By Fr. Roberto A. Latorre, M.S., S.T.D.
This article first appeared in the January 2008 issue of Universitas.
During a meeting with the youth that the late Pope John Paul II in Los Angeles, California in September 1987, a special musical performance was given by a man named Tony Melendez. In a clear voice that reached the audience of 6,000 gathered in the Universal Amphitheater, Tony sang and accompanied himself on the guitar. After the performance, the audience sprang to their feet and broke into a wild applause, with Pope John Paul himself clapping his hands over his head and shouting, “Tony, Tony, Tony.” The reason for this reaction? Tony Melendez had no hands, only a pair of stumps a few inches long from his shoulders. He “fingered” the chords and strummed the strings with his toes! Tony was a “Thalidomide baby,” one of those children born in the 1960s with missing limbs because of a drug that, when taken by pregnant mothers, produced malformations in the developing fetus.
Tony Melendez can be considered one of the “survivors” of the wave of abortions when pregnant women who had been taking Thalidomide suddenly learned that the drug had such a side effect. His performance on that day was a statement to all who may have, at one time or another, been faced with the temptation of abortion. It was a declaration that every human life, no matter how “pathetic” or “useless” it may seem, is always valuable; in fact, priceless. As Pope John Paul II would later on state, “Life is always a good. This is an instinctive perception and a fact of experience, and man is called to grasp the profound reason why this is so.” (Evangelium Vitae, 34)
A sense of human dignity
I would like to think that we in the University are inculcating a “culture of life” that will lead to a deeper awareness and understanding of this truth, A culture of life holds that we cannot put a price tag on any human being. We cannot assess its value in terms of monetary units, even if we are steeped in economic or business subjects that, in the end, must spell out profit or loss. Human life is always an immeasurable, an incalculable good. Each human individual is priceless because every person that comes to this world is a gift of the infinite Creator who loves each individual human being as an “image” of God himself (See Gen 1:26).
We inculcate a culture of life through the clarity of doctrine on moral issues, imparted not only in the classes of Theology, but also in Philosophy and the other disciplines where correct moral values are integrated with the different subject matters. But aside from explicit teachings, I believe that a culture of life is fostered through many other means that reflect the importance we give to the sense of dignity of each individual person.
Role of mentoring—upholding each one’s uniqueness
One of the special UA&P practices not found in any other Philippine university (to my mind) is the mentoring system. Through mentoring, every student (and every academic and non-academic personnel for that matter) has another person, usually a teacher, who has the blessed “burden” of guiding the student in his or her academic and professional growth. Quite often, this guidance necessarily spills over to other facets of life because life itself cannot be fragmented and compartmentalized. On the part of the “mentee,” mentoring is a unique opportunity. It is reassuring to have someone knowledgeable and reliable to whom mentees can freely open up, so that they can address difficulties and improve the different facets of their life. Underlying the practice of mentoring is the importance accorded to the individual, to the person in each one’s uniqueness.
“Unitas”—family atmosphere
The “family atmosphere” expressed in our motto “Unitas” also contributes to the culture of life. I would like to think that UA&P has a welcoming atmosphere that makes a person more aware of his dignity. Seemingly disconnected things actually contribute to the home-like atmosphere of UA&P. There is the physical arrangement—nothing luxurious, but always elegant, clean, and in good repair. Doesn’t a washroom that is clean, properly supplied and aired, give one a greater sense of respect for individual persons, starting with one’s self? We can even say that the dress code, insofar as it fosters elegance and modesty, contributes to a wholesome family atmosphere, because it means that we respect the sensibilities and taste of others.
Finally, I think that we, teachers, contribute to the UA&P culture of life when we try to be true educators and not just imparters of technical knowhow. An educator must educe, he must bring out the best potencies from the students, and open horizons that will make each one develop as a person. I must confess that sometimes, we teachers can become tyrannical because of our uncontested authority in the classroom. But I believe that a teacher can inculcate discipline and industriousness without resulting to unreasonable and arbitrary measures. After all, a great part of the educational endeavor is to develop the student’s reasoning ability. What the Second Vatican Council stated, referring mainly to religious truths, could also be a rule for us, teachers, in respecting the personal dignity of every student: “The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power.” (Dignitatis Humanae, 1)
I believe that there are two very important and urgent global issues that are the concern of proponents of a culture of life. The first is the ever-increasing number of induced abortions abetted by unjust and anti-life legislation. The second is the growing number of frozen human embryos, being stockpiled in clinics where artificial insemination and test-tube baby production are practiced. We may not be able to address these issues immediately and directly in the University. But by promoting a culture of life, we can help make people aware of the personal dignity of each and every fetus and embryo and hope that when our students become the leaders and decision makers of the future, they will be guided by what they have lived in their formative years.
Leave a Reply