Associated Press writer Victor L. Simpson reports:

Pope Benedict XVI has long championed organ transplants, but don't expect an organ donation from him. The Vatican says his body belongs to the whole church.

While the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has possessed an organ donor card since the 1970s when he lived in Germany, it was rendered void when he became pope in 2005, his secretary said.

Monsignor Georg Gaenswein addressed the issue in a letter to a German doctor who has been using the fact that Benedict possessed a donor card to recruit other donors. Vatican Radio reported on the letter in a German language broadcast this week.

Gaenswein sought to put the matter to rest, saying any references to the now invalid document are mistaken.

Polish Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, head of the Vatican's health office, told La Repubblica newspaper that it was understandable that a pope's body remains intact because it belongs to the entire church.

"It is also understandable in view of possible future veneration," he said, referring to future sainthood. "This doesn't take anything away from the validity and the beauty of the gift of organ donation."

Continue reading "Vatican: Pope Benedict no longer an organ donor" »

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Archaeologists in Jordan have unearthed a 3,000-year-old Iron Age temple with a trove of figurines of ancient deities and circular clay vessels used for religious rituals, the Associated Press reports.

The head of the Jordanian Antiquities Department, Ziad al-Saad, said the sanctuary dates to the eighth century B.C. and was discovered at Khirbat 'Ataroz near the town of Mabada, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of the capital Amman.

He said the complex boasts a main room that measures 388 square feet (36 square meters), as well as two antechambers and an open courtyard.

The sanctuary and its artifacts — hewn from limestone and basalt or molded from clay and bronze — show the complex religious rituals of Jordan's ancient biblical Moabite kingdom, according to al-Saad.

"Today we have the material evidence, the archaeological proof of the level of advancement of technology and civilization at that period of time," he said.

The Moabites, whose kingdom ran along present-day Jordan's mountainous eastern shore of the Dead Sea, were closely related to the Israelites, although the two were in frequent conflict. The Babylonians eventually conquered the Moabites in 582 B.C.

Continue reading "Archeologists unearth ancient temple in Jordan" »

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The Russian Orthodox Church called Wednesday for an end to the "monopoly of Darwinism" in Russian schools, saying religious explanations of creation should be taught alongside evolution, Reuters reports.

The British news agency says Russian liberals have vowed to fight efforts to include religious teaching in schools. Russia's dominant church has experienced a revival in recent years, worrying rights groups who say its power is undermining the country's secular constitution.

The report continues:

"The time has come for the monopoly of Darwinism and the deceptive idea that science in general contradicts religion. These ideas should be left in the past," senior Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion said at a lecture in Moscow.

"Darwin's theory remains a theory. This means it should be taught to children as one of several theories, but children should know of other theories too."

Read the rest of the Reuters story.

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The Vatican will finance new research, led by the University of Maryland's School of Medicine, into the potential use of adult stem cells in the treatment of intestinal and possibly other diseases, Baltimore Sun colleague Kelly Brewington reports.

The Italian-American partnership, known as the International Intestinal Stem Cell Consortium, brings together researchers from the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Maryland; The University of Salerno, Bambino Gesu — an Italian children's hospital; and the Istituto Superiore di Sanita — the Italian equivalent of the National Institutes of Health.

The project is at a preliminary phase and it will be years before any clinical treatment might be available, Vatican officials said.

Cardinal Renato Martino said he expected the Vatican to help finance the project through Bambino Gesu, but the exact amount must still be worked out in future meetings with the University of Maryland. An initial announcement by the university said the Vatican had already agreed to donate $2.7 million to the research.

Read more at baltimoresun.com.

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The Rev. Jason Poling is Pastor of New Hope Community Church in Pikesville.

Five years ago, Terri Schiavo was pronounced dead more than 15 years after a heart attack put her into a persistent vegetative state. The battles leading up to that conclusion originated in a struggle between her husband Michael Schiavo and her parents Robert and Mary Schindler over who would determine proper care for her; they eventually managed to involve all three branches of the federal government, and hastened the political demise of Sen. (and Dr.) Bill Frist's once-promising Presidential candidacy.

As I watched the story unfold like a slow-motion car wreck, I was struck by the difficulty of the ethical issues involved. Does a feeding tube constitute "extraordinary measures" used to sustain life? Some liken it to the technological intervention of a ventilator, while others consider it basic nutrition and hydration which no-one could humanely deny. Did the widely disseminated videos of Schiavo reflect genuine intelligent response to people known to her or simply an involuntary reaction to external stimuli? Was Schiavo a living human being, or simply a metabolizing organism? Did she begin to rest in peace five years ago, or twenty?

The profound ethical questions raised in this case will continue to be debated, as well they should. But as long as they are unresolved the more pressing question for most of us is how a situation like Schiavo's is to be handled. Schiavo's autopsy revealed that she had indeed suffered massive and irreversible brain damage, but decisions about her care had to be made without this evidence. Absent a clear advance medical directive, does her husband make decisions for her? Do her parents have the right to trump her husband? Do the courts have the right to trump both? Congress?

Every day difficult medical decisions are made without certain knowledge about what will happen, or what would happen if a different path were taken. And every day these decisions are made among differences of opinion as what the “right” — or at least best — choice is. At the end of the day someone must make the call, and we as a society must have ways of ensuring that the appropriate person is making these decisions when the patient is unable to and has not authorized someone else to.

Among the most important things we learn from Scripture about the nature of marriage is that every wedding involves two funerals. “A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Jesus commented on this verse, “So they are no longer two, but one” (Matthew 19:6). When I officiate at weddings I always point out that from that day forward the people being married are entering into a change in the very essence of their being: no longer will either be himself or herself apart from the other. (I then sign the marriage license, and hope to snag a few crab balls on the way out. They then spend the rest of their lives working that out.)

What surprised me the most about the controversy over the Schiavo case was that the same people who ordinarily defend traditional understandings of marriage — people who in the course of pastoral ministry and teaching emphasize to couples (and their parents) the importance of “leaving and cleaving,” who encourage couples to work out their problems rather than running to their parents, who really do believe that the two become one — were the ones who wanted Terri Schiavo’s parents, rather than her husband, to make decisions about her medical care. No doubt if the roles had been reversed, they’d have been taking loud and strong stands on the right of a husband to make decisions for his disabled spouse, and decrying efforts by the government and her parents to remove the feeding tube.

Continue reading "Jason Poling: Terry Schiavo, five years on" »

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Categories: Catholicism, Church and State, Ethics, Guest Posts, Jason Poling, Law and Courts, People, Politics, Science
        

The American Astronomical Society this week honored Baltimore native George V. Coyne, the retired former director of the Vatican Observatory and a Jesuit priest, for his work in establishing a summer school for young astronomers and promoting discussions on faith and science, Catholic News Service reports.

Coyne, 76, received the George Van Biesbroeck Prize at the opening of the society’s 215th general meeting Monday in Washington. As The Catholic Review notes, Coyne graduated from Loyola High School in 1951 and was ordained at the now-defunct Woodstock College, then located in Howard County.

In presenting the honor, Catholic News Service reports society president John Huchra cited Father Coyne’s work with the Vatican Observatory Summer School, which brings 25 graduate students to the observatory’s headquarters in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, every two years for a month of intensive research.

“The prize means a lot to me personally,” Father Coyne told Catholic News Service. “It recognizes the Vatican Observatory as a research institute.”

Read the rest of the Catholic News Service story at catholicreview.org.

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In the months since we started In Good Faith, we've attracted readers and commenters from all over the world. Ties to the Baltimore area will be helpful in spotting some familiar faces in the video above (the list appears at the end).

I wanted to take a moment to say a sincere thank you to all who have stopped by, and particularly to those who have joined in the spirited debate taking shape on these pages. During this holiday season, we wish the very best to everyone of every faith, and no faith at all.

I expect to be posting only lightly over the next few days as I take time off to spend with my family. As my father would say: Talk amongst yourselves.

Best,
Matt

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As talks continue in Copenhagen to address climate change, Pope Benedict XVI urged action "in the face of signs of a growing crisis which it would be irresponsible not to take seriously."

The title of his message for the World Day of Peace – “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation” – echoes the peace day message of his predecessor, Pope Paul VI: “If you want justice, work for peace.”

“Can we remain indifferent,” Benedict asks, “before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions? Can we disregard the growing phenomenon of ‘environmental refugees,’ people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it – and often their possessions as well – in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement? Can we remain impassive in the face of actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural resources?”

The World Day of Peace is observed Jan. 1, but the Vatican released the message on Tuesday.

In it, Benedict refrains from “entering into the merit of specific technical solutions,” but says “the Church is nonetheless concerned, as an ‘expert in humanity,’ to call attention to the relationship between the Creator, human beings and the created order.”

Continue reading "Pope urges action in face of climate 'crisis'" »

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The Vatican and the world’s largest particle physics laboratory are planning to collaborate on studies concerning the origin of the universe, Catholic News Service reports.

Ugo Amaldi, a professor of medical physics who works closely with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), said the Geneva-based laboratory would like to invite an astronomer from the Vatican Observatory to join in the research, CNS reports.

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, “is an international and European [facility], and to have the Vatican Observatory send some or one of its young scientists will be something that is extremely important,” Amaldi told reporters at the Vatican this week, CNS reports.

The head of the Vatican Observatory, the Rev. Jose Funes, said he hopes Gabriele Gionti, a young Vatican astronomer who will be ordained in June, will be involved, CNS reports. Gionti has a doctorate in physics and specializes in quantum gravity, CNS reports, and is finishing his theology studies at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, Calif.

Father Funes told CNS that scientists at CERN are interested in “astroparticles – the first particles in the universe. And at the moment we don’t have anyone on our staff prepared to follow these studies. So maybe Gabriele Gionti has the background and the interest in collaborating on these topics.”

Amaldi told CNS that even though CERN scientists study subatomic particles and Vatican astronomers study large celestial objects and enormous galaxies, “there are theoretical similarities” in their research on the origin of the universe, stars and planets.

He told CNS that a Vatican collaborator ideally would stay a year to work closely with scientists conducting experiments with CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, which is used in experiments aimed at increasing understanding of what happened immediately after the Big Bang.

Read the rest of the story at catholicreview.org.

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The nation's Catholic bishops had a busy day Tuesday, approving a pastoral letter on marriage, a document on reproductive technologies and a revision to an existing document on healthcare for the dying and chronically ill.

The bishops are holding their fall general assembly at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

"Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan" breaks no new ground, but bishops said it would provide a foundation for the church’s campaign to promote marriage as the union of one man and one woman going forward.

"Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology" reiterates Catholic teaching against in vitro fertilization, egg, sperm and embryo donation, surrogates and cloning. For infertile couples, the church counsels hormonal treatment and other medications, surgery to repair reproductive organs, and other means.

The revision to “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” underscores what the church says is the moral obligation to provide nutrition and hydration to patients in a persistent vegetative state.

The bishops also approved new English translations of the Roman Missal.

Read more at baltimoresun.com.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opens a four-day general assembly Monday at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

On the agenda for the semiannual meeting are several items related to marriage and reproduction. The bishops are to debate and vote on “Love and Life in the Divine Plan, a pastoral letter that the conference describes as presenting “the essential points of Catholic teaching on marriage that are foundational for understanding the nature and purposes of marriage, for living it faithfully, and for preserving and defending it as a necessary and unique social institution.”

The bishops also are also scheduled to hear a report on efforts by the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage “to promote and protect marriage as the exclusive and permanent union between a man and a woman.” And they are scheduled to debate and vote on “Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology, a document discussing the moral issues surrounding various technologies for treating infertility, including in vitro fertilization, embryo adoption and surrogacy.

Also on the agenda: a proposed revision of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services that “states more definitively the moral obligation to provide medically assisted nutrition and hydration to patients in a ‘persistent vegetative state.’ ”

The proceedings are to be streamed live on the Web at telecare.org.

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Are we alone in the universe? The Vatican would like to know.

Catholic News Service has a report from a meeting of 30 scientists convened by the Vatican Observatory and the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences to consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

The Rev. José Funes, the Jesuit priest who heads the Vatican Observatory, tells CNS that discoveries of life in inhospitable conditions on Earth, such as rock-eating microbes found deep beneath the ocean floor, suggest that life may also exist on other worlds.

Funes said it is "very important that the church is involved in this type of research." According to CNS, he quoted Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president of the commission governing Vatican City, as telling participants that "truth from research cannot make us afraid; what is to be feared is error.”

Asked whether God would have to be incarnated elsewhere if there were intelligent life on another planet, Funes said God's incarnation in Jesus Christ was a "unique event not only in human history but in the history of the universe and the cosmos.”

The existence of evil and original sin on Earth meant God, the good shepherd, had to leave behind his entire flock to go get his one lost sheep, he said.

Read the rest of the story at catholicnews.com.

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The New York Times has an interesting story this week about the apparently growing belief in creationism across the Muslim world. Kenneth Chang writes:

For many Muslims, even evolution and the notion that life flourished without the intervening hand of Allah is largely compatible with their religion. What many find unacceptable is human evolution, the idea that humans evolved from primitive primates. The Koran states that Allah created Adam, the first man, separately out of clay.

Pervez A. Hoodbhoy, a prominent atomic physicist at Quaid-e-Azam University in Pakistan, said that when he gave lectures covering the sweep of cosmological history from the Big Bang to the evolution of life on Earth, the audience listened without objection to most of it. “Everything is O.K. until the apes stand up,” Dr. Hoodbhoy said.

Mentioning human evolution led to near riots, and he had to be escorted out. “That’s the one thing that will never be possible to bridge,” he said. “Your lineage is what determines your worth.”

Participants in a conference last month at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., said the rejection of evolution appears to be growing.

Chang quotes Truman State Univesity physicist Taner Edis as saying that he never encountered creationist undertones when he was growing up in Turkey in the 1970s: “I first noticed creationism when I came to America for graduate school,” he said.

Continue reading "Academics see rise of Muslim creationism" »

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We have been thinking of reading “Life After Death: The Evidence,” the new book by conservative pundit-turned-Christian apologist Dinesh D’Souza, which hit our desk last week. Now we come across Jerry Adler’s heartbreaking essay in the current issue of Newsweek, which may be summed up as: Don’t bother.

Adler opens with a scene from last spring, when he opened the front door of his Brooklyn home to find an Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly on the steps. It was three months after the death of his son.

The butterfly, with its otherworldly beauty and silence, is, of course, a common metaphor for the soul. Its emergence from entombment as a chrysalis may have inspired ideas about human resurrection. In the newsletter of the Compassionate Friends, a support group for bereaved parents, the sudden appearance of butterflies (and birds, cloud formations, and particular songs on the radio) is sometimes cited as evidence of communication from beyond the grave. So let me be clear about where I stand: not only do I not believe it, but I can't understand why anyone would take comfort from it. I would hate to think of Max, with his fierce intelligence and tenacity, reduced to sending mute signals by way of insects.

Adler groups D’Souza’s book with mathematician David Berlinski's "The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions," physicist Frank J. Tripler's "The Physics of Christianity," and National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins' "The Language of God" as constituting an attempt by believeers to confront the new atherism of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens et al "on its own intellectual turf, without benefit of scripture or revelation."

In the case of D'Souza, at least, Adler is skeptical of the result.

The "evidence," of necessity, is indirect: D'Souza doesn't claim to have communicated with anyone who has died, and he doesn't expect to. Instead, he looks to the human heart, and finds therein a universal moral code underlying acts of self-sacrifice and charity that appear to run counter to the Darwinian imperative to outcompete thy neighbor. This is a time-honored argument for the existence of a God who created human beings in his image and imbued them with a moral sense, as well as the free will to follow, or ignore, it. Berlinski uses the argument in his book, and Collins credits it with turning him from atheism to evangelical Christianity. (D'Souza acknowledges that the prominent atheist Richard Dawkins has offered an evolutionary explanation for human goodness, but he doesn't buy it.) In a Jesuitical display that does credit to his reputation as "an Indian William F. Buckley Jr.," D'Souza turns to his advantage one of the atheists' favorite arguments, God's apparent tolerance for human suffering. Precisely because evil so often goes unpunished in this world, he asserts, the moral code must reflect another reality, in which souls are judged, punished, or rewarded after death. "The postulate of an afterlife enables us to make sense of this life," he writes. It worked for Dante, didn't it?

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He was ordained bishop in 1968 and made the first Bishop of Orlando, Florida. The new diocese encompassed central Florida and included Cape Canaveral, from where, the following year, Apollo 11 launched, bound for the moon.

After that historic launch and lunar landing, with all the images of our astronauts walking, golfing, and planting the flag, Borders made an ad limina visit to Rome to meet with Paul VI. During their meeting, Borders rather nonchalantly observed, "You know, Holy Father, I am the bishop of the Moon."

Pope Paul looked at him rather perplexed - probably wondering where along the line this American prelate lost his mind. Borders then continued by explaining that by the existing (1917) Code of Canon Law, he was the de facto ordinary of this "newly discovered" territory.

(Former Sun religion writer John Rivera directed us to Rocco Palmo's Whispers in the Loggia post citing Murphy; thanks to all.)

Sun file photo, 1998

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