MANILA, Philippines – Catholic bishops advised their flock in the Philippines on Wednesday, August 27, to ensure that donations made through the ice bucket challenge do not go to embryonic stem cell research, which the Catholic Church prohibits.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also said Catholics “will be urged to support” research on Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare ailment better known as the Lou Gehrig’s disease, as long as the study is ethical. (READ: ALS: The silent, slow killer)

The ice bucket challenge seeks to fund ALS research through the ALS Association, which a number of bishops in the United States have questioned for engaging in embryonic stem cell research.

In a statement, CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said: “As a pastoral guideline, we therefore urge those participating in the ice bucket challenge and making donations to ALS research to make a clear and unequivocal declaration that their donation is made on condition that none of it is to be applied to research that involves the use of embryonic stem cells, in vivo or in vitro.” 

“Catholics who participate in the challenge and who make donations to this research must also demand of fund-raisers and organizers an assurance that none of the donations made will be applied to researches that are ethically reproved,” he said.

He added: “As long as research on ALS as well as other debilitating conditions such as Parkinson’s Diseases and Alzheimer’s keep within the confines of the ethical demands of human dignity, they will be encouraged by the Church, and our Catholic faithful will be urged to support them with generosity and with charity for all who suffer.”

In the ice bucket challenge, now a worldwide trend, people either pledge $100 to ALS research or record themselves getting drenched by frigid water, then post their video online and challenge others to do the same. (READ: FAST FACTS: ALS and the ice bucket challenge)

In the Philippines, famous personalities such as Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, as well as tycoons, have taken the ice bucket challenge. Rappler has also done the same. (Watch Rappler’s video below)

Experimenting on embryos ‘a crime’

Villegas issued a warning about the ice bucket challenge in the face of “disturbing reports… that ALS research involves the use of stem cells.” He said this “is not surprising,” because stem cells “apparently hold out the promise of reversing the death and degeneration of brain cells,” in particular.

He pointed out that stem cells “are most readily harvested from embryos, and it is in this regard that this type of research is ethically problematic.”

Villegas cited a document issued by the Vatican on February 22, 1987 that denounced the use of human embryos or fetuses in experiments. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said experimenting on embryos or fetuses is “a crime against their dignity as human beings.”

Quoted by Villegas, the congregation also said: “Human embryos obtained in vitro are human beings and subjects with rights. Their dignity and right to life must be respected from the first moment of their existence. It is immoral to produce human embryos destined to be exploited as disposable ‘biological material.’”

Villegas noted that the ALS Association, the main beneficiary of the ice bucket challenge, has declared: “Most stem cell research in ALS is currently focused on iPS cells, which are not burdened with ethical issues.”

Villegas said bishops have been told that iPS cells “are ‘induced pluripotent stem cells,” which are created from skin cells” and not embryos. This is not ethically questionable, he said.

The CBCP president said: “What is troubling, however, is that the very same ALS statement, in admitting that iPS cells are used in ‘most stem cell research’ leaves open the possibility that stem cells from objectionable sources are still used!”

“We are not prepared to say that the ALS Association, that has promoted the ice bucket challenge, and all those involved in ALS research are engaged in the unethical practice of using embryonic cells. The importance of ALS research cannot be overstated. Research must proceed, for so many suffer. Human intelligence and skill must conquer this dreadful malady, because it is for this purpose that we have been given dominion over the earth as its stewards. But we must also guide the Catholic faithful, and all who heed the ethical teaching of the Church,” Villegas said. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com