LIFE AND FAMILY
“Dismay” at the decision of the European Parliament that “promotes the exploitation and destruction of human embryos” and support, together with the bishops of COMECE, for a form of research genuinely at the service of man and the common good” are expressed by the bishops of Malta and Gozo in a statement deploring the European Parliament’s approval in recent days of the funding of research of embryonal stem cells as part of the seventh framework programme of research 2007-2013. “We are concerned – say the bishops of Malta in their statement – that the EP should have expressed itself in favour of research on human embryos, while in various EU member states, including Malta, this type of research is not admitted on ethical and moral grounds based on the protection of life and human dignity”. According to the bishops, “by this decision the EU could interfere with delicate decisions that are the exclusive competence of each member state and thus violate the principle of subsidiarity”. “The Church – conclude the Maltese bishops – cannot approve the funding of such research”; hence the thanks expressed to those “in the EU that promote life and human dignity”.
