Pope Says Cloning Latest Assault on Human Life

VATICAN, Nov 28, 01 (CWNews.com) - During his weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, Pope John Paul referred to the announcement of the cloning of human embryos by evoking the "scientific and systematic threats against life."

Addressing himself to the young medical students among the approximately 6,000 faithful present, John Paul said he "appreciated their professional engagement" and encouraged them "to defend life and the dignity of the person without compromise, acting with respect to the moral law." He added, "True humanism can never admit methods and experiments which constitute scientific and systematic threats against life."

The Pope then recalled a gas explosion in a building in a neighborhood of Rome on Tuesday, which killed six people, including three firemen, and wounded many others. "In this moment of pain, I am especially close to all those have been struck by this tragic event." The Pope then had a "special thought for the firemen who died while generously fulfilling their duty."

Finally, John Paul continued his weekly catechesis on the Psalms, addressing Psalm 116 which "testifies that the good, which flourishes so much here, can be directed and offered to the only Lord and Creator, gathering in the same act of praise, in a true 'ecumenism' of prayer, all the diverse peoples."

Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
28. november 2001