Cardinal Eijk: JPII Institute and Pontifical Academy for Life must be ‘clear and unambiguous’

"We have to transmit the truth about marriage, about sexual life. That may be difficult, but it is possible."

Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht has a reputation among his brother cardinals as a clear and outspoken voice on issues of life and bioethics.

His plainspoken manner, typical of a Dutchman, has earned him critics too, both inside and outside of the Church, both in the Netherlands and abroad.

But it has also earned him a reputation for clarity in times of confusion, especially in a country like the Netherlands, which has pioneered the legalization and practice of euthanasia, abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgender activism.

Cardinal Eijk, a self-described Pillar reader — “in a good way,” he says — gave the inaugural lecture of the third International Bioethics Conference, organized by the Jerome Lejeune Foundation in Rome, to discuss science and bioethics in the service of truth.

After his talk, Eijk spoke with The Pillar about Catholicism and bioethics, Evangelium vitae, and the mission of the Pontifical Academy for Life in the pontificate of Leo XIV.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht. Credit: Edgar Beltrán/Pillar Media.

What do you see as the role of - and the need for - bioethics today, especially from a Christian perspective?

We have to contrast with this present culture, which does not recognize the intrinsic value of human life. Our task is to transmit the truth about God, man, and the world. And also metaphysical truths, and the truth concerning moral values and norms.

And perhaps we haven’t had much success in the world these days. You see the growing number of abortions. For instance, in the United States last year, there were almost a million abortions. You see the decision that the French parliament took last year to place a right to promote abortion to women in the Constitution, and, a few days ago, to legalize assisted suicide. It's a growing problem.

But, nevertheless, we should not give up, [we should not] lose courage. In the last few years, I’ve seen in the Netherlands every year a growing number of young people asking to be admitted to the Church. Not as many as in France, but it is a clear tendency. And these young people discover Christ and the Gospel, also the moral teachings of the Church, through the internet, TikTok, social media. You would not expect it, but it is so.

And when they come to a priest in order to ask for baptism or confirmation, they already know a surprising amount about faith because they read a lot about Catholicism on the internet and social media.

These young people are inclined to accept the whole doctrine of the Church. So, I think that there's a generational shift in the Church. Things will change and are changing already.

I also see in the Netherlands a less negative attitude towards the Church and the faith than a few years ago. So, there is a change, positive change. I think we have to continue to transmit the truth to believers of younger generations. And the Church will be perhaps tiny, but Pope Benedict XVI always spoke of a creative minority that can initiate a new culture.

You just spoke to a conference hosted by the Jerome Lejeune Foundation. In your opinion, what is the greatest legacy of Venerable Jerome Lejeune?

That he was a fervent defender of the intrinsic value of human life. He was a famous geneticist because of his discovery of Trisomy 21 in 1958, but he was a confessing Catholic. And that cost him a lot because by doing so, he lost the respect of his colleagues. He became a little bit of an outsider, but nevertheless, he didn't give up.

He was one of the few defenders of the intrinsic value of human life in the ‘60s, the ‘70s, and the ‘80s. And he was closely involved in the foundation of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

I met him once. Back in the day, I was on holiday in France when I was a seminarian with a friend of mine, so we went to his laboratory, and I spoke with him in his laboratory and he said, “Perhaps at some point you will be a bishop, so you have to announce the truth.” So he was not only a scientist, but a prophet (laughs). He was very kind to us; he didn’t know us and we were just two young seminarians. But you could quickly notice he was a convinced Christian in all respects.

You mentioned in your talk that this year is the 30th anniversary of Evangelium vitae. Do you think that perhaps the Church needs an updated encyclical that applies the principles of Evangelium vitae to new bioethical issues?

Evangelium vitae is still very useful, even after 30 years. Its diagnosis of the culture of death is still accurate.

But it's true, new techniques and issues have been developed. For instance, Evangelium vitae does not speak about the problem of gender, choosing your gender identity, changing your biological sex as much as possible to adapt it to your chosen gender identity. That is something that Evangelium vitae did not consider because it was not as widespread at that moment. It did exist. We already had transgender clinics in the Netherlands 30 years ago, but it was not so widespread an issue as to be addressed in the encyclical.

Of course, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith has issued a declaration on transgender treatments, but a new encyclical that says something about new techniques that were not in vogue in 1995 would be pretty good.

Cardinal Eijk during his talk. Credit: Edgar Beltrán/Pillar Media.

What do you see as the proper role of institutions such as the John Paul II Institute and the Pontifical Academy for Life in academic discussions on bioethics and the defense of life during this pontificate?

It is very important that we try to reestablish unity in the Church. And that needs to come from a proclamation of the faith that is clear and unambiguous. And that should also happen in the field of morality and ethics.

It may not be easy to witness Catholic morality. People may have difficulties with it, but we should be clear and unambiguous about the basic truths of our faith.

Though also in this field, things are changing. We introduced in our diocese marriage preparation courses as a series of five evenings. We explain the theology of the body. We speak about the Church’s doctrine on contraception, we talk about natural family planning. And the reaction is mostly “Oh, that is that beautiful. We’ve never heard that.”

And that makes it very clear to me, we have to transmit the truth about marriage, about sexual life. That may be difficult, but it is possible. In our most recent course, we had 12 couples, so 24 young people who heard this message and are open to it.

I also explained this issue last Saturday to groups of young adults in the Diocese of Den Bosch, and they were all very open to it. There were some older people who were more critical, they were the rebels of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, people of my age. This shows a generational change.

Pope Leo XIV said he picked his name because of his predecessor, Leo XIII, and his offering of a new, yet faithful answer to the social issues of his time.

Bioethical issues are a major social issue of our time. What advice would you give to Pope Leo in facing these issues?

I think that what I just said is also valid for him: we should be clear in teaching, unambiguous. Clear and courageous in teaching the truth of the Catholic faith, including the Catholic doctrine on moral issues, which is the most contested issue.

When the pope is clear and unambiguous in proclaiming this part of the doctrine, that will be very helpful for people to rediscover the truth. And they should be helped in doing so. When people see ambiguity, they start to get confused. They start to doubt. But when the pope and the bishops are clear in the teaching, also the priests of course, that will be very helpful for the people to rediscover the truth of Christ, the Gospel, and the way in which they can follow Him.

Why not give up on these issues? Why continue being hopeful that society can actually change?

When I look at young people and how they embrace the faith of the Church, that gives me a lot of courage.

Of course the Church will be tiny. It will be very small. It's already marginalized. I’ve had to close down many churches, especially in villages, because of a lack of active faithful and financial means. We totally depend on contributions from the faithful.

But in the cities we see that the parishes are flourishing, and there we see most of the fruits of conversion. So I think we just have to continue. And we shouldn't worry about the number of faithful but about the quality of the faithful.

So we see that the quantity of the faithful is decreasing in the Netherlands, but the quality is increasing, even among older Catholics because the older generations that remain in the Church still go to church on Sundays - they believe, they pray, they have a relationship with Christ. They come in order to pray. So they are more open to all of the Church’s teachings.

When I first became a bishop, a lot of people criticized my sermons (laughs). Now I hear agreement more often, even when I preach about heaven and hell. So people are more open to being taught the faith. We must have the courage to propose this truth to people so that they won’t be confused, but that they may accept and get to know Christ and the Gospel.