c. 2005 Religion News Service
New Approach to Stem Cell Research Could End Some Ethical Concerns
(RNS) Two new research techniques unveiled in a prestigious scientific journal Monday (Oct. 17) are stirring hopes that embryonic stem cell research might be doable in a way that avoids sticky ethical and religious objections.
Teams from Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge reported their experiments online in the journal “Nature.” At stake: billions in federal funding for regenerative therapies if researchers can ultimately convince elected officials that embryonic stem cell research can be performed in an ethical manner.
Working independently, the two teams said they have obtained embryonic stem cells from mice without destroying any embryos to get them. The MIT method keeps an embryo intact but renders it unable to grow inside a uterus. The Advanced Cell method goes one step further by delicately removing one cell from an eight-celled embryo while allowing the remainder to grow to term inside a female mouse.
Critics of embryonic stem cell research have to date built their opposition primarily on the grounds that it unethically destroys one life _ an embryo’s _ in order to get the cells that could save another life, one which may be suffering from Parkinson’s or other degenerative diseases. But the Monday announcement is triggering a new message from certain critics.
“I am very encouraged,” said Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a high-profile critic of embryonic stem cell research, in comments to the Boston Globe. He is director of education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. “We may be able to work around this with some creativity and good will.”
Not everyone, however, was so enthusiastic.
Richard Doerflinger, an influential bioethics analyst for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, denounced the method used by Advanced Cell as an inherently dangerous one with potential long-term consequences for an embryo that is brought to term.
The technique “is done chiefly to select out genetically imperfect embryos for discarding, and poses unknown risks of future harm even to the child allowed to be born,” Doerflinger told The New York Times.
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Pope Says He Wants to Visit Poland Next June
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Marking the 27th anniversary of John Paul II’s papacy, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his desire to visit Poland next year and also cast his own papacy as a buttress to his predecessor’s teachings.
“My personal mission is not to issue many new documents, but to ensure that (John Paul’s) documents are assimilated, because they are a rich treasure, the authentic interpretation of Vatican II,” Benedict said in the first ever TV interview with a pope broadcast Sunday (Oct. 16) on Polish television.
During his 26 years as pope, John Paul wrote 14 encyclicals and several other pastoral letters that effectively restrained the push for liberalization within the church that took place during the 1960’s reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
As John Paul’s chief arbiter of doctrine, the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger played an influential role in shaping the late pope’s policies.
John Paul “is always close to me through his writings,” Benedict added. “I hear him and I see him speaking, so I can keep up a continuous dialogue with him. He is always speaking to me through his writings.”
Benedict credited John Paul for renewing a desire for moral values among young people and praised his contributions to fighting Communism in Eastern Europe.
A native of Poland, John Paul became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years when he was selected in 1978. During the interview, Benedict confirmed his desire to visit Poland next year.
“It’s early yet, but perhaps next June, God willing, I could come to Poland,” he said.
The interview was taped at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence, in late September as Benedict was finishing out his official vacation.
_ Stacy Meichtry MacDonald
Muslim-American Charities Aim to Raise $20 Million for Earthquake Relief
(RNS) Seventeen Muslim-American organizations have pledged to raise $20 million for earthquake relief in Pakistan and India.
“American Muslims have been very generous, especially during this Ramadan, the month of mercy,” said Mohamed Abul-Majd, general manager of Islamic Relief USA, the largest Muslim international aid agency operating in the US.
He made the announcement at a Thursday (Oct. 13) news conference where heads of Islamic charities also called on the Bush administration to recognize their work.
As of Friday (Oct. 14), Islamic Relief USA had $1 million in donations in hand, according to a spokeswoman. By the same day, the American Red Cross had received pledges and donations of $1.5 million.
In a letter to President Bush, the Muslim leaders called on the administration to form an ad-hoc committee on earthquake relief and include Muslim American charities in the effort.
“Muslim humanitarian organizations know where the relief is needed the most and how it can be delivered in the most effective way,” said the letter.
After several Muslim-American charities were shut down on terrorism-related charges after Sept. 11, a cloud of suspicion has unfairly shrouded the work of legitimate aid agencies, said Ahmed Younis, national director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
“This is an opportunity for the administration to underscore the important work of such charities, both in providing needed relief services and in serving a public diplomacy role,” Younis said.
Muslim groups at the press conference also announced the establishment of a permanent American Muslim Task Force for Disaster Relief, which would absorb the temporary Muslim Hurricane Relief Task Force that was created in response to hurricane Katrina.
“We need to form a body where relief agencies can share information and coordinate activities,” said Naeem Baig, national spokesman for ICNA Relief, noting that his organization had an ongoing presence in South Asia, while other relief agencies specialized in the Middle East.
_ Andrea Useem
Editors: empty tomb is lowercase in accordance with organization’s spelling.
Report Shows Protestant Giving to Overseas Missions on the Decline
(RNS) Giving to overseas missions by Protestants has dropped significantly over the last 80 years, according to a new report by empty tomb, a Christian research organization.
A survey of 28 Protestant denominations found that for each dollar donated to a congregation, denominations spent two cents on overseas missions in 2003, a decrease from seven cents in the 1920s.
The survey, conducted by Champaign, Ill.-based researchers Sylvia and John Ronsvalle, measured total contributions to denomination-related congregations from individual members. It also determined how much of those contributions congregations determine will be used for congregational finances and benevolences, which include overseas missions and other causes outside the congregation.
“The prayer before the congregational offering will often refer to the importance of giving in order to share the good news throughout the world,” she said. “On a practical level, less than two cents of the dollars is going to be directed to that.”
Total contributions to congregations decreased from 3.11 percent of members’ income in 1968 to 2.59 percent in 2003, a decline of 17 percent.
The amount designated for congregational finances dropped from 2.45 percent in 1968 to 2.21 percent in 2003, a decline of 10 percent.
The amount earmarked for benevolences decreased from 0.66 percent in 1968 to 0.38 percent in 2003, a drop of 42 percent.
The authors found that denominations that grew in membership had a higher level of overseas missions support, while those that decreased had a lower level of missions giving.
The 14 that had membership growth gave almost three cents on the dollar to overseas missions, while the 14 with membership declines gave less than one cents on the dollar.
“Perhaps the key is that a sense of larger purpose, consistent with professed beliefs, is attractive to people,” the Ronsvalles observed in a statement.
The emphasis on overseas missions is a new aspect of empty tomb’s research.
“Previously, people have just sort of assumed overseas missions was the priority of congregations and denominations,” Sylvia Ronsvalle said. “These numbers suggest that’s not that case.”
The results of the report are featured in a new book, “The State of Church Giving through 2003,” which was released on Oct. 14. The book, released each fall, is in its 15th edition.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Ohio Pastor Launches Effort for Converts and `Values Voters’
COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS) The Rev. Rod Parsley of Columbus, Ohio, has launched Reformation Ohio, which he describes as “the largest evangelical campaign ever attempted in any state in America.”
With music blaring, a Jumbotron in the background and a World Harvest Church camera crew filming panoramic shots from the top of the Hyatt Hotel, Parsley announced his campaign Friday (Oct. 14) from the steps of the state Capitol before a crowd of about 2,000. He said that the next four years would see Reformation Ohio convert 100,000 Ohioans to Christianity, register 400,000 “values voters” and guide the state through “a culture-shaking revolutionary revival.”
“We are not here to influence a political agenda,” Parsley said, repeating his assertion that he does not support any political candidate. “We are here to declare an agenda of our own.”
That agenda includes banning abortion and gay marriages and reversing what Parsley calls “the suppression of churches by the state.”
Several Republican luminaries spoke at the kick-off, including Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a GOP candidate for governor in 2006, and Rep. Linda Reidelbach of Columbus, a member of Reformation Ohio’s board and one of Blackwell’s top choices as a potential running mate.
Parsley and his mother, Ellen, donated the maximum $2,500 each to Blackwell’s campaign earlier this year.
_ Ted Wendling
Quote of the Day: American Baptist Churches General Secretary A. Roy Medley
(RNS) “ABC is not collapsing. Our mission focus and call are clear. We intend to focus on them like a laser beam.”
_ The Rev. A. Roy Medley, general secretary of the American Baptist Churches USA, speaking about his denomination’s recent challenges, including divisions over homosexuality and a recent decision to close its communications department. He was quoted by Associated Baptist Press.
MO/JL END RNS
