Stem cells controversy

Maltese Bishops Condemn EU Ruling on Stem Cells, reports The Universe newspaper in Manchester, UK:

The Bishops of Malta and Gozo have expressed their dismay at the decision of the European Parliament in promoting "the instrumentalisation and destruction of human embryos." The European Parliament approved the first reading of the Seventh Research Framework Programme and called for EU funding of research with human embryos and human embryonic stem cells. The Maltese bishops joined the members of the Commission of the Bishops Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) in this protest.

"Together with the COMECE bishops we are supportive of an effective EU research policy in the service of the common good. However, we are concerned that the European Parliament expressed itself in favour of research on human embryos and human embryonic stem cells when in various member states of the EU, among them Malta, this type of research is not acceptable for ethical and moral reasons that touch on the protection of life and human dignity," the bishops said...

"With such a decision, the Union would interfere with delicate decisions which are exclusively the competence of each member state and, therefore, would also be against the principle of subsidiarity." Archbishop Joseph Mercieca, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech, the former Bishop of Gozo Nikol Cauchi and Auxiliary Bishopof Malta Annetto Depasquale said that in no case can the Church agree with the funding of research on human embryos and human embryonic cells. The Church holds not only that such funding should not be allowed, but also that it is totally excluded, they insisted.