Although their field deals with immensely controversial life-and-death topics, most bioethicists do not die a violent death.
However, prominent Brazilian bioethicist Antonio Moser, 75, was murdered earlier this month by two men on a motorcycle who shot him as he was driving his car in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Three days of official mourning in his honour have been declared by the mayor of Petropolis, where Moser lived and worked. The murderers escaped, but they may have been trying to steal his car.
Dr Moser was a Franciscan friar, a specialist in bioethics and head of Brazil’s biggest Catholic publishing house, Editorial Vozes. He was the author of 27 books and countless articles. As a moral theologian he published extensively on issues relating to bioethics, biotechnology and sexuality. He appeared regularly on a Catholic TV station and was on his way to the studio when he was killed.
