Rome, Italy, Jul 26, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The Bishops’ Conference of Italy has issued a statement calling the European Union decision to fund research on human embryos “morally unacceptable” because it constitutes an attack on innocent human life.
The bishops note that they, “have insisted and insist frequently that any research that involves human embryos corresponds to an anthropological point of view that does not consider human life as an end but rather as a means for achieving certain aims—albeit some of which may be noble—such as the treatment of disease and scientific knowledge.”
“Science must serve man, not use him, especially man in his most fragile state—an embryo in its first days of life,” they added.
The bishops appealed to “Italian politicians and all those who can still stop this ethical attack” and to the EU “not to allow its funds to be used in any way for this grave attack on the dignity of man regarding his fundamental right to life, without which all other personal or social values lose their essence.”
“Benedict XVI reminded us that ‘the protection of life in all of its stages, from conception until natural death, is a non-negotiable principle’,” the bishops emphasized.