THE EVANGELIUM VITAE (GOSPEL OF LIFE) AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR NIGERIAN SOCIETY: AN ETHICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

John Paul II, in 1994, presented Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) as an ethical response to such anti-life activities as abortion, euthanasia, warfare, segregation, cloning, capitalism, among others. The encyclical had mixed reactions: on one hand, it elicited interests, and on other hand, it stoked controversy. In all of these, most Christian ethicists affirmed the positive impacts of John Paul II’s work on society. In provenance, he relied on and corroborated Paul VI’s views on human life as outlined in his work, Humanae Vitae (On the Human Life). The latter condemned all the anti-life ideologies of the nineteenth century. In view of that, John Paul II calls for the sustenance of human life through ethics and values. One of the objectives of this study is reading and interpreting Paul II’s work in order to underscore its significance in society. In its scope, structure, discussion and analysis of data, the research is carried within the method of religious phenomenology. In the research’s findings, John Paul II was well situated in his arguments for the culture of life and the culture of death as depictions of good acts and bad deeds, respectively. At the end and for a societal wellbeing, the study recommends building of the culture of life in families, schools and religious institutions.