Priests, laity fight embryo research
Effort opposes bill endorsing concept
A group of Catholic priests and parishioners from four churches said yesterday they are mounting a statewide effort to derail pending legislation that endorses embryonic stem cell research, and some are calling on Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley to join the cause.
Four priests from the churches gathered with laity and a nun in the rectory of Holy Family Church in Rockland yesterday to announce their plan to distribute packets that explains the Catholic Church's opposition to embryonic stem cell research and urges parishioners to contact local lawmakers.
The group is also hoping to elicit support from leaders in local evangelical and orthodox churches as they seek to step up the campaign against a bill that Senate President Robert E. Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi have pledged to pass by the end of the month.
''I think that every Catholic in the state needs to be educated," said the Rev. Jim Clark, parochial vicar at Holy Family. ''If this is the way that we're going to do it . . . then, yeah, our goal is to get every Catholic in every Catholic church."
Travaglini and DiMasi could not be reached for comment.
The bill the churches are protesting would give the state's endorsement to embryonic stem cell research, which can involve cloning human embryos. The state's four Roman Catholic bishops issued a joint statement March 2 opposing the bill, saying that the denomination is against cloning. ''Creating life only to destroy it adds to the offense against human dignity," the bishops stated.
A statement is not enough, said the Rev. Thomas DiLorenzo of Holy Rosary Parish in Winthrop.
''We need them to motivate us to call our representatives and senators," he said yesterday following the conference. ''Have the bishop say this, not some Mickey Mouse person like Tom DiLorenzo. Who am I? . . . This is a matter of life and death. This is a matter of exploiting little individuals."
DiLorenzo has been fighting the bill since February, praying outside Travaglini's house with other parishioners. Today he plans to return, but will leave by 11 a.m.
''What I'm saying is the bishops need to be more proactive," he said. ''If you ask me, we are in a whole lot of fear because of the sex [abuse] scandal. As a result we're not being so proactive. We've done wrong in the past. Let's not do the wrong in the present."
Travaglini declined to comment, but an aide said the senator believes that embryonic stem cell research holds great potential for saving and improving human lives.
Jim Flanagan, a parishioner at Holy Family who was at yesterday's conference, said the group will send packets to pastors around the South Shore every week in the hopes they will start to distribute them to churches around the state. Governor Mitt Romney is expected to veto the bill if it arrives at his desk, which means the group will have more time to disseminate its information, Flanagan said.
''I think at this point we're looking for a window of probably two or three months," he said.
But others in the fledgling initiative are moving more urgently.
Emily Elliott, a parishioner at St. Mary of the Sacred Heart in Hanover, said there is a plan at her church to call on parishioners to sign a petition opposing the bill and to flood legislators' offices with phone calls in the next two weeks. Church of the Resurrection in Hingham also sent a representative to yesterday's meeting.
The Rev. James F. Hickey, pastor at Holy Family, said he wants the public and lawmakers to understand that the church's position is practical and moral.
''The Catholic Church actively encourages research on stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood and adult tissues," he said. ''The only practical medical applications using stem cells to date have come from stem cells derived from those sources. Since stem cells derived from human embryos can only be obtained destroying those embryos, the church condemns such activities since human embryos are human subjects."
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. 