Expert on stem cells exhorts Catholics to understand issue

Published: 2004-08-16

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- People in the pews really need to understand the issue of stem-cell research, especially in light of the upcoming presidential election, said a nationally respected neuroscientist and theologian. Stem-cell expert Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk spoke to Catholic pro-life officials gathered in St. Louis Aug. 6. He said the debate on such research and the closely related issue of cloning is not just national in scope but international as the United Nations now faces again the question of whether to ban all types of human cloning. "To have an informed debate," the priest said, "people need to be aware of what the real parameters of the discussion are: What is a human embryo? What is cloning? What are stem cells, and where do you get them from? And what's the price that's going to be paid if we take stem cells from certain sources like living, growing human embryos?" Father Pacholczyk said later in an interview the claim that embryonic stem-cell research shows the greatest promise for curing disease "is vastly oversold." The number of those cured by use of such cells is "exactly zero," the priest said. He noted that "the true cures are coming from adult and umbilical cord stem cells."

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .