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Bioethics expert preaches intersection of Catholicism, science
By Andrew Junker, ajunker@catholicsun.org
December 4, 2008
Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk — Fr. Tad to those confused by his name’s dizzying array of consonants — spends a great deal of time traveling.
As director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, the priest makes his way across the country bringing a message of moral and ethical responsibility to doctors, medical personnel and anyone who’s interested in what the Church teaches on science.
And while some might be surprised at a man of the cloth speaking to men and women in white lab coats, faith and science have always gone hand in hand for Fr. Tad.
Recognizing his vocation to the priesthood at a young age, Fr. Tad spent some time studying at a seminary as a 17-year-old, where he often engaged in heated discussions with his philosophy professor.
“After having these exchanges with this brilliant man, they prompted me to realize that I needed to study science before becoming a priest,” he said. “I didn’t exactly know why. I didn’t know the rationale.”
So Fr. Tad attended the University of Arizona, where he graduated magna cum laude with degrees in molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, biochemistry and philosophy. He then studied neruoscience at Harvard and earned a doctorate in the same subject from Yale University.
Add to that burgeoning list two advanced degrees in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and it’s easy to see why Fr. Tad makes for a good apostle to the sciences.
“Both science and religion are major forces within our world, and I would say that they’re hugely influential,” Fr. Tad said. “If one can work to eliminate false barriers between the two and build bridges, then I think that’s hugely important work.”
Educating Catholics
That work brought him to Phoenix Nov. 14 to speak to the diocese’s Catholic Physicians Guild and to a local hospital.
“I’ve been working in this capacity to the best of my ability, having now moved into bioethics where there’s such a clear connection between issues in biology and value questions that immediately surface,” he said.
It’s important that there’s guidance in this field so that it doesn’t become “unmoored or unanchored,” Fr. Tad said.
And while the Catholic Church has been speaking out about these concerns for a long time — Fr. Tad points to Pope Pius XII, who was writing about issues with infertility before in vitro fertilization made its debut — many times the message has been lost on Catholics.
“I’d have to say the Church, especially the Church in the United States, has not done a good job here. Most Catholics are unaware of the teaching on in vitro fertilization,” he said.
Hence the need for the Church to be on at the forefront of scientific advances. It also explains the multi-pronged effort Fr. Tad takes in educating the masses.
In addition to a syndicated column and presentations to medical personnel and scientists, he has also testified about embryonic stem cell research at a number of state legislatures and instructs priests throughout the country.
“If our priests don’t venture into speaking about these issues, then our people will go to other sources,” Fr. Tad explained. If a couple has been attending Mass for 25 years and has never once heard the Church’s teaching on infertility, they’ll get their information elsewhere.
“Part of it is simply to get it into the minds of these people that we care deeply about these issues. We care, indeed, what goes on in the bedroom. God needs to be in the bedroom,” Fr. Tad said. “This is an arena that needs to be opened up to the influence of grace.”
Fr. Tad readily admits that topics like infertility treatment and the use of contraception are often minefields for parish priests. But when truth is spoken in charity, grace and life abound.
“A lot of my work is preaching to the choir and people say, ‘Do you ever get tired of preaching to the choir?’ I say, ‘No, I don’t,’ because the choir doesn’t know how to sing,” Fr. Tad said. “Once they learn how to sing, it’s going to be a glorious thing.”
So Fr. Tad continues to travel and educate those who will listen to the Church’s teaching on bioethics. And though he spends much of his time waiting for flight connections and living out of his suitcase, the work is worth it.
“The answer is to continue to share it,” he said. “For those who have ears to hear, the message will be there and they have an opportunity to bring a new conformity to their own lives with these truths.”
Andrew Junker/CATHOLIC SUN
Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk gives presentations on bioethics across the country. He was the keynote speaker for this year’s Nov. 14 White Mass and dinner.
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