The Catholic Church approves of organ donation as it is considered an act of fraternal charity. Donations must involve informed consent from donors and cannot impair the donor's bodily functions. Donations are only acceptable from deceased donors who are verifiably dead according to strict definitions. The Church believes organ donation can be morally justified as it helps save lives, as long as certain ethical principles of patient autonomy and medical safety are upheld.

2.  To discuss the following
 What is the position of the Catholic Church
on organ donation for the purpose of
transplant?
 What moral principles are involved?
 What would motivate one to be an organ
donor?

3. Organ donation is the process of
removing tissues or organ's from a live , or
recently dead , person to be used in
another.
People of all ages can become donors.

4.  Organs and tissue that can be donated
include
 the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, lungs,
small
 bowel, stomach, corneas, heart valves,
bone and skin.

5.  Inter Vivos Transplant
Takes place among the living. This can
include a donation such as bone
marrow.
Cadaver transplant (postmortem)
Donations typically involve an organ
necessary for sustaining life. Includes
donations such as a heart , lung, liver , or
kidney.

6.  More than 4,000 Canadians are waiting
for an organ transplant to save their lives.
Last year, only 1,803 transplants were
performed. Many patients remain on
waiting lists. Unfortunately, 195
Canadians died while waiting for an
organ transplant. Three-quarters of the
patients on the list are waiting for a
kidney transplant.

8. THE NEED: ORGAN DONORS AND PATIENTS WAITING
1988 through 2000
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Organ Donors Patients Waiting
Data courtesy of UNOS.
As you can see the gap between the number of organ donors and patients
waiting is growing rapidly.
More people need to consider giving the gift of life.

9.  In general , the Catholic Church approves
organ transplantation.
 Pope Pius XII taught, “A person may will to
dispose of his body and to destine it to ends
that are useful, morally irreproachable and
even noble, among them the desire to aid the
sick and suffering. One may make a decision of
this nature with respect to his own body with full
realization of the reverence which is due it....
This decision should not be condemned but
positively justified”

10. "Transplants are a great step forward in science's
service of man, and not a few people today
owe their lives to an organ transplant.
Increasingly,
the technique of transplants has proven to be a
valid means of attaining the primary goal of all
medicine - the service of human life…There is a
need to instill in people's hearts, especially in the
hearts of the young, a genuine and deep
appreciation of the need for brotherly love, a
love
that can find expression in the decision to
become
an organ donor."
-Pope John Paul II to attendees at the International Congress
on Transplants in Rome – August 2000

11.  Pope John Paul II sums up the position of the Church in
these words:
The Gospel of life is to be celebrated above all in daily
living, which should be filled with self-giving love for
others. . . . Over and above such outstanding moments,
there is an everyday heroism, made up of gestures of
sharing, big or small, which build up an authentic culture
of life. A particularly praiseworthy example of such
gestures is the donation of organs, performed in an
ethically acceptable manner, with a view to offering a
chance of health and even of life itself to the sick who
sometimes have no other hope (Evangelium Vitae, no.
86, original emphasis).

12.  The Church has stated that both type of
transplants are rightful , because they
are considered fraternal charity.
 However the church did state that
certain requirements must be met.

13.  1. The necessity of informed consent
legitimately given by the donor or one
who speaks for him.
 2. The physical and psychological risks
incurred by the donor must be
proportionate to the good sought for the
recipient. The donor must be aware of
these risks and the proportionate good.

14.  3. To destroy the healthy functioning or
intrinsic beauty of one's body, even to
delay death of another, is morally wrong.
 Organ transplants are not morally
acceptable if the donor or those who
legitimately speak for him have not
given their informed consent.

15.  These donations can arise a moral
dilemma.
 Such donations should not seriously
impair or destroy bodily functions.

16. Example : A person is in need of an eye.
If a living person decides to donate his eye
to the other person it would be considered
morally wrong. This is because such a
sacrifice would seriously impair the donor.

17.  Dealing with fraternal charity , which is
the practice of charity with a love that
recognizes another person as a child of
God.
 The Catholic Church states that one has
the responsibility for the integrity of ones
body.
 There are set limits on inter vivos organ
donations. Otherwise donations would
potentially lead to assisted suicide.

18.  Moral issues revolve around a definition
of death.
 Those involved must have certain proof
that death has occurred.
 The Church is against causing the death
of a donor because of organ transplant ,
even if the death is inevitable due to
natural causes.

19.  The donor must be verifiably and
legitimately dead.
 Proper, informed consent must have been
given by the deceased donor with
verification from a trustworthy source
 The remains of the donor must be treated
with the same respect consistent with what
was until death, and will be again, a temple
of the Holy Spirit.

20.  “to donate one’s organs is an act of love
that is morally licit, as long as it is free
and spontaneous.”
 -Pope Benedict XVI

21.  Which of your organs would you want for
organ transplants after you die?
 What do you think of people who refuse
organ transplants?
 Would you give up one of your kidneys
or half of your liver to save the life of a
friend?

22.  Catholic Relief Services
http://crs.org/
 Catholic Education Resource Center
http://catholiceducation.org
Archdiocese of Toronto
http://www.archtoronto.org/organdonation/index.htm
Catholic Inquiry Center
http://www.catholicenquiry.com/life-and-death/what-does-

23.  http://
catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0019.html
 http://
www.lhsc.on.ca/About_Us/MOTP/Statistics/index.htm
 http://
www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0347.html
 http://
www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=114
 http://
catholicinsight.com/online/bioethics/article_747.shtml
 http://www.archtoronto.org/organdonation/index.htm
 http://www.catholicenquiry.com/life-and-death/what-does-the