#4 – Holy Crop! Vatican Blesses GMOs, though ‘Unofficially’
(Back in June this combination of GMO’s and Catholicism rocketed to the top of stories viewers loved most. -Ed.)
Since the turn of the century, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the scientific academy of the Vatican, whose 80 members are appointed by the Pope, has kept the world guessing – will the Catholic Church fully support genetically modified organisms?
Then, on November 30 last year, 40 international scientists, including seven Pontifical Academy scientists, released a statement demanding a relaxation of what they call “excessive, unscientific regulations” for approving GM crops, saying that these measures prevent development of crops for the “public good”. The academy scientists also claimed that scientists have both the right and a moral duty to be “stewards of God” by genetically modifying crops to help the world’s poor.
I’ve heard that before – from Ingo Potrykus. Potrykus is a member of the Pontifical Academy, based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he developed ‘golden rice’, and was instrumental in bringing about the 2010 meeting.
Interestingly, but not surprising, most of the 40 participants at the meeting were long-time supporters of GMOs. According to the magazine U.S. Catholic, not only did the participants include GMO developers (both, those who work for governments and for companies that sell genetically modified seeds), but at least four of the speakers at the meeting have ties to Monsanto.
The US, home to the multinational biotechnology giant Monsanto, has lobbied the Vatican for years to persuade it to speak positively about GMOs, calling biotechnology a “moral imperative” to feed the
world’s hungry.
Both the pope and the chancellor of the academy, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, one of the seven Vatican advisers at the meeting, tried to distance themselves from the endorsement, saying: “These statements cannot be considered the ‘official’ position of either the Holy See or the Academy.”
Despite attempts by the Vatican to remain publicly neutral, WikiLeaks recently uncovered a transmission from Christopher Sandrolini, a US diplomat to the Holy See, that demonstrates the Vatican’s clandestine approval of GM crops.
If “official position” merely means that Pope Benedict has not endorsed GMOs during a Sunday mass, then maybe his and Bishop Sorondo’s arguments have some merit. However, it is difficult for the Holy See, and those that influence the pope, to claim neutrality without appearing disingenuous given the recent WikiLeaks transmissions.
Washington’s greatest ally at the Vatican has been Italian Cardinal Renato Martino, who spoke of the benefits and safety of GMOs, and who hosted a biotech conference at the Vatican in 2003, while living in New York as the Vatican’s ambassador to the UN. However, Wikileaks cables indicate Martino may have been playing the role of a good diplomat.
“A Martino deputy told us recently that the cardinal had cooperated with (the embassy) on biotech over the past two years in part to compensate for his vocal disapproval of the Iraq war and its aftermath – to keep relations with the US (government) smooth,” reported one cable. “According to our source, Martino no longer feels the need to take this approach,” the cable said.
The Vatican has said the WikiLeaks cables reflect only the views of the people who wrote them – again they are not ‘official’ Vatican positions.
It is fair to say that the Vatican is actually quite modern in some regards, being among rather few Christian ruling bodies that don’t perceive themselves as being directly threatened by real science. The Vatican does, after all, accept the evidence of evolution, astronomy, archaeology and biology – and there are many churches that can’t say the same.
But it is because of this relative modernity that the policies of the Vatican on GMOs need to be taken seriously. Should the church’s tendency to support GMOs become the ‘official’ position, this will have ripple effects that are likely to reach everyone.
Theodora Filis is an accomplished journalist, editor, writer, and blogger. Theodora's articles on Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking), Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Nuclear Fallout's, Poisonous Chemicals and Ground Water Pollutants have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. Theodora has been a guest speaker on several radio shows, is a college instructor, and the Contributing Editor for UK Progressive Magazine, Moderator for LinkedIn Climate sub-group, and the Publisher & Editor of The Gaia Reports. You can view Theodora's blog "The Gaia Reports" here: http://thegaiareports.weebly.com/#/
Email this author | All posts by Theodora Filis
The home of independent, critical insight. Welcome to our new magazine designed to keep you up-to-date no matter where you are!
Cardinal Martino’s successor at the pivotal Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is no fan of GM crops – he compares them to slavery for small farmers and says they are no answer to food sovereignty http://bit.ly/isYpuM
This is in tune with the views of the Catholic Church’s African bishops, and many other Catholics in the developing world, who say GM crops run “the risk of ruining small landholders, abolishing traditional methods of exchanging seeds and making farmers dependent on the production companies of GMOs.”
http://bit.ly/mSIvJi
“They have sown the wind, and will reap the whirlwind. Their stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain left, foreigners will consume it.” Hosea 8:7
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Satan rules on the Earth and in the hearts and minds of all religions! Religions are hated by God because, men started them and control them….need I say more?
With a World IQ of 50 or less, the majority of people are victims of religious liars, political hacks, and financial devils that worship the “Seven Deadly Sins.”
Mankind has never been kind, to himself or any life form on this planet. Man is the creator’s disappointment. Out of control, addicted to fake wealth and power, he has only himself to blame for the pain he creates for himself and innocent others.
Wherever Satan is, Hell exists. Satan rules over the World then, welcome to Hell!
Yes, the CHURCH absolutely should dictate what the people of this earth should eat. After all, it was this same sector that decided molesting young boys was appropriate. Come on, people, if we genetically modify vegetable seeds, we become 100% dependent on the government for our food. Do we really want that after it’s been proven they can’t even balance a checkbook?
BUY HEIRLOOM SEEDS – - and keep our food pure !!!
Satan’s disciples gives a blessing to a Satanic plan to control life on earth. Not so unforseeable. The church has been apart of the NWO for some time now…… Wait until Jesus hears about this.
Well, this shouldn’t leave any doubts in thinking minds whose side the Vatican is on. It only makes sense for those who understand the original goals for the Biblical Project. Did anyone pay attention to the purchase of a Hollywood studio by the Church of Scientology? I bet you didn’t. I bet you cannot even connect the dots here either. Those of you who do understand you should stop funding the Vatican. There is no need for violent protests that are going to be used against you by the ruling elite. Just stop funding them.
The article is very woolly, mentioning that many people at the meeting were in favour of GM but naming no-one, not specifying what their ‘ties’ are to GM companies. The salient point seems to me to be the statement that the Pope and his advisors distanced themselves from a statement in favour of GM.
Rather than being neutral or being silent on GM the Pope should be speaking out against it as meddling in nature without a full understanding of what it is the corporations such as Monsanto are doing to nature, and the likely ill effects on both the humans and the wildlife/plant life that share this planet. How can it be right for unscrupulous and greedy corporations to claim ownership of nature, to ‘patent’ the building blocks of life ?
Stewards of God? No, we are stewards of the Earth and it is God’s creation not man’s. The catholics go against almost everything Jesus says in the New Testament.
Just wondering how much that Sunday offerin? cost Monsanto.
This proves that GMO is bad for everybody and animals. When the Catholic Church blesses something you know its bad stuff. Please stay to molesting little boys and leave our food unmolested.
Both are sick and wrong because its not right to molest! Monsanto and those complicit might go to he’ll for this. Really, why would the Pope a dope say GMO is blessed, that’s like saying he approves condoms !
Gee willikers! The papacy invents unnatural acts! Benny the rat was given the popemobile for successfully brandishing and shaking his wind-up crucifix and lying away the lawsuits for extraordinary buggary. Now, they are back at it. If he blesses GMOs, they should probably be destroyed ASAP. Along with Monsanto, and the lands distributed for the unemployed. We can endure without the pope or his tainted sick advice.
The Catholic Church will surely be judged