Washington D.C., Aug 25, 2018 / 04:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has organized a tour of of the official World Youth Day Cross and Marian Icon to mark the 25th anniversary of the World Youth Day which was held in Denver.
“Each of the five locations will feature special events and liturgical celebrations in commemoration of this historic journey,” according an Aug. 23 statement from the USCCB.
The Aug. 19-27 tour includes stops in Chicago, Miami, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
“We want women and men of all ages to come out and encounter these important symbols of faith when they are here in our country,” said Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, who serves as the USCCB’s chief liaison for World Youth Day.
“In addition to those preparing to go to Panamá, we hope that young people and young adults who are unable to travel to World Youth Day next year will be part of these local celebrations. We also hope that veterans of past World Youth Days, including those who went to Denver in 1993, will have a chance to join us along the way.”
From the US, the World Youth Day Cross and Marian Icon will go to Panama in advance of the January 2019 World Youth Day being held there.
The USCCB stated that “at least ten U.S. bishops will be part of the pilgrimage”, listing Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Archbishop Wenski of Miami, Bishop Caggiano, Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell of Washington, Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville-Rodriguez of Washington, Auxiliary Bishop George Rassas of Chicago, Auxiliary Bishop George Sheltz of Galveston-Houston, and Auxiliary Bishop Marc Trudeau of Los Angeles.
Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa Mendieta of Panama will be present at the events in Miami and Washington, D.C.
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A U.S.-based biotech company has announced the launch of Nucleus Embryo, a company that screens human embryos for desired genetic profiles, a practice the Catholic Church teaches violates human dignity and contributes to a eugenic mentality.
People undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) will be able to screen up to 20 embryos for over 900 conditions and traits, including health risks, intelligence, and physical characteristics like height and eye color, in order to “optimize” their embryos, according to Kian Sadeghi, founder of Nucleus Genomics, parent company of Nucleus Embryo.
“I see a world where sequencing, analyzing, and editing DNA merge seamlessly to create a truly preventative health care system,” the 25-year-old Sadeghi said on the company’s website, adding: “Every parent wants to give their children more than they had. For the first time in human history, Nucleus adds a new tool to that commitment.”
Embryos that meet parental desires will be eligible for implanting, and undesirable ones will be discarded.
While the Catholic Church teaches that IVF is morally illicit because it completely separates procreation from the marital act and violates the dignity of the child, the Church also condemns preimplantation diagnosis as “shameful and utterly reprehensible,” an “expression of a eugenic mentality” that leads to the destruction of innocent human life.
Published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the 2008 document Dignitatis Personae affirms that the human embryo cannot be treated as “mere laboratory material” because this violates its dignity, which “belongs equally to every single human being, irrespective of his parents’ desires, his social condition, educational formation, or level of physical development.”
The document explicitly condemns preimplantation diagnosis and resulting genetic enhancements because they can result in the killing of human embryos “affected by various types of anomalies,” and they “presume to measure the value of a human life only within the parameters of ‘normality’ and physical well-being, thus opening the way to legitimizing infanticide and euthanasia.”
Such procedures could also marginalize individuals, widen societal divides, and “harm peaceful coexistence among individuals,” the dicastery stated.
The document questioned who would establish which gene edits were worthwhile and which were not, and what limits, if any, should be placed on genetic enhancements “since it would be materially impossible to fulfill the wishes of every single person.”
In the end, the common good will be harmed by “favoring the will of some over the freedom of others.”
National Catholic Bioethics Center senior ethicist Father Tad Pacholczyk told CNA that “couples will now be tempted to impose quality control and eugenics onto their vulnerable and voiceless children.”
Nucleus Embryo’s website emphasizes genetic manipulation of embryos before implantation and states: “The best time to prevent disease is pre-pregnancy. Knowing what you could pass on to your kids lets you plan with clarity and avoid future surprises.”
National Catholic Bioethics Center senior ethicist Father Tad Pacholczyk. Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo/Screenshot
This is a “‘command and control’ mentality over procreation,” Pacholczyk said, which allows people to treat their “own offspring like raw material … It’s tragic when our children become a mere abstraction, pawns to be played in the end game of seeking what we want.”
“Society’s demand for physical perfection places untold pressure on couples today to ‘conform to the norm’ by aborting or otherwise eliminating any less-than-perfect children,” he continued.
“Human embryos, among the most vulnerable of God’s creatures, have been entrusted to us to be received unconditionally and lovingly by all parents, without demanding that they run any gauntlet of prenatal screening. Every child, exactly as he or she arrives into our families, is precious, good, and beautiful.”
Pacholczyk said not every use of prenatal diagnostic information is morally unacceptable, however.
Diagnostic information that “assists in the treatment of an in-utero patient represents a morally praiseworthy use of this powerful technology.”
For example, a life-threatening disease known as Krabbe’s leukodystrophy can be treated through a bone marrow transplant immediately following a child’s birth. If the disease is diagnosed prenatally, the parents can look for matching bone marrow before the child is born. Certain other diseases, such as spina bifida, can also be surgically treated prenatally.
Florence, Italy, Jan 10, 2021 / 08:01 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Florence has said no new students have entered his diocesan seminary this year, calling the low number of priestly vocations a “wound” in his episcopate.
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