hand and heart

The recent post office troubles have impacted our regular fundraising efforts. Please consider supporting the Register and Catholic journalism by using one of the methods below:

  • Donate online
  • Donate by e-transfer to accounting@catholicregister.org
  • Donate by telephone: 416-934-3410 ext. 406 or toll-free 1-855-441-4077 ext. 406
Nunzio Galantino is secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference. RNS photo courtesy Cristian Gennari

Italy’s Catholic bishops denounce court ruling that OK’d sperm donors

By  Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service
  • June 10, 2014

ROME - Italy’s Catholic bishops have condemned a court ruling that lifts a ban on married couples using sperm donors for artificial insemination, likening the move to playing God.

“None of us are the masters of anyone else, not even parents with respect to their own children,” the secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference, Msgr. Nunzio Galantino, said June 11.

“There is a glaring contradiction between those who proclaim freedom, respect, rights and then do not clearly recognize the rights of those who do not have the chance to express it for themselves.”

On June 9, the country’s Constitutional Court detailed the reasons behind its April 9 ruling that upheld a couple’s right to have a child even in the case of sterility. As part of the ruling, the court overturned a ban on donor sperm that did not come from the husband.

Carlo Casini, president of Italy’s anti-abortion Movement for Life, also attacked the court decision, saying it made no reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Casini said the decision could mean that the practice of abandoning children would become “institutionalized and encouraged.”

“They are looking at only the interests and desires of adults, not the interests or the rights of children,” he said.

In a statement, the Italian health ministry said it would consider every aspect of the ruling – as well as available facilities, criteria for donor selection and issues such as informed consent — before acting on the court decision.

Italy’s Catholic bishops also recently condemned a new law aimed at speeding up divorce by doing away with a three-year separation waiting period.

Please support The Catholic Register

Unlike many media companies, The Catholic Register has never charged readers for access to the news and information on our website. We want to keep our award-winning journalism as widely available as possible. But we need your help.

For more than 125 years, The Register has been a trusted source of faith-based journalism. By making even a small donation you help ensure our future as an important voice in the Catholic Church. If you support the mission of Catholic journalism, please donate today. Thank you.

DONATE