Were you part of the group of members that
called for its cancellation or did you know about people being opposed to it?
I was not directly part of
the group of members of the Pontifical Academy for Life who called for the
cancellation of the Pontifical Academy for Life Conference on Stem Cells. The
Academicians being opposed to this conference had already reacted in 2009
against the statement of a member of the Vatican Curia about the Recife Affair.
The unique concern of those Academicians is fidelity to the teaching of the
Catholic Church about the respect of human life from the beginning to the
natural death and about the defense of the family.
I understand there was opposition to speakers
who are vocal proponents of embryonic research. Do you know why the academy
invited these researchers?
A previous question must be
considered: Who selected and invited the speakers? On which criterions were
they chosen? Who was approached to sponsor this meeting? Is it not to be feared
that the weight of those persons could interfere on some running process? I observe
that there were different organizers, some of them surprising. Were they
unanimous in inviting the different participants? Were the positions of the
participants on embryonical research known by the organizing committee? Happy
enough some members of the Academy were better informed than the organizing
committee!
I know the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
invites speakers that don’t agree with the church on many matters, and the
academy’s invitation to speak does not indicate an endorsement of these
people’s views. Does the Academy for Life have a different procedure? Are all
speakers at a PAL event expected to uphold church teaching?
It is true that the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences invites speakers that don’t agree with the Church
on many matters, and, generally speaking, it is a good thing because the
Academicians can discuss and exchange their points of view. But a subject like
the respect of human life, especially of the most vulnerable, is non-negotiable.
The halls of the Holly See should not be put at the disposal of researchers
whose positions are in open disagreement
with the teaching of the Church about life. Besides, because they were invited
by the Vatican, some of those researchers will proclaim everywhere that the
Church is changing her position about the research on embryo.
Will the academy still hold a conference on
stem cells in the future?
It will be convenient to
consider holding some other conference on adult stem cells in the future.
Obviously, it will be important to stress the necessity of experimenting on
animals rather than on human embryos. It is urgent as well to show that the
researches on adult stem cells are much more promising than the researches on
embryonic stem cells. Amidst the scientific community, the researches about
embryonic stem cells are strongly controversial, both from the scientific and
the ethical points of view. The Church cannot take the risk of being
manipulated about topics which are so fundamental. She must support a vision of
the Medicine which helps the patient, and not a vision that kills him. This is
the reason why it was opportune to cancel the April-planned Congress.
Mgr Michel Schooyans
Michel Schooyans, Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy
at the Louvain University, is
an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a member of several
international scientific societies.
Some extracts of
this interview appeared in the article of Carol Glatz,
“Organizers: Vatican congress on stem cells canceled for lack of funds”,
Pro Manuscripto.
