Vatican City, Feb 10, 2017 / 04:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has issued an updated version of their charter for healthcare workers, removing question marks from modern ethical concerns such as euthanasia and the creation of human-animal chimeras by offering a clear set of guidelines. In the past 20 years “there have been two to situations, two events” that have made the production of a new healthcare charter necessary, Professor Antonio Gioacchino Spagnolo told CNA Feb. 6. The first, he said, is “scientific progress. In these 20 years there has been a lot of scientific progress in the field of the beginning of life as well as in the phase of the end of life, in the context of living.” But alongside advancements in science the Church’s Magisterium has also produced several texts dealing with new and current issues, offering an authoritative take on how they should be handled. The charter, he said, “encompasses a sort of collection of the various positions there have been, the various pronouncements, keeping the progress of bio-medicine in mind.” Spagnolo, director of the Institute of Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, spoke to journalists at the Feb. 6 presentation of the new charter, and played a key role in drafting the new text. A first edition of the charter was published in 1994, but in the wake of broad scientific advancements and various updates in the Church’s Magisterium, the Holy See Monday rolled out the new version of the charter for healthcare workers. Released to coincide with the annual World Day of the Sick celebrations taking place in Lourdes, the updated charter includes all magisterial documents published since 1994 and will be sent to bishops' conferences around the world. At roughly 150 pages including the index, the charter is structured much like the old edition, and is divided into three parts: Procreation, Life, and Death. The section on procreation covers everything from contraception, IVF, and the scientific use of embryos, including freezing them, as well as newer topics such as the mixing of human and animal gametes, the gestation of human embryos in animal or artificial wombs, cloning, asexual reproduction, and parthenogenesis. In the “Life” section, topics covered are “all of the health events that are in some way connected to living,” Spagnolo said, including vaccinations, preventative care, drug testing, transplants, abortion, anencephalic fetuses, as well as gene therapy and regenerative medicine. The social part of the charter also covers areas specifically linked to poverty, such as access to medicines and the availability of new technologies in developing countries or countries that are politically and economically unstable. Rare and “neglected” diseases are also covered in the new text. In his comments to CNA, Spagnolo commented on recent cases the new, updated charter would cover, including the creation of human-pig “chimeras,” as well as the case of an elderly woman with dementia who was held down by her family during a euthanasia procedure. The first case refers to the recent high-level scientific research project that culminated in the creation of chimeras, or organisms made from two different species. While the project initially began by conducting the experiment on rats and mice, at the end of January it culminated with the human-pig mix, marking the first time a case had been reported in which human stem cells had begun to grow inside another species. In the experiment, which appeared in the scientific journal “Cell,” researchers from various institutes, including Stanford and the Salk Institute in California, injected pig embryos with human stem cells when there were just a few days old and monitored their development for 28 days to see if more human cells would be generated. Human cells inside a number of the embryos had begun to develop into specialized tissue precursors, however, the success rate of the human cells was overall low, with the majority failing to produce human cells. Commenting on the case, Spagnolo said this type of “hybridization between human and animal cells” was primarily done to garner more scientific information. “It’s important” that this research is done, he said, but cautioned that we can’t be “indifferent” to how the information is used. If a scientist decides to mingle human cells with those of another species in order to create some sort of hybrid being, “this is of course something that can’t be accepted because in some way it means using the generation of a life as an instrument to reach one’s own ends.” However, if it’s done for a purpose other than generating alternate beings, such as growing human organs for transplant, Spagnolo said this would be acceptable. One thing that’s already being proposed, he said, is the possibility of xenografts, i.e. tissue grafts or organ transplants from a donor that is a different species than the recipient. The idea of doing this, Spagnolo said, is to “inoculate” pigs with human cells, allowing the organs of the pig to receive human antigens, “so when a transplant were done with a liver or heart from the pig inside a (human being), there wouldn’t be the rejection that there is normally doing it with other species.” Spagnolo said that using the hybrid cells for organ or tissue transplant “is acceptable because to transfer a human cell to a pig doesn’t mean creating a life.” Rather, it allows the pig “to have a genetic patrimony similar to that of a human being to then be able to use the organs to help people,” he said, emphasizing the fact that it’s not pig cells being injected into human beings, but vice versa. So to make a good, informed decision involves first of all seeing “what type of experiments” are being done, deciding from that “whether it’s acceptable or not,” then looking at what “one intends to produce, what are the objectives one intends to reach.” Pointing to another touchy scientific case that came up recently when an elderly woman in her 80s was held down by her relatives as her doctors euthanized her, Spagnolo said this is the type of murky water which “advanced statements” or living wills wade into in countries where euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal. The woman, who lived in the Netherlands, had dementia and had reportedly expressed a desire for euthanasia when “the time was right” at an earlier date, but had not done so recently. When the woman began exhibiting “fear and anger” and was sometimes found to be wandering the halls of her nursing home, the senior doctor at the home determined that the woman’s condition meant the time was right, and put a sleep-inducing drug into her coffee so he could administer the lethal injection. The woman was not consulted, and woke up as the doctor was trying to give the injection. When she fought the procedure, her family members were asked to hold her down while the injection was completed. “When medicine no longer does what it should” because in a living will someone expresses their desire for assisted suicide, “this statement completely alters the doctor-patient relationship,” Spagnolo said. He pointed to a bill that is currently on the table in Italy that would effectively legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, requiring doctors to act on the advanced statements of their patients in this regard, and prohibiting them from conscientious objection. This bill, as well as the case of the woman in the Netherlands, illustrates “the difficulty of advance statements,” Spagnolo said, explaining that if someone makes an advance statement and later decides against it, “the fact of having said it before is used and is done (by) drugging the patient.” While the doctor-patient relationship is always key element of the discussion, Spagnolo noted that various studies have been conducted showing a doctor’s behavior toward patients differs based on whether or not the patient has an advanced statement, specifically on euthanasia. “This disparity should be avoided. The doctor should always act the same way when the person is concerned,” he said. So with the new charter, all healthcare workers will now have a point of reference for some of these sticky scenarios, he said. “They can know that some things must be done, they are obligatory. Others, however, are only possibilities. In this sense, “the will of the patient is very important, not in the perspective of ‘anticipating’ death, but in the perspective of knowing whether or not to accept and support certain interventions the doctor can do, but which the patient might think unsuitable.”   Read more

Vatican City, Feb 10, 2017 / 03:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A woman’s value is not based on her material accomplishments, but simply in the beauty and harmony she brings to the world, just by her very being, Pope Francis said. While neither man nor ... Read more

Vatican City, Feb 10, 2017 / 01:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When it comes to healthcare and using our resources wisely, we have a responsibility to protect and take care of the most vulnerable in society, especially the elderly, Pope Francis told members of the Italian bishops’ conference Friday. “To optimize resources means to use them in an ethical and responsible manner and not to penalize the most fragile,” he said Feb. 10. “It is necessary to be vigilant, especially when patients are elderly with a heavily compromised health, if they are suffering from serious and costly diseases for their care or are particularly difficult, such as psychiatric patients,” he continued. Pope Francis spoke to the Charity and Health Commission of the Italian Bishops’ Conference on the eve of the 25th World Day of the Sick and the 20th anniversary of the National Office for Pastoral Healthcare. The audience took place as a bill is currently being considered in Italy that would effectively legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, requiring doctors to act on the advanced statements of their patients in this regard, and prohibiting them from conscientious objection. There have been years marked by strong “social and cultural changes,” the Pope noted, “and today we can see a situation with light and shadow.” “Together with lights, though, there are some shadows that threaten to exacerbate the experience of our sick brothers and sisters,” he said. The most important thing is that the dignity of the sick person is always at the center of all healthcare, because when it is not, he said, the attitudes caused can lead people “to take advantage of the misfortunes of others. And this is very serious!” Francis condemned, for example, business models of healthcare which, “instead of optimizing the available resources,” instead consider most people to be a type of “human waste.” When money is the guiding principle of policies in healthcare and administrative decisions, there can be a temptation to lose the protections to the right to healthcare, such as that “enshrined in the Italian Constitution,” he said. Rather, “the growing health poverty among the poorest segments of the population, due precisely to the difficulty of access to care,” he said, should “not leave anyone indifferent and multiply the efforts of all because the rights of the most vulnerable are protected.” Pope Francis praised the many health institutions in Italy founded on Christian principles, expressing his appreciation for the good that they have accomplished and encouraging them to continue to do even more to help the poor and vulnerable. “In the present context, where the answer to the question of the most fragile health is becoming more difficult, do not even hesitate to rethink your works of charity to offer a sign of God's mercy to the poor that, with confidence and hope, knock on the doors of your structures,” he said. One of St. John Paul II's goals for the World Day of the Sick, “in addition to promoting the culture of life,” Francis said, was also to involve dioceses, Christian communities, religious, and families in understanding the importance of pastoral healthcare. There are many patients in hospitals, of course, but there are many more people in their homes and frequently alone, he pointed out. “I hope that are visited frequently, so they do not feel excluded from the community and they can experience, because of the proximity of one who meets them, the presence of Christ which passes now in the midst of the sick in body and spirit.” He praised the advancements in scientific research which have found cures for some diseases, or eradicated them altogether, while noting that we can’t forget also the more rare and neglected diseases, which are not always “given due attention, with the risk of giving rise to further suffering,” he said. Quoting from his message for this year’s World Day of the Sick, the Pope said, “in the first place is the inviolable dignity of every human person from the moment of conception until its last breath.” “We praise the Lord for the many health professionals with the knowledge and belief that they live their work as a mission, ministers of life and participate in the effusive love of God the Creator,” he said. “Their hands touch every day the suffering flesh of Christ, and this is a great honor and a serious responsibility.” “Likewise, we welcome the presence of many volunteers who, with generosity and competence, are working to alleviate and humanize the long and difficult days of so many sick and lonely elderly people, especially the poor and needy.” Read more

Vatican City, Feb 9, 2017 / 03:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After a conference on organ trafficking at the Vatican Feb. 7-8, participants signed a statement agreeing to unite in fighting the crime of organ trafficking – submitting 11 proposals for implementation by healthcare and law enforcement professionals around the world. The creation of the statement was one of the main objectives of the Summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Participants in the summit included nearly 80 doctors, law enforcement officials and representatives of health and non-government organizations from around the world, who gave reports on the issue and how it is currently being combated in their respective countries. “...we the undersigned pledge our commitment to combat these illicit and immoral practices as a community of stakeholders fulfilling the directive of Pope Francis to combat human trafficking and organ trafficking in all their condemnable forms,” the statement, published Feb. 9, reads. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only about 10 percent – or 120,000 – of the estimated 1 million organ transplants needed are performed each year. This data was presented to Pope Francis in 2014, and is an example of the demand for organs creating, in large part, the drive for illegal trafficking. In general, migrants, refugees and the poor are among the most vulnerable populations for organ trafficking, because they may be forced to sell organs if they do not have the cash to pay when soliciting help for transportation by people-smugglers to more stable countries. Mons. Robert J. Vitillo, Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission, was a participant in the summit. He told CNA/EWTN News in email comments that he “was impressed by the determination” of those present at the summit “to work together to eliminate this terrible crime.” “It was noted very clearly during the meeting that, a contributing factor of this situation is the throw-away culture about which Pope Francis speaks so frequently,” he said. When influential societal forces see people or human organs as “dispensable,” and not “economically productive,” he said, then it is easier to fall down “the slippery slope of using other people as with all forms of modern human slavery.” He was particularly concerned, he explained, by the reports of the large number of migrants and refugees who are coerced into donating kidneys in order to pay for their journeys to freedom or to a more dignified life. Based on reports and discussion from the conference, the signed statement puts forward 11 different recommendations “to national, regional and municipal governments, ministries of health, to the judiciary, to the leaders of the major religions, to professional medical organizations, and to the general public for implementation around the world.” These recommendations deal with governmental approaches to laws surrounding organ and human trafficking and their enforcement, emphasizing that all nations and cultures should recognize these issues as crimes that should be condemned and that religious leaders encourage ethical organ donation. One recommendation calls for the establishment of legal frameworks, where they do not already exist, “that provide an explicit basis for the prevention and prosecution of transplant-related crimes” that also protect victims. Another suggestion is that registries of all organ procurement and transplants are established and “appropriate data shared with international databanks” and that a legal framework be developed for healthcare professionals “to report information about suspected cases of transplant-related crimes, while respecting their professional obligations to patients.” It is also recommended that healthcare professionals be educated by organizations involved in transplantation in legal and international guidelines on trafficking, and in consistent ethical and medical reviews of both donors and recipients to assess both short and long-term outcomes. “That nations provide the resources to achieve self-sufficiency in organ donation at a national level…by reducing the need for transplants through preventive measures and improving access to national transplant programs in an ethical and regulated manner,” is also suggested. Prior to the conference, there was some controversy regarding China's participation in the Summit, as the advocacy group Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) said in a statement that there was “no evidence that past practices of forced organ harvesting have ended” in China. During the conference, Dr. Huang Jiefu, Beijing's top official on transplants, said that Beijing was, in fact, working on reforming its use of organs being taken from detained or executed prisoners. “China is mending its ways and constantly improving its national organ donation and transplantation systems,” he said. DAFOH criticized the Vatican for inviting Huang, saying that it would compromise the conference's image and objectives, when there isn’t sufficient evidence that reform on this issue is actually happening in China. However, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Mons. Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, defended China's participation, saying that the country's participation may help encourage reform, according to Reuters. Mons. Vitillo said that during the meeting it was “clearly recognized that we do face a challenge in the waiting lists for transplants of vital organs, especially kidneys, livers, and lungs.” “For this we need to raise more awareness and motivate people to voluntarily serve as living donors so that the lives of seriously ill people needing transplants will have the opportunity for longer, fuller, and higher quality lives,” he said. Read more

Vatican City, Feb 9, 2017 / 08:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a lengthy, unscripted dialogue with 140 male religious superiors, Pope Francis admitted that there is “corruption” inside the Vatican, but said that despite this, his secret to maint... Read more