Press Release

 On Tuesday 10 November 2009, the Global Consultation on Cell Research in the service of human life?: Ethical and Theological Reflection, organized by the World Council of Churches (Project on Faith, Science, Technology and Ethics)  and the Volos Academy for Theological Studies gave emphasis on the ethical, moral and theological issues connected with the Stem cell research.

In his address to the meeting Bishop of Demetrias Mr. Ignatius stressed: “ethics is urgently called to contribute to the evaluation of the advantages and implications of biotechnology for human life and, in effect, to reconsider, in light of the new data, the significance and the meaning of the concepts of the right and good…The various Christian Churches and traditions, as would be expected by their nature and position, have been active participants in the on-going dialogue over the meaning and possible consequences of technological and scientific progress for the social and spiritual life of their members. Today, more than ever, it is necessary for the Christian Churches to remain steadfastly alert, in order to evaluate the new data according to their time-honored moral principles and categories, as these are drawn from the available Biblical, patristic and liturgical resources….In addition to these resources, a host of fundamental Christian ideas, such as the active love and participation of Jesus Christ in human pain, suffering and death, the Eucharistic understanding of life and world in their completeness, as well as Christian anthropology, the theology of the ‘person’ and the eschatological perspective of the body of Christ, of which we are members, comprise the backbone for an authentic theological reflection on some of the dilemmas involved in the current developments in medicine and biology.  As St.  Paul reminds us, the faithful:  “we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14, 7-8)”. Here it is important for us all, as Christians, to keep in mind that the concern for the intrinsic dignity of the human being is not a fleeting matter dependent on the scholarly debates of the day, but a theological and ecclesiastical priority. We are certain that the present Global Consultation, jointly organized by the WCC and the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, will make a valuable theological contribution to the questions and issues deriving from the use and exploitation of the new methods and techniques used for the prevention and cure of diseases and human pain”.

During the first session, two papers presented by Pr. Celia Deane-Drummond (U.K.) and Pr. Un Hey   Kim (South Korea), framing the moral ethical and theological issues on Stem Cell research. Pr. Celia Deane-Drummond analyzed the Roman Catholic Instructions and some of the Official Orthodox Positions of the Orthodox Church in America on bioethics as well as the various social justice issues connected with stem cell research. Pr. Un Hey Kim stressed that theologically human dignity is not only intrinsic but also conferred by God and ultimately a gift by the grace of God. Christian theological anthropology emphasizes the person in relationship and in communion from the doctrine of the Trinity.

The next panel of speakers constituted by: Pr. Peter Dabrock (Germany), Pr. Aviad Raz (Israel), Alireza Bagheri (Iran), Pr. Celia Deane-Drummond (U.K.), Jea Hyun Park (South Korea), who presented their local religious or social situation, the decisions, the prohibitions, the instructions and the initiatives taken by the various religions and Christian traditions because of the challenges of stem cell research to societies and cultures globally.

The participants went into small groups discussing on one hand various ethical issues and on the other the role of religion in public debate on bioethics.

• Here you can download the  welcoming address of His Eminence Metropolitan of Demetrias Ignatius

Η  έμπρακτη αγάπη και συμμετοχή του Ιησού στον ανθρώπινο πόνο, την ασθένεια και το θάνατο, η ευχαριστιακή κατανόηση συνόλου του βίου και του κόσμου, η χριστιανική ανθρωπολογία, η θεολογία του προσώπου και η εσχατολογική προοπτική του Σώματος του Χριστού, του οποίου είμαστε μέλη,  αποτελούν το πλαίσιο για μια αυθεντική θεολογική απάντηση στα διλήμματα που θέτουν οι σύγχρονες εξελίξεις στο χώρο της ιατρικής και της βιολογίας. Ορθώς μας υπενθυμίζει ο απ. Παύλος στην προς Ρωμαίους επιστολή (14:7-8) ότι: « οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἑαυτῷ ζῇ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἑαυτῷ ἀποθνῄσκει· ἐάν τε γὰρ ζῶμεν, τῷ Κυρίῳ ζῶμεν, ἐάν τε ἀποθνῄσκωμεν, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀποθνῄσκομεν. ἐάν τε οὖν ζῶμεν ἐάν τε ἀποθνῄσκωμεν, τοῦ Κυρίου ἐσμέν»… » Τα παραπάνω δεν αποτελούν για τις χριστιανικές παραδόσεις απλώς ένα από τα αιτήματα των καιρών, αλλά άμεση θεολογική και εκκλησιολογική προτεραιότητα. Είμαστε βέβαιοι ότι η πραγματοποίηση της Διάσκεψης θα συμβάλει ακόμη περισσότερο στην ενεργό και υπεύθυνη εμπλοκή της χριστιανικής θεολογίας στα ερωτήματα και τα διλήμματα  που προκύπτουν από την αξιοποίηση και τη χρήση νέων μεθόδων - τεχνικών για την πρόληψη και τη θεραπεία των ασθενειών και του ανθρώπινου πόνου».  

Στη συνέχεια οι σύνεδροι χωρίστηκαν σε δυο μικρότερες ομάδες και συζήτησαν από τη μια τα ηθικά θέματα που προκύπτουν από την έρευνα στα βλαστοκύτταρα και από την άλλη το ρόλο της θρησκείας στο δημόσιο διάλογο για το θέμα.

• Δείτε το πλήρες κείμενο του  Χαιρετισμού του Σεβασμιότατου Μητροπολίτη Δημητριάδος & Αλμυρού κ. Ιγνατίου