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VATICAN – Bishops against embryonic stem cell research. Church says Galileo Galilei matter was a misunderstanding

“Behind the embryonic stem cell war is just a war of patents,” led an article in the Osservatore Romano newspaper by Angelo Vescovi, a geneticist at the Niguarda Hospital in Milan and a professor at the Università Bicocca, who has always been against embryonic stem cell research and supporter of ‘law 40’ (recently declared unconstitutional by authorities). “The production of embryonic stem cells by reprogramming adult cells discovered recently is not only better than methods that use human embryos, but is also based on new techniques, which are not protected by patents that currently govern the use of stem cells derived from embryos. Many countries are leaders only in manufacturing embryonic stem cells.”

According to Vescovi, who despite his last name (which means bishop in Italian) is notoriously secular, “numerous labs, billions of dollars in investments, an entire chain of patents, scientific techniques, and entire careers are based on the use of embryos”. “In a situation like this,” observed Vescovi, “it would be naïve to think that all of this could be abandoned in order to embrace different techniques, just because they are more efficient and ethically acceptable.” Basically, “there are too many interests for the use of human embryos to be abandoned without any reaction”.

Vescovi also says that it is “questionable” to present choices made on this basis “as the response of the ‘moral authorities’, who try to create opposition based on alleged moral or religious beliefs which are irrational and unreasonable” .These actions are branded as anti-scientific and against the interests of the sick and require these outdated people to look at the facts”. “This position,” he concluded, “cannot be defended and is distorted, since the facts cannot be denied. Nothing will slow the development and research of possible treatments, the use of human embryos is in no way a solemn necessity.”

MONSIGNOR BETORI, WE MUST CALMLY REEXAMINE THE GALILEO MATTER. IT WAS A MISUNDERSTANDING

“It is completely possible to calmly and objectively reexamine the Galileo matter, a “tragic reciprocal incomprehension” and a “painful misunderstanding”. As John Paul II said in 1992, the situation not only condemned the founder of modern science, but one of the most incredible minds in the past millennium,” said Monsignor Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence, during the inaugural ceremony of an international conference on “The Galileo Case”, which opened today in Florence at the Santa Croce church, and was attended by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

“Unfortunately, this painful misunderstanding has often been erroneously interpreted as an opposition between science and religion. I hope that this event,” added Betori, “demonstrates that this opinion is unfounded.” Monsignor Betori also hoped that “the important dialogue between faith and reason can be restored and resumed creatively, aiming for a permanent and constructive collaboration between the church and the institutes of scientific research, economic development, and social promotion”.

“Faith does not benefit from a refusal of rationality, but is part of a wider reasoning. Reason, without faith, risks reducing itself to calculations,” said Bertori, “and without a conflict, it is often unaware or blind of sources of important questions, fundamental values, and dramatic human situations. Therefore, dialogue between faith and reason must continue.”

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