Christian teachings about the donation and transplant of human organs.
Organ donation
Last updated 2009-08-03
Christianity and organ donation
Donor organs in transit
Sacrifice and helping others are key themes across all forms of Christianity, and therefore a decision to donate organs is seen as a positive thing.
Christians should be encouraged to help others in need. They look upon organ donation as an act of love, and a way of following Jesus' example.
All mainstream Protestant denominations support organ donation, whether they see it as an individual choice motivated by compassion, or encourage it as an act of charity.
The Vatican strongly supports organ donation. Pope John Paul II, in an address to the participants of the Society for Organ Sharing, said:
With the advent of organ transplantation, which began with blood transfusion, man has found a way to give of himself, of his blood and of his body, so that others may continue to live.
Pope John Paul II
Eastern Orthodox Christianity, most Pentecostal and evangelical churches also support organ donation, as do the Amish.
A discussion of transplants
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Reverend Mark Bratton is an Anglican chaplain and former barrister specialising in medical law who teaches medical ethics and law at Warwick University. Also contributing are Rabbi Chaim Rapoport, an advisor in the Chief Rabbi's cabinet on medical ethics, and Dr John Harris, the Sir David Alliance Professor of Bioethics at Manchester Uni with a background as joint Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics and a Fellow of the United Kingdom Academy of Medical Sciences.
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