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: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdlife/documents/rc_pa_acdlife_doc_20000824_cellule-staminali_en.html