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ROME, NOV. 27, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The human cloning experiment
announced in the United States brings to mind the "crimes against humanity of a
Nazi brand," says an Orthodox Church leader.
"The destruction of an embryo is equivalent to an abortion, in other words, a
homicide," said Father Antoni Ilin, a spokesman for the Orthodox Patriarchate of
Moscow.
"We condemn human cloning, whether for therapeutic or reproductive ends," he
said. "From the moment of conception, the embryo is invested with human dignity
and blessed with the gift of life. So-called therapeutic cloning is nothing
other than the worst instrumentalization of a human being, sacrificed for the
benefit of others."
On Sunday, a U.S. firm, Advanced Cell Technology, announced it had cloned an
embryonic human being but later destroyed it.
For its part, the Union of Muslim Communities in Italy stated: "We simply and
absolutely condemn any attempt to modify or imitate creation."
"Even if they say that they do not intend reproductive but therapeutic cloning,
they are sorcerer's apprentices who don't know where they will end up," the
secretary of the Union, Roberto Hamza, said. "It is a defiance against God that
will lead to grave disasters."
The new chief rabbi of Rome, physician Riccardo Di Segni, commented that he was
following very closely "all progress related to procreation techniques and the
possible applications in the human realm. Anguishing scenarios emerge, which are
difficult to control and, therefore, extreme caution is necessary." |
