Vatican Condemns Human Cloning

The Roman Catholic Church may have eventually apologized for it's treatment of Galileo and they may now accept evolutionary theory, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't continue to oppose science and scientific research. Only the topics have changed and, today, that biggest topics may be cloning and stem cell research.

The Gulf Daily News explains:

"The Holy Father has always unequivocally condemned all forms of human cloning, even for therapeutic purposes," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. ... Pope John Paul has vehemently opposed human cloning in speeches and official Vatican documents. He said cloning for transplant purposes was morally unacceptable if it involves "the manipulation and destruction of human embryos", even when its proposed goal is good in itself.

This position isn’t at all surprising, but hopefully it won’t have a significant impact on research going forward. The Vatican has enough influence to force Italian laws to cause problems for women who need fertility treatments, but it doesn’t have enough influence to do the same elsewhere.

Read More:

• Roman Catholicism
• Roman Catholicism News
• Guide to Ethics and Morality
• Bioethics