BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH

POSITION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH

VATICAN, Feb 15, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Yesterday the Vatican Information Service  published excerpts from an interview given to Vatican Radio by Bishop Elio  Sgreccia, vice-president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, on the  position of the Church concerning biomedical research.

The Bishop responded to a question on stem cells asking "what is the  position of the Pontifical Academy for Life in this regard?"

He responded: "In the document of August 25, 2000 which this Pontifical  Academy dedicated to the use of stem cells, encouragement was expressed for  research on stem cells taken from the adult organism or, at birth, the  umbilical cord, as well as from involuntarily aborted fetuses (miscarriage,  etc.), in conformity with the hypotheses already confirmed by  internationally recognized research. ... The fact that this same Academy  has expressed a negative judgment from an ethical viewpoint on the  destructive use of embryos for stem cell research and for the advancement  of forms of human cloning, inappropriately defined as therapeutic, was  motivated by the viewpoint of rational ethics and certainly not by the  demands of religious faith alone. ... Selective and discriminatory  biomedical experimentation cannot be justified, not even in the face of  hypothetical advantages, which are moreover achievable through other methods."

For the full Vatican document of August 25, 2000 which the bishop refers to  go to: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdlife/documents/rc_pa_acdlife_doc_20000824_cellule-staminali_en.html