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Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / The Church and Stem Cells

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Jean Peduzzi-Nelson, Ph.D., a professor and researcher at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, is among the experts who are a part of "The Science of Stem Cells: Finding Cures and Protecting Life" DVD.

Detroit — To clear up confusion about the stem-cell research issue, every registered Catholic home in Michigan will soon be receiving a DVD and other information in the mail.

The digital video disc, along with a letter signed jointly by Michigan diocesan bishops and a brochure are set to be mailed out to 504,000 Catholic homes in the state on or about Oct. 1.

"Stem-cell research has moved to the forefront of human life issues in Michigan and throughout the nation," said Dave Maluchnik, public policy associate at the Lansing-based Michigan Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of all seven Michigan dioceses.

"Michigan diocesan bishops, as teachers of the faith, have launched an unprecedented education program to teach the Catholic faithful about the relationship between stem-cell research and the Catholic teaching on human life," Maluchnik said.

The 12-minute video and the accompanying brochure are both titled "The Science of Stem Cells: Finding Cures and Protecting Life." 
 watch the video

The bishops' letter addresses the difference between adult and embryonic stem-cell research, and communicates the message that the Church supports finding cures while protecting human life through the advancements made with adult stem-cell research.

Maluchnik said the DVD and written items concentrate on three central messages:

• There are two different types of stem cell research — adult and embryonic.

• Adult stem-cell research is ethical, because it does not harm the human embryo, and is proven — as more than 70 different medical conditions are being treated with adult stem cells — whereas embryonic stem-cell research is unproven as no cures or treatments have been identified. Also, embryonic stem-cell research is immoral as it leads to human cloning and necessitates the destruction of the human embryo to extract its stem cells — a profound violation of human life.

• The Catholic Church supports adult stem cell research and encourages the faithful to do likewise.

FYI The Catholic Church: • Supports stem-cell research and therapy utilizing stem cells harvested from adults and umbilical-cord blood. • Opposes embryonic-stem cell research because the human embryo is destroyed to harvest the stem cells.

Those were also the messages conveyed in mailings that went out from the diocesan bishops to all parishes in each of the seven Michigan dioceses. The parishes also received the DVD, along with a question-and-answer document to brief parish staff on the issue, suggested bulletin announcements, a letter from Mercy Sr. Monica Kostielney, MCC president and CEO, and a copy of the MCC's Focus publication for October 2007 on the issue.

Sr. Kostielney urged parishes to distribute FOCUS within the parish setting and to dedicate Respect Life Sunday to the issue of stem-cell research. In addition, each diocesan bishop on Sept. 4 sent to his priests a letter encouraging parish participation on Respect Life Sunday.

The MCC Focus will also be distributed as an insert with the Oct. 5 issue of The Michigan Catholic.

"It is of the belief of the state's bishops that the secular news media has greatly distorted the issue of stem cell research and, in doing so, improperly conveyed the Church's position. Therefore, the bishops decided it was imperative to bring the truth of the Church's teaching on human life as it relates to stem-cell research directly to the faithful," Maluchnik said.

While embryonic stem-cell research has received considerable publicity and the endorsement of some high-profile celebrities, it is adult stem cell research that has so far yielded the best results.

Maluchnik pointed out that adult stem-cell research is currently treating more than 70 medical conditions in human patients, including several types of cancer, Parkinson's disease, sickle-cell anemia, Type I diabetes, lymphoma, and many others (a full list can be found at www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm).

On the other hand, he continued, "It is not a forgone conclusion that embryonic stem cells will produce treatments, or even cures, in human patients."

While embryonic stem-cell research requires the destruction of the human embryo — a clear violation of its right to life for anyone with an understanding of Church teaching — adult stem cells are located throughout the human body.

Adult stem cells can be found in places such as fat tissue, dental pulp, the amniotic fluid that surrounds unborn babies, bone marrow and umbilical cord blood.

Maluchnik noted that both bone marrow and cord blood can be donated and stored in order to help others who are suffering from severely debilitating diseases. Information about how to donate bone marrow is located at www.marrow.org. Information on how to donate and store cord blood is located at www.miblood.org.

Recognizing that not everybody is able to donate either cord blood or bone marrow, the Church in Michigan is encouraging the faithful to support adult stem-cell research while opposing embryonic stem-cell research in an effort to heal the sick while protecting human life, he continued.

"It would also be helpful for the lay Catholic to urge his/her legislator to oppose embryo destruction and human cloning should the issue come before the Michigan Legislature," Maluchnik added.