I first saw this when a Northern Kentucky Catholic high school encouraged donations to the Pope John Paul II Medical Research Institute instead of the ALS Association when doing the now popular ice bucket challenge.

 

Me, personally, I think it is embarrassing for the Catholic Church and one of the many reasons why people like me choose to be no longer associated with it.

 

Cincinnati Archdiocese freezes Catholic school donations to ice bucket challenge charity - The Washington Post

Why is it embarrassing for them to try to encourage Catholics to give money to a medical research institute that guarantees that their ALS research will not utilize materials obtained through abortion instead of giving to an ALS research organization that does use them?

Why is it embarrassing for them to try to encourage Catholics to give money to a medical research institute that guarantees that their ALS research will not utilize materials obtained through abortion instead of giving to an ALS research organization that does use them?

 

There is no ALS research group that I'm aware of that doesn't use stem cell research. Mainly because that is where most progress has been made in using stem cells. Same with Parkinsons and many other diseases.

There is no ALS research group that I'm aware of that doesn't use stem cell research. Mainly because that is where most progress has been made in using stem cells. Same with Parkinsons and many other diseases.

 

The Pope John Paul II Medical Research Institute does.

Wouldn't be the first time I didn't do what the Diocese tells me to do...

The Pope John Paul II Medical Research Institute does.

 

I didn't know they were doing research in ALS. Great to hear.

Here's their Website Colonel:

 

The John Paul II Medical Research Institute - Research Overview

 

Don't know how well their research is going but I thought I'd give them a plug since you mentioned them.

Why is it embarrassing for them to try to encourage Catholics to give money to a medical research institute that guarantees that their ALS research will not utilize materials obtained through abortion instead of giving to an ALS research organization that does use them?

 

I can understand why they're doing it. To me the Church's defiant stance against instituions and movements because of the round-about way it might support abortion disturbs me. In high school I was told not to donate to the Susan G Komen Foundation and not eat at Dairy Queen or buy Nike shoes.

For what it's worth...the Catholic Church is not against stem cell research. The Catholic Church is against embryonic stem cell research - at least all of it that involves stem cells harvested from aborted babies. There ARE stem cells that can be harvested from adults and from umbilical cord tissue that are perfectly acceptable for genetic research. Additionally, researchers have now learned how to re-program certain adult stem cells so they will act in virtually the same exact way as embryonic stem cells do.

Here's their Website Colonel:

 

The John Paul II Medical Research Institute - Research Overview

 

Don't know how well their research is going but I thought I'd give them a plug since you mentioned them.

 

The only reason I know about it is because of a discussion between my mom, who is an extraordinarily conservative Catholic who also suffers from Parkinson's disease, and my wife, who has done genetic research for roundabout a decade.

 

I will say this: to the best of my knowledge, the JPII Institute does all of its research without the use of stem cells of any kind, even though science has proven the value in using stem cells. I would love to see them start using stem cells obtained through channels that are morally acceptable to the church.

In high school I was told not to donate to the Susan G Komen Foundation and not eat at Dairy Queen or buy Nike shoes.

 

I've never heard anything about the Catholic Church being morally at odds with Dairy Queen or Nike, Inc., so I can speak to those two. However, it's no secret whatsoever that the Susan G. Komen Foundation supports and gives funding to Planned Parenthood and various other women's health providers that offer abortions. It seems perfectly reasonable to me for the church to tell folks not to donate their money to SGK when there are literally dozens of other breast cancer research groups that aren't siphoning money towards providing abortions.

To me the Church's defiant stance against instituions and movements because of the round-about way it might support abortion disturbs me.

 

Why? How is this any different from people's stance against Chik Fillet due to its view on gay marriage? How is it different people who won't use certain cosmetics due to animal testing? How is it any different than people who wouldn't buy Star-Kist Tuna back when their nets will killing dolphins? If someone is against abortion I think it would make sense that they would also be against EMBRYONIC stem cell research on those organizations which participate in it. As far as adult stem cells that can be "re-programmed" or those from the umbilical cord, go for it.

I will say this: to the best of my knowledge, the JPII Institute does all of its research without the use of stem cells of any kind, even though science has proven the value in using stem cells. I would love to see them start using stem cells obtained through channels that are morally acceptable to the church.

 

I believe they may now use adult and umbilical cord stem cells. At least I think they do.

There is no ALS research group that I'm aware of that doesn't use stem cell research. Mainly because that is where most progress has been made in using stem cells. Same with Parkinsons and many other diseases.

TeamGleason.org

I'm not sure why anybody would be surprised...

 

From ALSA.org:

“Adult stem cell research is important and should be done alongside embryonic stem cell research as both will provide valuable insights. Only through exploration of all types of stem cell research will scientists find the most efficient and effective ways to treat diseases.”

 

The Catholic Church says...

 

From usccb.org:

"Sometimes it is wrongly said that the Catholic Church opposes stem cell research. In fact, the Church supports ethically responsible stem cell research, while opposing any research that exploits or destroys human embryos.

 

Because the Church opposes deliberately destroying innocent human life at any stage, for research or any other purpose, it opposes embryonic stem cell research as currently conducted. However, when scientists proposed avenues for possibly obtaining embryonic stem cells or their pluripotent equivalent without creating or harming embryos, Catholic leaders were among the first to welcome this idea."

 

So you can now see, the Catholic Church is in no way shape or form against finding a cure for ALS. They are against taking away the lives of innocent human beings... As mentioned above there are dozens of acceptable charities, but ALS.org is not in compliance with Catholic (really all, not just Christian, but that's a debate for another time) morality.