What's a 13th-century pope got to do with stem cells? Nothing at all

Published: 2006-07-20

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- What does a pope elected at the end of the 13th century have to do with the Senate debate about embryonic stem-cell research? Pope Boniface VIII, best known for his efforts to exercise temporal power over the French monarchy, was cited -- albeit misidentified -- by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., from the Senate floor July 18 to represent religious leaders who had slowed scientific progress over the centuries. "Pope Boniface VII (sic) banned the practice of cadaver dissection in the 1200s," Specter said. "This stopped the practice for over 300 years and greatly slowed the accumulation of education regarding human anatomy." Boniface VII, an antipope who held the papacy during three separate periods in the late 900s, is clearly not the pope to whom Specter was referring. Boniface VIII served from 1294 to 1303. But neither of the Bonifaces, nor any other pope, was responsible for the type of ban cited by Specter, most historical sources agree. The New Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Pope Boniface VIII makes no mention of any papal document related to dissection, but other sources cite the possible cause for confusion in "De Sepulturis," a papal bull issued in 1300. "Persons cutting up the bodies of the dead, barbarously cooking them in order that the bones being separated from the flesh may be carried for burial into their own countries, are by the very fact excommunicated," says one translation of the document.

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