POPE SAYS NO ONE CAN BE SILENT ON EMBRYO EXPERIMENTATION

VATICAN, February 24, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an address to the Ninth General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life today, Pope John Paul II called on everyone to speak out against destructive research on human embryos.  “I am convinced, that no one, much less the Church, is allowed to be silent in the face of certain results or pretexts of experimentation on man,” he said.  The Academy, meeting to discuss biomedical research, was told of “the growing urgency to find ‘natural’ solutions to the problem of conjugal infertility.”“I renew my heartfelt appeal,” John Paul II stated, “that scientific and biomedical research, while avoiding every temptation to manipulate man, be faithfully dedicated to exploring ways and resources to support human life, the cure of illnesses and solutions to the ever new problems in the biomedical field.” He emphasized that “the Church respects and supports scientific research when it pursues an authentically humanistic orientation, fleeing from every form of exploitation or destruction of the human being and keeping itself free from the slavery of political and economic interests.”  The Pope stressed that “not only the goals, but also the methods and means of research must always be respectful of the dignity of every human being, at whatever stage of their development and in every phase of experimentation.”  See the full address (In Italian) at:  https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2003/february/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20030224_pont-acad-life_it.html