News,

An Italian Catholic priest working in Uganda has urged the country to resist pressure from the West to legalise abortion. Fr Felix Sciqnnqmeo made his comments during celebrations to mark World Peace Day. [AllAfrica.com, 6 January ] A woman living in London is taken legal action over the treatment of her disabled daughter after doctors allegedly told her that it was not worth putting the child on a ventilator to help her breathe. In an article in the Observer, Nadia (an assumed name) admitted that the experience had made her too frightened to seek medical help for the child a second time. She feared that doctors would not consider the life of her daughter - who suffers from asthma, epilepsy and developmental delay - to be worth saving. The Disability Rights Commission has indicated that the case is not unusual. [The Observer, 4 January ] Following an appeal from the director of a pro-life group, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington has moved to ensure that the Catholic Georgetown University discontinues using stem cell lines from aborted babies. In a letter to the Children of God for Life group, Cardinal McCarrick stated: "I have had this matter thoroughly investigated and I am pleased to tell you that Georgetown Medical Center's Tissue Culture Bank is now well aware of the moral problems concerning use of certain cell lines and research involving tissue culture." [LifeSite, 6 January ]