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# 419 Friday, February 22, 2008 - EXORCISM, STEM CELLS, AND WHEN A CHURCH MAKES A MISTAKE Read the next statement carefully: "(because of the) attention given to unproven embryo destructive research . funding for and the promotion of adult stem cell research have been nearly non-existent."(1) (emphasis added). Is this correct? No. The statement is either an act of ignorance, or a deliberate falsehood. Here are the facts: In 2007, the United States government gave nearly five times more funding to adult stem cell research than it did to embryonic: awarding $203 million to adult stem cell research-but only $42 million to the embryonic variety.(2) If you look at the entire span of the Bush Administration, the advantage given to adult stem cell research is staggering. According to White House figures: "Over the past six years. $3 billion has gone to . all forms of stem cells.(of which only) "$130 million has been devoted to (human) embryonic stem cell research." (3) The source of the "nearly non-existent" statement? The Michigan Catholic Conference, official voice of the Catholic Church in that state. The next six paragraphs, taken from the same press release by the Catholic Conference, detail a strategy to block embryonic stem cell research funding in Michigan. "Michigan Catholic Conference Launches Massive Statewide Stem Cell Education Program". For Immediate Release, Monday, October 1, 2007. "In an effort to communicate the Catholic Church's teaching on human life as it relates to adult and embryonic stem cell research, the Michigan Catholic Conference today announced the states seven diocesan bishops have launched a monumental internal statewide education program that includes over 500,000 Catholic homes and nearly 800 parishes. ".every registered Catholic home in the state has been sent a letter signed jointly by the state's diocesan bishops, a 12-minute DVD, and a brochure. " .in addition to the statewide household mailing, every parish in the state has been encouraged by its diocesan bishop to address the issue of stem cell research. ".Parishes have received from the Conference a packet of informational material that includes a question and answer document, sample bulletin announcements, and the aforementioned DVD and brochure. ".Catholic hospitals, universities, schools, charity agencies and fraternal organizations have also received educational material..." (1) End quote. And what happens after all that propaganda is disseminated, received, and digested? Citizens are encouraged to contact government officials-who have already been threatened with excommunication if they support embryonic stem cell research. This is a systematic, full-scale attack-backed by an organized, sophisticated, well-financed political battle plan-- against medical research to cure disease. I suspect (though I cannot prove) that similar tactics are in use all across the nation. We do know that Catholic Churches in California were used to distribute glossy full-color anti-embryonic stem cell research pamphlets; and that the Church was central to anti-research efforts in Missouri, New Jersey, Delaware and other states. This is not a matter of a person's private faith; this is an attempt to impose that religious belief on all of us. If medical research is denied, this affects every man, woman and child in Michigan-and across America as well. What if state funding of embryonic stem cell research was allowed in that state, and a cure for cancer was discovered? Cure research could help millions. Denying that cure is a blow to all who might have been healed, and their families. But what about the larger question: is it possible for a Church to make a mistake? Some argue that religion, being about God, is also dictated by the Supreme Being, and therefore must be above criticism. As one Pope said: "The idea that defect, shadow, or other misfortune could ever cause the church to stand in need of restoration or renewal is hereby condemned as obviously absurd." -Pope Gregory VXI, 1832 Personally, I believe churches are run by fallible human beings, people who (like all of us) are capable of making mistakes. Like this one, made by a priest from another church, the Romanian Orthodox Church: This happened just a few weeks ago. On January 31, 2008, a priest, Daniel Corogeanu, "began a seven-year jail term for murdering a young nun during an exorcism ritual when she was bound, chained to a cross and denied food and water for days. Irina Cornici, 23, died from dehydration, exhaustion and suffocation. the Romanian Orthodox church condemned (his techniques) as abominable. (and) defrocked Corogeanu, and excommunicated the four nuns, who in September were handed five and six year terms." (4) But surely that is an individual's crime, not the Church itself? True. And to its credit, the Orthodox Church did not cover up the crime, and disowned the individuals involved. But their official belief in exorcism, driving out demons from a person, still continues to this day-as it does in the Catholic Church. Have you heard the phrase, "Beat the Devil out of him"? That comes from exorcism, when (in the Dark Ages) an insane person would be physically whipped in an attempt to drive demons out. Does exorcism (or attempts at it) still exist, outside of the movies? On January 26, 1999, a new and revised exorcism policy was released by the Vatican. "Vatican releases new rite for exorcism. De Exorcismus et supplicationibus quibusdam. sets out a new and precise liturgical form for the rite of exorcism. The 84-page form.was published entirely in Latin; . different nations may now prepare their own versions." (5) The current Pope, former Cardinal Ratzinger, has a chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, who allegedly has performed 30,000 exorcisms. In 2006 this individual made headlines when he called the fictional character Harry Potter the "king of darkness, the devil."(6) In time, perhaps, the Church's policy toward embryonic stem cell research will change. Or maybe not: like the belief in exorcism, which continues to this day. Members of a religion have a right to believe whatever they wish. But no church has the right to dominate the rest of us. Like the freedom to swing a fist-allowable until the fist reaches another person's nose-- religious beliefs are up to the people involved, until they impose them on others. If a person wants to refuse medicine (as some say no to blood transfusions for religious reasons), that is their right. But if any religion would deny my family access to the best medical research available, there we must quarrel. Religious attempts to block medical research must and will be opposed. The lives of our loved ones depend on it. 1. http://www.micatholicconference.org/public_policy/press_releases/20071001-MassiveStemCellEducationProgram.php (2) http://www.nih.gov/news/fundingresearchareas.htm (note: both figures refer to human stem cell research). 3. "Advancing Stem Cell Science Without Destroying Human Life", page 6, Domestic Policy Council, The White House, January 9, 2007, updated April, 2007. 4. Associated Press, www.FoxNews.com, January 31, 2008. 5.""Vatican releases new rite for exorcism", Catholic World News, Jan. 26, 1999 6. http://www.cbc.ca.arts/story/2006/o9/03/harrypotter-exorcist-pope.html Don Reed www.stemcellbattles.com Don C. Reed is co-chair of Californians for Cures, and writes for their web blog, www.stemcellbattles.com. Reed was citizen-sponsor for California's Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999, named after his paralyzed son; he worked as a grassroots advocate for California's Senator Deborah Ortiz's three stem cell regulatory laws, served as an executive board member for Proposition 71, the California Stem Cells for Research and Cures Act, and is director of policy outreach for Americans for Cures. The retired schoolteacher is the author of five books and thirty magazine articles, and has received the National Press Award. Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn