The Physician and the Rights of Mankind

Abstract

This papal address was delivered at the conclusion of the World Medical Association's 35th General Assembly, on "The Physician and the Rights of Mankind," in Venice. Referring to the essential similarity between the concerns of the medical profession and the Church, the Pope reiterates the traditional support of each for human rights. He focuses on three basic principles: respect for life; respect for the unity of the human being, i.e., recognition of the patient as a whole person rather than as simply the embodiment of a particular disease; and respect for human dignity. He also expresses concern about the potential for nontherapeutic genetic manipulation to diminish human dignity. (KIE abstract)