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Vatican Bishop: Humanity Heading for “Self-Genocide”

Written by

Veronica Diego

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Bishop Elio Sgreccia, named in 2005 by Pope John Paul II as the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, has told a group of journalists that the world is "marching toward a self-genocide of the human race" with the irresponsible use of biotechnologies and the widespread acceptance of the culture of death.

Calling them nothing more than a "craving for power," these technological innovations, he said, aim "to change the order of the human species" and to create "men in the image and likeness of other men who have power."

Bishop Sgreccia blamed the "weakness of the Christian community and the strength of secular society" for the advance of the culture of death. Secular society, he said, "now defends the selecting of children so that each one is perfect, without defect, and the eliminating of those that do not fulfill these conditions."

Sgreccia said the biotechnological "quest for omnipotence …aims to transform the very structure of human nature and in this way liberate it from all cultural precedent."

The bishop, who has authored volumes of authoritative texts on bioethics and has been the Vatican's resident bioethics expert, spoke to local reporters at a meeting at the University of Saint Paul.

The biotechnology alarm is beginning to sound throughout the Catholic world. Earlier this month Sgreccia gave the keynote address at a bioethics conference organized in Mandaluyong City by the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines where he warned against the trend of couples seeking "perfect" children and eliminating the imperfect by prenatal diagnosis.

At the January 9-10 conference, bishops and clergy were warned to beware of "death laws" that are encroaching on nations the world over. These include, said Conference chairman Bishop Angel Lagdameo, "euthanasia, divorce, abortion, total depopulation and the homosexual agenda."

In early January North American doctors recommended policy changes to make genetic screening for Down's syndrome mandatory for all pregnant women.

Comments

  1. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    I know I'm a little tardy in responding, but did anyone besides me notice in Bishop Sgreccia's language a certain analogy to the Tower of Babel?  Terms like "craving for power" and "quest for omnipotence" sounded an alarm I hadn't heard before.  Thank you to Bishop Sgreccia and LifeSiteNews for raising a newer, "redder" flag.

  2. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Creepy.

    Just today we attended the birthday party of a child with Down's Syndrome.  The children completely accept her as she is.  I think Down's Syndrome children show a very high degree of love and joy in their relationships and every day activities which many of us "normal people" mask from an early age. 

    It is scandalous that the huge majority of Down's Syndrome babies are aborted in the USA.  Having the North American doctors mandate testing for all pregnant women is a transparent encouragement of these abortions. 

    Lord, send us the cure.  We've got the sickness already.

  3. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Down's syndrome, and developmental disabilities such as autism, are not a 'curse' on the afflicted as much as a chance given to us by God to grow in our humanity and love.  A trial, surely.  But one to be embraced rather than shunned.  I work with adults who have such visitations, and am saddened by the fact that so many are abandoned by their families and left as wards of the state.

     

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