Politics
Monday January 3, 2005
Bishop Sgreccia Named President of Pontifical Academy For Life
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
ROME, January 3, 2005 (CWNews.com\LifeSiteNews.com) - Bishop Elio Sgreccia has been named by Pope John Paul II as the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Bishop Sgreccia, who for several years has served the Vatican's chief spokesman on matters of bioethics and the "culture of life," has been the vice-president of the Pontifical Academy. He moves up to replace Juan de Dios Vial Correa, a Chilean professor, who is stepping down as president upon reaching the age of 80.
The Pontifical Academy for Life was established by Pope John Paul II in 1994. The first president, the distinguished French scientist Jerome Lejeune, died shortly after his appointment.
As his appointment as president was announced by the Vatican on January 3, Bishop Sgreccia revealed that the statutes of the Pontifical Academy have been revised. Rather than a president and vice-president, the organization will now have a president and a chancellor. To fill the latter role, the Pope has appointed Msgr. Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, a priest of the prelature of Opus Dei and professor of bioethics at the Catholic University of Rome, who was already a member of the Academy.
Bishop Sgreccia told reporters that the Pontifical Academy has not altered its initial mission, which is to study issues involving the dignity of human life, and provide scientific and profession advice for the Holy See on those issues. Today, he said, the fields of study for the group include cloning, artificial means of reproduction, and euthanasia. He indicated that the need to offer clear moral guidance on these issues is particularly acute today, since "we cannot count on the laws, which yield to the will of the majority."
The Pontifical Academy continues also to work on older issues such as abortion.
See some the previous LifeSiteNews.com reports on Bishop Sgreccia:
Dutch Proposal for Euthanasia of Children Blasted by Vatican
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/sep/04090709.html
Report from the International Congress: "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/apr/040420a.html
Italian Parliament Passes Restrictive IVF Law
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/feb/04021203.html
VATICAN SLAMS EMBRYO RESEARCH AS "A VERY GRAVE ACT OF VIOLENCE"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/apr/01041101.html
VATICAN CONDEMNS UN ABORTION PILL DISTRIBUTION IN KOSOVO
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/1999/apr/99041306.html
Sj
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- BREAKING: US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 220 to 215
- Stupak Amendment to Health Care Bill Passes 240 - 194 Saturday Evening
- Major Health Care Development - Pro-Life Stupak Amendment Vote OK'd for Today
- NY Times: Dems Banking on Later Squeezing Pro-Life Language Out of Bill in Committee
- USCCB Spokesman: "Definitely Not True" that Bishops Support Bill As it Stands
- TIME Got it Wrong - Prof. George Opposed Grandiose Kennedy Funeral
- USCCB Condemnation Tears Facade off "Phony" Abortion Compromise for Health Bill
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholic Left
- Dirty Fighting on Abortion Funding: Word-Games and Health-Care Theatrics Boggle the Mind
- Commentary on November 6 News
- Note to LifeSiteNews Subscribers with Rogers email addresses
- New York Gov. Declares Nov. 10 Extraordinary Legislative Session for Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Washington's Pro-Family Amendment Effort Defeated - R-71 Almost Certain to Pass
- Vote Pushed Back on Canadian Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bill to Dec. 2
- Elderly U.K. Couple in Good Health Commit Suicide, Complain of Assisted Suicide Law
- Texas Late-Term Abortionist and Baptist Minister Admits: "Am I killing? Yes, I am"
- New Evidence Contradicts CCHD's Findings on Accused Pro-Abortion Partner
- Quebec Priest Denies Possibility of Sexual Reorientation Therapy on TV
- New Hampshire Same-Sex "Marriage" Law in Crosshairs after Maine's Law Crumbles
- Brooklyn Bishop Criticized for Recorded Message Praising Pro-Abortion Politician
- First Group of "Traditionalist" Anglicans in Britain Votes to Enter Catholic Church
Most Read this Week
- Planned Parenthood Director Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure
- Nun Defiant Following Rebuke, but Stops Abortion Escorting
- Breaking: Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholics Left
- Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic
- Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named
- Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 218 to 215
- Major Health Care Bill Development - Stupak Hyde Amendment Vote OK'd
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.