A technology magazine has described a new Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith instruction on bioethical issues, "Dignitatis Personae", as "surprisingly liberal" on genetic engineering. The 32 page instruction, "Dignitatis Personae" deals with bioethical issues including freezing of unfertilised eggs and embryos, and genetic testing of embryos.
Technology magazine Wired commented that while the Vatican had denounced most forms of embryonic stem cell research, artificial reproduction and genetic enhancement, the statement "is not uniformly opposed to human biotechnology: a few of its recommendations, especially those concerning genetic engineering, are surprisingly liberal."
While many of the arguments in "Dignitas Personae" have been made before by Pope Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in public comments or writings, a Church "instruction" from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is far more authoritative, The Washington Post noted.
"It makes very clear the Church is very closely watching scientific progress and favours that progress but wants ethics to be part of that," said Richard Doerflinger of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. "The whole subject of misuse of technology to demean human dignity is a major concern."
"I hope it will make Catholics more aware that they should not be cooperating with these technologies. None of this respects the dignity of the human person," said Kathleen Raviele, president of the Catholic Medical Association.
Catholic bioethicists and physicians were anxious to read the Vatican's judgment on a variety of issues, including whether it is moral for people to "adopt" embryos that have gone unused by the parents who had them created.
The document warned that the practice could help perpetuate the creation of more embryos outside the human body and outside heterosexual marriage. It did not explicitly forbid the practice, but it sees the embryos as "consigned to an absurd fate with no morally acceptable solution," Doerflinger said.
VIS notes the document was presented at a Friday press conference by Archbishops Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, SJ, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life; Bishop Elio Sgreccia, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life; and Maria Luisa Di Pietro, associate professor of Bioethics at the Sacred Heart University, Rome and President of the "Science and Life" Association took part in the press conference.
Archbishop Ladaria said that brings up to date the 1987 CDF document "Donum vitae" (1987). The document, approved by the Pope, "forms part of the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter" and "is of a doctrinal nature," he said.
This instruction "encourages biomedical investigation that respects the dignity of all human beings and of procreation."
"At the same time, it does not exclude diverse biomedical technology as ethically illicit and," he said, "will probably be accused of containing too many prohibitions."
"Nevertheless, faced with this possible accusation it is necessary to emphasise that the Church feels the duty of making those without voices heard," Archbishop Ladaria says.
Professor Di Pietro noted that before examining the questions dealt with in the document, such as techniques of assisting fertility, in vitro fertilisation, the freezing of embryos and eggs, embryo reduction, and pre-implant diagnosis, "it is necessary to remember the three fundamental goods that govern each of the decisions", namely the dignity of each human being from conception to natural death, the unity of marriage, and the specifically human values of sexuality that "demand that the procreation of a human person be desired as the fruit of the conjugal act specific to the love between spouses."
Bishop Sgreccia referred to the third part of the document that speaks of newly proposed therapies that involve the manipulation of the embryo or the human genetic patrimony.
"The text holds that it is necessary", he said, "to keep in mind one fundamental distinction: theoretically, genetic therapy can be applied to somatic cells with directly therapeutic ends or to germinal cells." As regards the latter, "it is not possible to intervene as there still does not exist a safe technique," he stressed, "because it could entail the risk of deformation in the hereditary genetic patrimony of future generations."
The former president of the Pontifical Academy for Life affirmed that "the distinction between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning is untenable and thus also always presupposes a reproduction."
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(Source: CTHN)