Vatican City, Nov 9, 2003 / 22:00 pm
During the audience with the members of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences gathered in Rome these days, Pope John Paul II told scientists members of this Vatican institution that he supports stem cell research but not from human embryos.
Referring to the meeting’s second topic, “Stem Cell Technology and Other Innovative Therapies,” the Pope recalled that “research in this field has understandably grown in importance in recent years because of the hope it offers for the cure of ills affecting many people.”
He added: “I have on other occasions stated that stem cells for purposes of experimentation or treatment cannot come from human embryo tissue. I have instead encouraged research on adult human tissue or tissue superfluous to normal fetal development.”
“Any treatment which claims to save human lives, yet is based upon the destruction of human life in its embryonic state, is logically and morally contradictory, as is any production of human embryos for the direct or indirect purpose of experimentation or eventual destruction,” he concluded.