Topic: Will a human clone have a soul?

Date originally posted: November 30, 2002

Source of this posting: Moderator response to emailed question

Moderator who originally posted this source: Father Phillip

Question:   I recently read that the first human clone is due in early 2003. Will this child have a soul?

Answer: 

Thanks, Chris, for your question.

First, I would say that I sincerely hope there will be NO human clone in early 2003 or at any other time for that matter -- at least not in the foreseeable future. The old adage is applicable here, I think: Just because we CAN do something doesn't mean that we SHOULD do it.

There are so very many unanswered questions involved in the whole issue of cloning that such an action would be, in my mind, irresponsible and dangerous.

The many communities which should be involved in a meaningful dialogue on this topic -- governments, scientists, moral theologians, Church and other religious leaders, philosophers, medical doctors, parents, family leaders, media and other public opinion-shapers -- simply do not have sufficient data to come to anything approaching a well-informed consensus about this topic. Moreover, these and other groups and persons have not had the kind of time for reflection, research, and exchange which is necessary to make a decision about so profound a question.

All that being said, however, I'm rather sure that the fear, the hope, and the profit-seeking which so often drive decisions of this sort could very well make your 'prediction' a reality. Not a reality that I will welcome, but my opinion is not too important in this context.

So, to your question:

The answer, I think, is implicit within the question you ask, in the very words you chose. "Will this CHILD have a soul?"

Could God Whose love and tenderness is greater even than a mother or father's deny a CHILD the gift of a soul? Could the "Abba" of Jesus Who answers all our prayers with compassion and love refuse a soul to any CHILD when even we, sinful persons that we are, refuse to give snakes or stones to our children when they ask for bread?

Since the presence and life of the human soul is really the "business" of God and that human person, I can't say FOR SURE, but my own experience of this great, powerful, and loving God Whom I am so privileged to serve suggests that the answer to your question is a very life-affirming "Yes!"

Hope your Thanksgiving has been a joy-filled one.

Blessings,
Father Phillip