The multiplication of loaves has a new name: GMO
With a view to helping the poor nations of the world, the Vatican is ever the more in favor of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). And the United States applauds their position, according to Ambassador Nicholson in his new book
by Sandro Magister
ROMA - Even books can become instruments of diplomacy. The Ambassador of the United States to the Holy See, Jim Nicholson, has re-released his little book, originally published a year and a half ago, "The United States and the Holy See: The Long Road". The ambassador has enriched the second edition with 40 additional pages and two prefaces.
The two new prefaces were penned by the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and ex-Vatican Foreign Minister, Jean-Louis Tauran. The latter took part in the book´s official public presentation held March 31 at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.
The first edition (like the second) is published in Italian and particularly geared toward Vatican readers. The first release covered the history of US-Vatican relations until the year 2002. The second edition has been updated through 2003.
The new edition thus includes the events of the Iraq War, noting the differences of opinion between the Vatican and White House as well as the efforts the American government made to convince the Catholic Church´s top officials of its political and ideological motives for going to war. There is, for example, a chapter entitled "The Just War: The Chief Role of St. Augustine", making reference to Catholic theologian and political expert Michael Novak´s mission to Rome.
However Nicholson´s new book ends by underscoring how both the U.S. and Vatican positions have drawn close to one another once again - and not just in terms of managing post-war affairs in Iraq.
Confirming this strengthened consensus is the ambassador´s references to GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
Ambassador Nicholson complains about what happened in Zambia in the fall of 2002 when Jesuits priests and bishops blocked a shipment of US food aid to this incredibly poor country because "it contained a small percentage of biotech foodstuffs."
He recalls the pressure the Bush administration placed on the Vatican to "discourage the propagation of erroneous information through prominent Church personalities and groups associated with them."
Moreover, the ambassador appreciates the openness and balance the Holy See had showed in organizing an international conference on GMOs in 2003 through its Pontifical Commission of Justice and Peace.
* * *Indeed many were surprised by the pro-GMO orientation of the 2003 conference, whose minutes and proceedings will be published by the Pontifical Athenaeum "Regina Apostolorum" of the Legionaries of Christ.
The conference concluded without drawing any sound documented conclusion. Yet the talks given by Cardinal Renato Martino were striking. The prelate - who is often quick to express his anti-American views regarding the third world - seemed to lend more attention to the benefits and not the risks of new biotech farming.
And most experts at the two-day conference leaned in this same direction, as they spelled out a basis for hope and not doom for GMO products.
Previously the Pontifical Academy for Life (1999) and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (2000) had organized two GMO study panels. Both had expressed fundamentally favorable opinions on biotech foods. Yet, such accounts have never received due attention
It was the frequent remarks made by various cardinals, bishops and missionaries fiercely opposed to biotech modifications (changes they defined as the enemies of nature and man) which made even greater noise. These were made together with a timely array of invectives launched against profits taken in by multinational agricultural groups.
Cardinal Martino announced the preparing of document with which the Holy See "will perform the role of Mater and Magistra" by offering its own opinion on the matter from a religious, ethical-cultural and pastoral point of view.
The document´s release is not expected anytime in the near future. However a substantially pro-GMO position has already been taken up inside the Vatican. Such a position has been understood from coverage of the Nov. 2003 conference, particularly as seen in the March 20 2004 issue of "La Civiltà Cattolica" .
"La Civiltà Cattolica" coverage of the conference gave much space to explicating pro-GMO arguments rather than those opposed to them. We read in the magazine that The Holy See firmly hopes that "GMOs can be an opportunity to produce good things and foster social development for the poorest nations on earth which, based on Jesus Christ´s example, the Church holds especially dear."
The experts "La Civiltà Cattolica" quotes most often are two: the first, for a theological-pastoral perspective, is Fr. Gonzalo Miranda (chairman of the bioethics department at "Regina Apostolorum"); the second, from a genetic engineering standpoint, is Dr. Giuseppe Bertoni (genetics professor and director of the Zootecnics Institute at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in Piacenza). Dr. Bertoni is a particular staunch advocate of GMOs.
Yet the magazine offered a mere footnote in support of the flipside of the argument, when quoting an anti-GMO speaker at the conference, Jesuit Fr. Roland Lesseps of the "Kasisi Agricultural Training Center" in Lusaka (Zambia). Fr. Lesseps, together with fellow Jesuit theologian Fr. Peter Henriot, had inspired Zambia to refuse GMO food aid in the fall of 2002.
Each "Civiltà Cattolica" article had been reviewed and approved by the Vatican secretariat of state before going to print, thereby presumably reflecting the thought of top Vatican officials.
Another clue to such orientation is found in an 11-page article in the Feb. 21 2004 issue of "La Civiltà Cattolica". In this issue Fr. GianPaolo Salvini, the magazine´s editor-in-chief, wrote up a favorable article on the most massive and documented accusations of recent years brought against apocalyptic environmentalism. The article reflected the work of Bjorn Lomborg: "The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World."
At any rate, below is Ambassador Nicholson´s chapter dedicated to Vatican-United States discussion on GMOs:
The Moral Issue of Biotech Food[From J. NICHOLSON, "Usa e Santa Sede: la lunga strada", Roma, 2004, pp. 108-111]The whole time the United States has dedicated to the Iraq conflict, I have continued to have various and fruitful discussions with the Holy See on a certain moral issue. It is a vital issue and one to which I am particularly sensitive - the feeding of starving populations.
Since I first became aware of the potential of biotech food to alleviate problems of malnutrition and hunger, I decided to work with the Holy See to try and make its strong moral voice heard on this topic. Just like it had recently done with regard to the trafficking of human beings at a May 2002 conference (organized by my embassy in collaboration with the Vatican).
The issue of biotech food was revealed in all its gravity in the fall of 2002 when American food relief our government offered to Zambia via the World Food Program was refused by the local African government, since it was said to contain a small percentage of biotech food. A Jesuit priest had been working in Zambia to encourage the government to assume this position. Moreover, he had slowly influenced bishops in Zambia, thereby adding to the confusion that placed millions of lives in Zambia at risk.
At the World Food Summit held in Rome in June 2002 it was announced that 800 million persons in world were malnourished and that ever 5 seconds a child was dying of hunger. Food, when necessary to sustain life, becomes clearly a moral issue. Therefore, even while admitting that every government has the sovereign right to accept or refuse assistance of its primary needs, the United States believes that each government has the duty to assure that its citizens have enough to eat.
In brief, we believe that food sustains life, that life is precious and therefore that this is a moral issue, especially for those who plead for a "culture of life", like the Vatican.
In light of the positive opinion expressed by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on biotech food, I would encourage GMO exponents to share their conclusions with bishops and nuncios in the broadest possible way to help overcome the type of misinformation that had paralyzed the World Food Program´s efforts in Zambia.
Secretary of State Powell brought up the issue again in an appeal he made to Archbishop Tauran. And as a result the Holy See agreed to share information in much more detail and depth with religious authorities in concerned countries.
Given the benefits that biotechnology can offer the developing world, we believe the Holy See´s moral voice on food consumption safety and on the potential of such food to end world hunger and malnutrition may help diminish myths about biotech food in underdeveloped regions.
Moreover, the Holy See can discourage the spread of erroneous information, which jeopardize the lives of persons, through prominent Church personalities or groups associated with them. There are many persons suffering from hunger in the world, whose future shouldn´t be held hostage by the political narrow mindedness of well-fed people in developed countries.
In November 2003 the Holy See held a very significant international conference, "Genetically Modified Organisms - Threat or Hope?", thus showing a strong interest in being informed on this irrepressible moral issue as well as demonstrating a willingness to investigate the potential of such food to ease hunger and malnutrition among the world´s most needy people.
This is only an example of how the United States and the Holy See continue to work closely together to improve the world´s standard of living. By seeking to protect the sanctity of live, promote human dignity, sustain the cause of freedom (even religious freedom), raise awareness about the trafficking of human beings and feed those who are starving in the world, the relationship between the United States and the Holy See will rest on solid common foundations. It is a relationship that ensures that such common objectives, which forge our respective foreign policies, will continue to have first priority among the things to do to foster human dignity throughout the world.
The United States and the Holy See will continue share the international spotlight as protagonists in the years to come. In the same way their voices will continue to control the international agenda. Even if we will certainly have our differences in terms of the best way to reach some of our common goals, the primacy of human dignity will light the way along long road facing us.
As we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See, I am confident that well-thought out dialog will continue to make improvements for the dignity of man and continue to increase our common desire that each person, despite his race, color or creed, should live in peace in society and make bear the fruit of his God-given talents.
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The book:
Jim Nicholson, "USA e Santa sede: la lunga strada", Edizioni 30 Giorni, Roma, 2004, pp. 128.The book is not for sale in stores. In order to obtain a copy a request must be sent to the magazine that procured its publication:
> "30 Giorni"__________
Go here to find out more regarding the previous edition of the book:
> The U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican: "After September 11, the Pope Said to Me..." (13.11.2002)
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Cardinal Renato Martini´s words (in Italian and French) at a Nov 10-11 2003 GMO seminar organized by the Vatican´s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace:
> "OGM: minaccia o speranza?"__________
Go hear to read a document concerning a Pontifical Academy of Sciences publication on GMOs, written to sum up the talks given at its Nov. 10-13 2000 plenary session. Here you´ll find the document in English (no. 99 on the list of the Council´s publications) entitled: "Science and the Future of Mankind. Science for Man and Man for Science". The study on page 516 of the dossier is:
> "Study-Document on the Use of ´Genetically Modified Food Plants´ to Combat Hunger in the World"__________
The above mentioned articles published in "La Civiltà Cattolica":
Giovanni Marchesi S.I., "Gli OGM: minaccia o speranza per l´umanità?", n. 3690, 20 marzo 2004, pp. 586-595;
GianPaolo Salvini S.I., "Il mondo è in pericolo?", n. 3688, 21 febbraio 2004, pp. 394-404.The link to the magazine:
> "La Civiltà Cattolica"A passage from Fr. Marchesi´s article:
"While discussing the opportunity and cost/benefits ratio of transgenic organisms [Dr. Giuseppe Bertoni] pointed out some of the numerous potentials which were of great value to the good of man and the ecosystem, despite what some critics think. He said there would be less use of pesticides, the possibility to make use of arid and poor land, a reduction in the amount of necessary farmland and a rise in human food nutritional standards. Hence he issued the following warning: ´Whoever will hold themselves for missing out on developing opportunities of such importance for human development will have to face major problems.´ [...] This seems to be the same prospective indicated in a study published by the Pontifical Council of Sciences (2001) on the use of transgenic plants to fight against world hunger: ´To make the best use of this new technology and provide the possibility to manage agriculture in a such new ways is a moral challenge for scientists and governments across the world."
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The following is a book with the minutes and proceedings of the Nov. 22 "Slavery in the 21st Century" conference organized by the US Ambassador to the Holy See and in collaboration with the Vatican. The conference, held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, focused on issues related to the trafficking of human beings:
"Stop Trafficking in Human Beings: Together Is Possible. Proceedings of the International Conference ´21st Century Slavery - The Human Rights Dimension to Trafficking in Human Beings´, May 15-16, 2002", > Franco Angeli, Milano, 2003, pp. 354, euro 24,50.__________
English translation by Michael A. Severance.
Go to the home page of
> www.chiesa.espressonline.it/english, to access the latest articles and links to other resources.
Sandro Magister´s e-mail address is
s.magister@espressoedit.it
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5.4.2004
