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WHEN

The Pontifical Academy for Life, whose main office is located in Vatican City State, was established by Pope Saint John Paul II with the Motu Proprio Vitae Mysterium of February 11, 1994.

WHY

The objective of the Pontifical Academy for Life is the defense and promotion of the value of human life and of the dignity of the person. The specific responsibilities of the Academy are:

 a) to study, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the problems connected to the promotion and defense of human life;

b) to form persons in a culture of life – through appropriate initiatives within the areas of its jurisdiction, and always with full respect for the Magisterium of the Church;

c) to inform, in a clear and timely manner, Church leaders, the various biomedical science institutions and societal health care organizations, the media, and civil society in general, about the most significant results of its own study and research.

The Academy has a primarily scientific role, for the promotion and defense of human life. In particular, it studies various matters dealing with care for the dignity of the human person at different stages of life; mutual respect between the sexes and generations; the defense of the dignity of each individual human being; and the promotion of a quality of human life that integrates material and spiritual values. It does so in the context of a genuine “human ecology” that seeks to recover the original balance in creation between the human person and the whole universe.