Vatican Watch: "Ethical" embryo stem cells still horrify Vatican

"Ethical" embryo stem cells still horrify Vatican: "'The use of embryonic cells will only become non-controversial when it is accepted that the early embryo is of little or no moral significance,' Harris said."

Universe without Beginning

According to a new theory advanced by Stephen Hawking and Thomas Hertog, the universe had no beginning in the way we usually think of it:

How did the Universe begin? Many scientists would regard this as one of the most profound questions of all. But to Stephen Hawking, who has perhaps come closer than anyone to answering it, the question doesn't in fact even exist. [link]

This made me think of another story that popped up a few months ago:

World-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God. [link]

Although there's no particular reason why it should (in my ever so humble opinion), but I wonder if Hawking and Hertog's new theory will provoke controversy from Christians. The idea that the universe has a beginning and an end is pretty fundamental to the Christian cosmology. I can see why some might see this theory as denying this claim. Looking at the article in Nature, it looks like there is still a beginning to the universe of sorts, it's simply a much stranger beginning than we might have previously imagined. I'll be interested to see how much traction this theory gets in the near future.


John Paul II is known to have had a very conservative attitude to scientific inquiry. He once suggested that looking for extraterrestrial intelligence was a waste of resources that could have been used to address world poverty. This opinion isn't universal among Catholics or christians, naturally. My favorite Vatican astronomer says in his booklet on intelligent life in the universe

I have a hunch that, sooner or later, the human race will discover that there are other intelligent creatures out there in the universe.

Faithful should listen to science

Pet peeve of the day - being asked why Catholics don't believe in evolution. It's a fact that the Catholic Church has maintained that there's no contradiction between evolution and faith from the beginning. This article from the Seattle PI underlines that fact.

A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into 'fundamentalism' if it ignores scientific reason.

You know, i was going to try to review one book a week, but given this link, I'm going to jump ahead and review Brother Astronomer by Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Vatican Astronomer. Brother Astronomer is one astronomer's account of the challenges of life, science, and tromping around frozen Antarctic lake beds looking for pieces of Mars. By the by he talks about faith, science, Galileo, the Vatican, and rocks from space. It's a good read for Catholics interested in science and for science fans who want to get a glimpse into a religious perspective on science.

He's also got an upcoming book (I am told) about the search for intelligent life and what that might mean for faith and organized religion in general.

Best of all, The Seattle Public Library has a copy available.

Pope John Paul II Dies

The Pope in this blog:

Pope Expands Mysteries of the Rosary

"Pope John Paul II has added five new prayers to the Roman Catholic Church's centuries-old Rosary prayer cycle."

Peace Portess in Seattle

"The pope has spoken out against this war. . . . Why not business leaders?"

Pope Dispatches Envoy to Iraq

"Pope John Paul II will dispatch a special envoy to Iraq to emphasize his plea for peace and to encourage Iraqi authorities to cooperate with the United Nations, the Vatican announced Sunday."

Pope Marks 24th Anniversary

"Pope John Paul will mark his 24th anniversary as pontiff Wednesday by changing the rosary -- the most universal and commonly known Catholic method of praying -- for the first time in nine centuries. "

Pope says Iraq War Should be Last Resort

"'War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity,' the pope told Vatican-based diplomats in his annual speech on issues of concern to the Roman Catholic Church."

Conservative Catholics Debate Loyalties

"On the prospects of war with Iraq, almost all of them find themselves in a bind: as conservative Catholics, they follow the pope, but as conservative Americans, they support the president. They, like many other religious Americans, are more deeply indecisive and ambivalent than their religious leaders appear to be."

Pope Visits Kazakistan

"Conflicts must be resolved not by force but by peaceful negotiation and dialogue"

Pope and President Talk about Stem Cell Resarch

"Pope John Paul II urged President Bush in their first meeting together to bar creation of human embryos for medical research, saying Monday that America has a moral responsibility to reject actions that 'devalue and violate human life.'"

UFO Cultists Want to Help Sue Pope

"A Group of UFO enthusiasts who support human cloning and
eugenics has offered to pay the travel and legal costs of
Aborigines who might like to go to Belgium to sue the Pope."

Pope Urges Blair to Avoid War

"Mr Blair is keen to be seen showing that he's going the extra mile, talking to the Pope who is, no question about it, the world's most revered public figure with an anti-war stance."

Priest Petitions for Patron Saint of Magic

"Don Silvio Mantelli, a Salesian priest from Turin, presented a magic wand to the Pope earlier this year and asked for the title to be given to a 19th Century Italian priest - Saint Giovanni Bosco."

Authentic Search for Peace

"Before praying the Angelus with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul, speaking from his study window which overlooks the square, invited Catholics to fast on December 14 in solidarity with those 'suffering the consequences of terrorism and war.' He also invited the leaders of the world's religions to come to Assisi on January 24, 2002 to pray for 'the promotion of an authentic peace.'"

Wired Interview with Pope's Astrophysicist

"But what if we discover other intelligent beings? When NASA scientists announced they had evidence of life on Mars, commentators indulged in an orgy of speculation about the downfall of Christianity should E.T. ever pay us a call. Coyne is amused when I raise the subject. He points out that Catholic theologians considered this question as long ago as the 13th century and unanimously concluded that life in "other worlds" would cause no theological crisis. Since God was a god of plenitude, the great medieval thinkers believed, if other worlds existed they ought to be inhabited. "

Pope in Ukraine

"Do not go from the slavery of the communist regime to the slavery of consumerism."

Worried Pope Prays for Peace

"More than 100 religious leaders are travelling to Assisi. Between them, they represent all the world's major faiths."

President Bush Visits Rome

"Pope John Paul and anti-war protesters delivered a common message to President Bush when he visited Rome on Friday -- return Iraq to Iraqis. "

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Jewish leaders, Vatican meet on "Passion": "A Jewish leader met with Vatican officials this week to ask them to restate church teachings on the Crucifixion, saying Mel Gibson's new film contradicts the church's position that the Jews as a people were not responsible for Jesus' death. "

Little to report here except that the article does get it right that the Catholic Church officially recognizes that the Jewish people are not to blame for Christ's death and denounces all anti-semitism. On the other hand, they still fail to realize that Mel Gibson is not a Catholic.

2 Jewish Leaders Upset After Viewing 'Passion': "Mr. Foxman said that in one scene in the version he watched, the Jewish high priest Caiaphas calls down a kind of curse on the Jewish people by declaring, of the Crucifixion: "His blood be on us, and on our children." In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 27, Verse 25, the only place in the Bible in which that statement appears, it is said to come from a crowd of Jews shouting for Jesus's death. The message of that passage, that the Jewish people were guilty of deicide, was repudiated by the Second Vatican Council. Mr. Gibson practices a traditionalist form of Roman Catholicism that does not recognize the changes of Vatican II."

Link thanks to Orkgrrrl.

Vatican Journal: Mystery Drama, With the Pope Cast as a Movie Critic

LInk thanks to Orkgrrrl

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: "Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the German head of the Vatican body which oversees doctrinal matters, was quoted on Tuesday as saying Pope John Paul was in poor health and the faithful should pray for him."

Salon.com News | Papal envoy to visit Iraq

"Pope John Paul II will dispatch a special envoy to Iraq to emphasize his plea for peace and to encourage Iraqi authorities to cooperate with the United Nations, the Vatican announced Sunday."

Salon.com Books | Vatican gives two thumbs up to Harry Potter

"The Vatican is giving two thumbs up to the Harry Potter series.
The good vs. evil plot lines of the best-selling books are imbued with Christian morals, the Rev. Don Peter Fleetwood told a Vatican news conference Monday."

Salon.com News | Pope: War in Iraq should be last resort

"'War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity,' the pope told Vatican-based diplomats in his annual speech on issues of concern to the Roman Catholic Church."

Does the Vatican have a Time Machine?

Link courtesy of Philos.

Salon.com News | Pope summons American cardinals to Vatican

Vatican Astronomer - 'It's Madness To Believe Man Is Alone'

"Jesuit George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory, is convinced of the existence of extraterrestrial life and states that it is "madness" to think than humans are alone in the universe."

As a caution, this isn't the Vatican's official stance in any way. In fact, John Paul II has stated that searching for extraterrestrial life is a waste of reosources that could be spent solving the social problems of the peoples of the earth. Now if we could only find a way to harnass all those SETI hours to solve world hunger.

VATICAN RADIO - December 14, 2001

"Before praying the Angelus with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul, speaking from his study window which overlooks the square, invited Catholics to fast on December 14 in solidarity with those 'suffering the consequences of terrorism and war.' He also invited the leaders of the world's religions to come to Assisi on January 24, 2002 to pray for 'the promotion of an authentic peace.'"

Not sure how to fast? Try these links:
Ramadan rules and regulations
Orthodox Church fasting rules
Catholic fasting definition

Cloning Update

Salon.com Life | Vatican condemns cloning of embryo

"Reacting to the news that the scientists had cloned a six-cell embryo, the Vatican said that the event 'moves us to restate with force that the beginning of human life cannot be fixed by convention at a certain stage of embryonic development; it takes place, in reality, already at the first instant of the embryo itself.'"

The lines are being drawn.

Soylent Green is made of people!

"Our intention is not to create cloned human beings but rather to make lifesaving therapies for a wide range of human disease conditions, including diabetes, strokes, cancer, Aids, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease."

The researchers claim that they 'don't intend' to create human clones. As far as I can tell, this is exactly what they've done. They've figured out how to make a human, though they do intend to destroy the embryo before it begins to resemble an adult human. The technology being discussed here is far more morally ambiguous than the researchers are willing to admit, and this article doesn't challenge them on it at all. We are now technologically one step closer to creating humans as part of an industrial process.

More information: BBC News Stem Cell Q&A

Vatican funding research into ethical alternatives

President Bush's comments on stem cell research

Update: The Salon story has more details

"The Roman Catholic Church is giving its support to a new research centre, which it believes could provide an alternative to the use of human embryos for medical research".

This might fall into the weird category for some people, but for me, it falls into the interesting. I'm interested that the Vatican, which has had a lot to say about ethics in science and reproductive issues, is putting its money where its mouth is, so to speak.

--CNN online