and religious diversity and Global Bioethics? Are the competing claims of various wisdom traditions so diverse as to render meaningful dialogue on key bioethics questions meaningless?
On Thursday August 29, Prof. Alberto Garcìa JD shared his experience of finding ethical convergence as a head of the UNESCO Chair of Bioethics and Human Rights with the students at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. He insisted that it was possible to acknowledge the uniqueness of the Catholic approach to bioethics without neglecting the universal vocation of bioethics to help all men.
He also noted that the life sciences and medicine quickly become dehumanized when bioethical reflection is excluded. The Church shows great willingness to collaborate with others in the common cause of recognize, promotion and protecting human rights through her involvement in international organizations like the United Nation.
Garcìa noted that a truly healthy global bioethics is not one in which faith is excluded as a threat to dialogue. Rather, a robust bioethics should offer a synthesis of faith and reason capable of addressing the complex issues of our time in union with all men of good will.