Ethics, Religion and Stem Cells

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
14 Aug 2009

Two of Sydney's leading clerics and scholars, Bishop Anthony Fisher, the Sydney Archdiocese's Episcopal Bishop for Life and Health and the Great Synagogue's Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence tackled the controversial topic of stem cell research in an interfaith debate on Thursday, August 13.

Held at the Great Synagogue and attended by interested business, community and religious leaders, Bishop Anthony and Rabbi Lawrence presented different viewpoints on when life actually begins and discussed the influence religion plays in evaluating the fast moving science of genetics and biotechnology.
"The debate was a fascinating foray into ethics and genetics and their impact on Judaism and on Christianity," said William Szekely, President of the NSW Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) which organised the event as one of the Council's many ongoing interfaith initiatives.

The Bishop and Rabbi discussed the differing viewpoints of their specific religions to the use of embryonic stem cells in current research but both agreed on the use of adult stem cell research. 

The diversion of attitudes to the use of embryos by the Jewish faith and the Catholic Church centres around what constitutes life and when does it actually begin. For the Catholic Church, life begins at the moment of conception. For this reason the Church is a staunch opponent of the use of embryonic stem cells in any research as harvesting of these cells involves the destruction of human embryos.

In Judaism, however, life is believed to begin at a later point. Conservative Judaism teaches that life begins 40 days after conception and that although the embryo is alive before this point, it is not a person. Even after 40 days, the foetus does not have full rights until birth. The issue is complex and while Orthodox and Conservative Judaism differ slightly on the moral status of embryos, they both support embryonic stem cell research. Although other religions place prime importance on the moral status of the embryo, in Judaism the main focus is to save a life and for this reason embryos can be used research that may result in life saving treatments.

Jewish tradition regards preservation of life and promoting health as the most precious of values and supports current research using embryonic stem cells particularly of those taken from the placenta after birth or harvested from three to five day old unfertilised embryos created in vitro, which under Jewish law have no moral status.

In contrast, the Catholic Church deplores the use of stem cells harvested from embryos and instead promotes and encourages biotechnology and genetic research using adult stem cells which can be harvested without harming the adult, and which according to the Church's teachings, respect the dignity of human life from the moment of conception.

To encourage more research using adult stem cells, the Archdiocese of Sydney has made four grants of $100,000 available over the past six years to teams of scientists who may provide treatment breakthroughs in such diverse fields as Parkinson's Disease, skin regeneration after catastrophic burns and regeneration of the brain after after a stroke.

"The debate was lively and enlightening," said Mr Szekely, adding that although some of the views on stem cell research differed between the two religions, in many areas the stand taken by both were identical.

"Dare to imagine a world where the dignity of every human being is respected," said Sr Giovanni Farquer, Executive Director of the Archdiocese of Sydney's Commission for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations.

Discovering our commonality was one of keys to any interfaith dialogue, she said, along with educating one another about our faith and our beliefs.
Mr Szekely agreed. "Education and debates like this are a great way to dispel misconceptions and myths," he said.

The next big event on the CCJ calendar is for August 26 when world-renowned Dr. Deborah Weissman addresses the council at a special morning tea and lunch to be held at the Wesley Centre in Sydney. A scholar and native of the USA, Dr Weissman has lived in Jerusalem since 1972. An internationally-recognised religious peace and feminist activist, she is currently co-chair of Israel's Inter-religious Coordinating Council and will be accompanied on her visit to Australia by an Israeli Christian and Israeli Muslim.

To find out more about the Stem cell debate and the visit by Dr Deborah Weissman, log on to  www.ccjaustralia.org