Cooperation in marriage-related legislation

Abstract

This article will first explore the basic tool, namely the doctrine of cooperation in evil that Catholic moral theology offers to handle situations where the moral view of politicians or judges conflicts with the legal or political exigencies. This will be followed by a particular case study involving cooperation in a contentious issue which emerged during my experience as a member of the European Group of Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), which is a pluralistic, interdisciplinary and independent advisory body to the European Commission. Finally, three specific case studies involving cooperation in controversial issues of marriage-related legislation, faced recently by Maltese politicians, will be discussed in the light of the practical wisdom, new insights and boarder horizon acquired through the author's EGE experience.