Dominican archbishop says Church encouraged organ donation “as a gesture of life”

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Oct 16, 2006 / 22:00 pm

The president of the Bishops’ Conference of the Dominican Republic and Archbishop of Santiago, Ramon Benito de la Rosa y Carpio, encouraged the faithful this week to express their love for neighbor by considering organ donation, which he said is “a noble and meritorious act.”

During a lecture entitled “Life, Donation of Love,” at the Madre y Maestra Catholic Pontifical University, the archbishop recalled that “the Church favors anything that benefits the heath of the human person, and thus she approves of organ transplants as a gesture of life.”

He explained that in order for organ donation to be ethical, certain conditions should be met and they must be done “in accord with the moral law, that is, in accord with human dignity and the gift of life.”

Nevertheless, he warned that organ donation is “morally inadmissible” if it takes place without the consent of the donor or his representatives.  It is also invalid if “it leaves the donor handicapped or directly provokes his death, even though the intention is to postpone the death of the recipient,” he said.

“The donation of organs after death is a noble and meritorious act that should be encouraged as an expression of generous solidarity,” the archbishop stated.