He also spoke out against civil unions as an alternative to marriage, his latest criticism of a bill approved this month by the Italian government granting rights to unwed and gay couples."---
"Die smackdown est kommen!"
Posted on 02/24/2007 10:40:48 AM PST by markomalley
"Christians are constantly called to mobilize to resist the many attacks against the right to life," Benedict said in an address at the end of a two-day conference run by the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Pope Benedict on Saturday condenmed genetic engineering and other scientific practices that allow people to select so-called "designer babies"
"Christians are constantly called to mobilize to resist the many attacks against the right to life," Benedict said in an address at the end of a two-day conference run by the Pontifical Academy for Life.
The pontiff said developing countries face increasing pressure to legalize abortion "and liberalize new forms of chemical abortion using the pretext of reproductive health."
Instead, life in developed countries is threatened by sophisticated biotechnology research and the "obsessive search for the 'perfect child,' through the spread of artificial insemination and of various forms of diagnosis that tend to ensure its selection," Benedict said.
The pope also blasted laws to legalize euthanasia, which he said are explained away by citing the "presumed well-being of people," and the increasing pushes for "the legalization of cohabitations that are alternatives to marriage and are closed to natural procreation."
Against genetic engineering
Pope Benedict on Saturday condenmed genetic engineering and other scientific practices that allow people to select so-called "designer babies" by screening them for defects.
In a speech to the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Church body of experts, the Pope also attacked artificial insemination and the widespread use of medical tests that can detect diseases and inherited disorders in embryos.
"In developed countries, there is a growing interest for the most sophisticated biotechnological research to introduce subtle and extensive eugenics methods in the obsessive search for the 'perfect child'," the Pope said.
He said the right to life was increasingly under attack in the world, citing pressures to legalise abortion in Latin America, and euthanasia in the richest countries.
Against civil unions
He also spoke out against civil unions as an alternative to marriage, his latest criticism of a bill approved this month by the Italian government granting rights to unwed and gay couples.
Turning that bill into law now appears a more remote possibility, as it was dropped from a government programme submitted by Romano Prodi to his allies to allow him to stay on as prime minister and end the latest political crisis.
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Begotten or made?
I like this Pope , he is not the kind of a guy who worries about who likes what he says or not. He is a man for all seasons. I especially like the idea he had of wishing the eastern rite a Merry Christmas when they celebrated on January 6th. he is helping to unite us against the Antichrist and is winning me every day. Right on you go Holy Father!
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Not only does this Pope say the right things...he's a very smart guy. No one is going to verbally bully this guy, he's too bright for that.
Does the Church oppose genetic engineering because of the methods used (i.e. eliminating the embryos that don't meet the design), or because they oppose the idea of interfering with nature....or both?
Suppose an advanced method were developed which allowed genetic manipulation of a naturally produced zygote...no artificial insemination or destruction of superfluous zygotes/embryos would take place. What would be the position of the Church concerning such a method?
Though it is true that sometimes it is lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good," it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it (18)—in other words, to intend directly something which of its very nature contradicts the moral order, and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family or of society in general.
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Not to disrespect Catholics or minimize the issue, but there's something I don't understand..
Presumably, Catholics are not against indoor plumbing.. or cough syrup.. or telephones.. Couldn't one make the argument that God's plan was for us to to get our water from the local river, to deal with our colds until they go away, and to talk to each other face to face?
I would imagine a Catholic might say "Well God designed us with the capacity to overcome distance and disease through inventing indoor plumbing, cough syrup and telephones."
Why might He not have intended us to overcome birth defects through the above-mentioned hypothetical zygote-preserving engineering?
For that matter, couldn't he have intended the invention of condoms as well?
Good for the Pope.
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Have you ever read Humane Vitae? I think it's safe to say that you and the Church are operating from different beginning premises, so you'd probably miss point of any simple answer to that question.
Welcoming the child God gives you is a very different situation that deciding to pick up the phone rather than yelling over the fence to your neighbor. It deals with the core of what it is to be human....
At least from the Catholic point of view (and some other religions, too).
There are other groups that would embrace such a concept much more readily than the Catholic Church.
Groups such as the Nazis, for instance.
Good question, and it strikes at the heart of my confusion. As far as I know, Catholics are not opposed to the use of pharmaceuticals, prosthetics, speech therapy, corrective surgery, or most other "artificial" means of correcting medical problems someone may inherit or develop naturally.
Nor do they oppose (to my knowledge at least) the use of cosmetics or other methods of changing one's appearance, so long as it does not lead to immodesty or excessive vanity.
The Church seems to be okay with "physical" modifications of nature, but not genetic modification. What is it that makes genetic manipulation so much worse than surgery, if both are aimed at curing a physical defect? Or for that matter, if it is fine for someone to wear colored contact lenses their whole life, why would it be wrong to change their genes to get the desired color?
Probably becasue a human life is much more than a commodity to be bought or sold or a trophy of *prefection* to wheel around in your stroller to show off to everyone so they can ooo and ahhh over your perfect little selected designer creation.
That kind of stupid reasoning would lead you to figure that if God is going to provide for our needs, that why should we work? Shouldn't we just have enough faith to lay around with open mouths to wait for God to pour the food in?
Jesus never condemned the technology of His day. There's a big difference between using the physical world to make life more comfortable and using it to cheapen the humanity of mankind.
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