French bishops request Telethon funds not be used to destroy embryos

Paris, France, Dec 10, 2007 / 10:22 am

France recently held its 30 hour-long national Telethon to raise funds to help the sick, and the bishops of that country are requesting that the funds not be used to finance research that involves the destruction of human embryos.

The Bishops’ Conference of France has published on its website the speech given by Archbishop Andre Vignt Trois of Paris during the bishops’’ recent assembly, in which he said, “Above all, we are thinking of the young infirm and their families, of their hopes of recovery and their value. We admire the generosity that drives those who join in the Telethon and we have no intention of discrediting this fruitful generosity (…)  But generosity does not justify everything.  We hope that everyone will reflect,” he said.

Likewise, the Archdiocese of Paris drafted a document explaining why the Church takes a position on this issue.  “The embryo will soon be the subject of debates in anticipation of research with embryonic stem cells (which implies the destruction of the embryo) and the authorization of therapeutic cloning for creating embryos for research.  If on the one hand we must foster research with all of the strength possible, on the other hand any deviation must be avoided.  The Catholic Church calls for care to be taken.  Research must be respectful of human life and be at the service of mankind, and not the other way around,” the statement indicated.