Evangelium vitae (Ecclesiastical Latin: [ɛ.vanˈd͡ʒɛː.li.um ˈvi.tɛ]) translated in English as 'The Gospel of Life', is a papal encyclical published on 25 March 1995 (on that year's Feast of the Annunciation) by Pope John Paul II.

In terms of historical context, John Paul II alluded to his experience of the Second World War[3] and also to the Rerum novarum encyclical of Pope Leo XIII (1891) which sought to protect vulnerable workers.

He affirmed: Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, and in communion with the Bishops of the Catholic Church, I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral.

[7] While John Paul II noted that the Bible's texts "never address the question of deliberate abortion and so do not directly and specifically condemn it ... they show such great respect for the human being in the mother's womb" that a logical consequence was that "You shall not kill" be extended to the unborn child as well.

The Pharaoh of old, haunted by the presence and increase of the children of Israel, submitted them to every kind of oppression and ordered that every male child born of the Hebrew women was to be killed (cf.

[16] As an alternative, John Paul II proposed that governments and international agencies should "strive to create economic, social, public health and cultural conditions which will enable married couples to make their choices about procreation in full freedom and with genuine responsibility."

"[17] ... in harmony with the Magisterium of my Predecessors and in communion with the Bishops of the Catholic Church, I confirm that euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person.

[18]John Paul II suggested that when the prevailing tendency in society is "to value life only to the extent that it brings pleasure and well-being, suffering seems like an unbearable setback, something from which one must be freed at all costs."

He cautioned that while euthanasia "might seem logical and humane, when looked at more closely [it] is seen to be senseless and inhumane" and associated with an "excessive preoccupation with efficiency" in modern society, which sees the growing number of elderly and disabled people as "intolerable and too burdensome."

Palliative care was strongly commended as part of modern medicine for making suffering more bearable in the final stages of an illness and to ensure that the patient is "supported and accompanied in his or her ordeal".

[21] Evangelium vitae sets the Church's perspective on capital punishment in the context of a need for the state to "render the aggressor incapable of causing harm [which] sometimes involves taking his life".

[22] Pope John Paul acknowledged a "growing tendency, both in the Church and in civil society, to demand that [the death penalty] be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely."

[24]The writing and distribution of Evangelium vitae coincided with the abolition of capital punishment in several European countries after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and also in South Africa under the post-apartheid government.

The teachings of Evangelium vitae on the immorality of murder, directly willed abortion, and euthanasia are considered infallible by Catholic theologians including "liberals" (Richard Gaillardetz, Hermann Pottmeyer), "moderates" (Francis A. Sullivan), and "conservatives" (Mark Lowery, Lawrence J. Welch).

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated that these teachings in Evangelium vitae are infallible in its "Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the Professio Fidei", published on June 29, 1998, and signed by Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone.