What is the relation between the moral conscience and the right to life? Is there an ethical and legal foundation to conscientious objection in front of acts that breach such right? These are some of the questions that are at the centre of the International Conference "The Christian conscience in support of the right to life", promoted on 23rd and 24th February 2007 at the Aula Nuova of the Synod, in the Vatican, for the XIII General Assembly of the Papal Pro-Life Academy. "The problem of the role of individual conscience in front of the dominating culture of our society turns out to be a crucial factor nowadays", especially in the area of bioethics, explain the organisers. "In the attempt to give an answer to these questions, one often appeals to individual conscience in a misleading way, which ends up opening the way to subjectivist and relativist solutions". The Conference will review the moral, theological, legal, political and professional aspects of the subject to contribute to outlining a full picture of the meaning of conscience and its role in such complex choices as those that concern human life. After an introduction by card. Javier Lozano Barragán, president of the Papal Council for the Pastoral of Health, theologians, doctors and jurists from different countries will give their speeches.
