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Don’t repeat yourself

15 Mar 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's reading from the Book of Exodus admonishes the people of Israel not to make images for themselves of "anything in the sky above or on the earth below." Monday, before signing an order to lift restrictions on federal funding for research on existing lines of embryonic stem cells, President Obama promised that he would ensure the government never "opens the door" to human cloning. Obama said he was ending what he believed was "a false choice between sound science and moral values," adding that the research shows great potential and that "with proper guidelines and strict oversight, the perils can be avoided." The U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference criticized the move and the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano newspaper ran an article on Tuesday reiterating the Catholic Church's position, which holds that embryos must be considered human beings. The article did not directly mention Obama's decision but said that protecting embryos should be "the basis of a real democracy, capable of recognizing the equality of all men and of avoiding any unjust discrimination based on their development or health." The president's support of embryonic stem cell research comes at a time when advances have been made with other sorts of stem cells that may soon overshadow embryonic stem cell research. The Japanese biologist Shinya Yamanaka found in 2007 that adult cells could be reprogrammed to an embryonic state with surprising ease. This technology "may eventually eclipse the embryonic stem cell lines for therapeutic as well as diagnostic applications," a commentator said. For researchers, reprogramming an adult cell can be much more convenient, and there have never been any restrictions on working with adult stem cells. Source: Articles by Nicholas Wade for the New York Times and the Associated Press

barack obama federal funding embryonic stem cells research us catholic bishops' conference l'osservatore romano shinya yamanaka
Speech at Notre Dame provokes scrimmage

27 Dec 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

During the January 1 Mass of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the gospel reading from Luke tells us that when the newborn savior was eight days old, "he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb." Debate over matters related to the womb, particularly the issue of abortion, was the key flash point in a big story for the Catholic Church as well as the general media this past year: the University of Notre Dame's decision to honor President Obama with an honorary law degree and invitation to deliver a commencement address. Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, faced criticism for inviting the president. Some 70 U.S. bishops and others said Obama's support of legal abortion and embryonic stem-cell research made him an inappropriate choice to be commencement speaker at a Catholic university. Critics called for the invitation to be rescinded and some said Jenkins should resign or be fired. But he and other university officials stood firm, saying Notre Dame was not condoning Obama's stand on abortion or embryonic stem-cell research by inviting him but rather engaging in the kind of dialogue needed to move beyond differences. The controversy hit the airwaves and the blogsphere as some commentators accused Notre Dame of forsaking its Catholic identity while others accused bishops and others who opposed Obama's appearance on campus of participating in partisan politics at the expense of the free exchange of ideas on Catholic campuses. Obama delivered the May 17 commencement address, in which he discussed Catholic social teachings and called for dialogue and mutual respect for differences of opinions on complex moral and political issues. Later in the year Jenkins was elected to a second five-year term by the university's board of trustees.

barack obama embryonic stem cells university of notre dame abortion stem cell research john i jenkins
Ruling on embryonic cell research highlights differences of opinion

29 Aug 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading this Sunday from the Book of Sirach advises us on how to conduct ourselves in order to find favor with God. On the question of how to conduct stem cell research, a federal judge and the Obama administration differ sharply. Guidelines issued by the administration last year to expand the scope of stem cell research did not find favor with U.S. federal district judge Royce C. Lamberth, who struck them down Monday. Lamberth blocked President Obama’s 2009 executive order that expanded embryonic stem cell research, ruling all embryonic stem cell research by nature requires the destruction of embryos and therefore violates a Congressional ban on federal funding of such research. Administraiton officials are considering an appeal. Monday’s ruling involved a lawsuit against the National Health Institute filed by researchers opposed to the use of embryonic stem cells; a group that seeks adoptive parents for human embryos created through in-vitro fertilization; the non-profit Christian Medical Association; and other groups. From the other side, Dr. Irving L. Weissman, director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, said the ruling was “devastating to the hopes of researchers and patients who have been waiting so long for the promise of stem cell therapies.” Weissman said he hoped that the judge’s ruling would be overturned. In the gospel this Sunday, Jesus encourages us to embrace and serve those who suffer; we are instructed to invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” to our banquets. Some scientists believe embryonic stem cells could help treat many otherwise incurable diseases and disabilities because of their potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. But the field of embryonic stem cells has been highly controversial because the research process involves destroying the embryo, typically four or five days old, after removing stem cells. For those who believe that life begins at conception, as the Catholic Church teaches, such a procedure amounts to the taking of human life. As with many of the day’s most difficult moral and ethical questions, embryonic stem cell research brings into conflict two important values—protecting innocent life on the one hand, while on the other, doing all we can to alleviate the suffering of those around us. Source: Articles by Shelby Lin Erdman for CNN and Gardiner Harris for the New York Times

embryonic stem cells stem cell research obama administration irving l weissman royce c lamberth