HUMAN CLONING RESOLUTION: HOLY SEE PRESSING THE

UNCLAS VATICAN 003359 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR IO/UNP AND EUR/WE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KSCA PREL TBIO VT UNGA SUBJECT: HUMAN CLONING RESOLUTION: HOLY SEE PRESSING THE CASE FOR COSTA RICAN RESOLUTION REF: STATE 186073 ¶1. SUMMARY: PER REFTEL, DCM APPROACHED HOLY SEE DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER PAROLIN AND PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR HEALTH ARCHBISHOP JAVIER LOZANO BARRAGAN TO URGE CONTINUED VATICAN ACTION ON BEHALF OF A UN RESOLUTION BANNING ALL FORMS OF HUMAN CLONING. DCM REVIEWED U.S. OBJECTIONS TO THE REVISED FRENCH-GERMAN PROPOSAL, AND PROVIDED BOTH OFFICIALS WITH THE REFTEL LIST OF KEY COUNTRIES FOR HOLY SEE ENGAGEMENT. BOTH PAROLIN AND LOZANO BARRAGAN EXPRESSED THE HOLY SEE'S FULL SUPPORT FOR THE COSTA RICAN RESOLUTION. THE HOLY SEE IS PREPARING A DOCUMENT ON HUMAN CLONING TO BE SHARED WITH ALL NUNCIOS AND WITH BISHOPS IN KEY COUNTRIES TO FACILITATE LOCAL ENGAGEMENT ON THE ISSUE. END SUMMARY. ¶2. DCM APPROACHED HOLY SEE DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER PIETRO PAROLIN JULY 8 TO CONVEY REFTEL DEMARCHE SEEKING SUPPORT FOR THE COSTA RICAN DRAFT RESOLUTION WHICH CALLS FOR ADOPTION OF A CONVENTION THAT WOULD BAN ALL HUMAN CLONING. PAROLIN CONFIRMED THAT THE VATICAN REMAINS FIRMLY OPPOSED TO ANY TYPE OF EMBRYONIC CLONING AND WILL FULLY SUPPORT THE COSTA RICA RESOLUTION. SIGNIFICANTLY, PAROLIN AVOIDED PREVIOUS VATICAN CAVEATS ABOUT ACCEPTING A BAN ON REPRODUCTIVE CLONING IF A FULL BAN COULD NOT BE ACHIEVED AND EXPRESSED STRONG OPPOSITION TO ANY COMPROMISE THAT WOULD ACCEPT &EXPERIMENTAL8 OR &THERAPEUTIC8 CLONING. THE VATICAN NOW APPEARS FULLY COMMITTED TO THE UNITED STATES' STRATEGY TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE BAN ON ALL TYPES OF EMBRYONIC CLONING. ¶3. REFLECTING THIS COMMITMENT, PAROLIN TOLD DCM THAT THE HOLY SEE WAS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF PREPARING A COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENT OUTLINING THE VATICAN'S POSITION ON CLONING. THE PAPER, WHICH HAD BEEN REQUESTED BY HOLY SEE UN PERMREP MIGLIORE, WILL BE SHARED WIDELY WITHIN THE UN, INCLUDING ALL UN MISSIONS, AND WILL ALSO BE SENT TO NUNCIOS AND BISHOPS IN KEY TARGET COUNTRIES. DCM PROVIDED PAROLIN WITH THE REFTEL LIST OF COUNTRIES WE HAVE IDENTIFIED FOR SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT, AND HE AGREED TO ENSURE THAT THE NEW DOCUMENT WAS SENT TO ALL OF THE KEY COUNTRIES AS WELL AS OTHERS. PAROLIN STRESSED THAT EACH OF THE PAPER'S POINTS WILL BE PRUDENTIAL AND ROOTED IN SCIENCE. FURTHERMORE, THE VATICAN WILL PRESENT ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH AS THE BEST ALTERNATIVE TO EMBRYONIC CLONING. THE PAPER WAS TO BE COMPLETED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE END OF JULY. IN FACT, PAROLIN LEFT THE MEETING TO ATTEND A MEETING TO FINALIZE SOME DRAFTING ELEMENTS FOR THE PAPER. ¶4. DCM SUBSEQUENTLY MET WITH ARCHBISHOP LOZANO BARRAGAN JULY ¶11. BARRAGAN RECALLED HIS MEETING WITH HHS SECRETARY TOMMY THOMPSON AND OFFERED HIS FULL SUPPORT FOR THE COSTA RICAN RESOLUTION. HE PLEDGED THAT THE HOLY SEE &WILL DO OUR BEST8 TO INFLUENCE TARGET COUNTRIES TO SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN TO BAN ALL FORMS OF CLONING. AT THE SAME TIME, HE CAUTIONED THAT IN SOME LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES, THE GOVERNMENTS' COMPLEX RELATIONS WITH THE HOLY SEE SOMETIMES LIMITS HOW HARD THE NUNCIOS AND BISHOPS CAN PUSH HOST GOVERNMENTS. NICHOLSON NNNN 2003VATICA03359 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED