Just Start: fighting material and spiritual hunger

Outreach to the hungry and homeless in Manila and Russia.

Carolyn Moynihan | May 17 2016 | comment

In a second video in the Just Start series on the works of mercy, people in Russia and the Philippines are shown fighting material and spiritual hunger.

Poor children, and sometimes their parents, in the Philippines receive food and help with their education as well as values formation in a family atmosphere. Like homeless people in Russia they receive, but also become part of a virtuous circle of giving back and helping others.

A woman helping in the Feeding Metro Manila project says: “Ten years from now it will not be me doing this, these kids we are feeding now will be the ones helping others.” And an organiser says: “When you see how patient they are, how persevering they are, you ask yourself, “Am I the one helping them, or are they the ones helping me.”

The series is inspired by Pope Francis’ call for practical works of mercy in this jubilee Year of Mercy, and by the legacy of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo (1914 – 1994) the second prelate of Opus Dei. Further information about the videos can be found here.

- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/above/view/just-start-fighting-material-and-spiritual-hunger/18071#sthash.wt5O7J6c.dpuf

I always understood that stem cell researchers were banned from allowing human embryos to grow in a Petri dish for longer than 14 days. Around the world this bright line was either a law or a scientific guideline. I don't believe that embryos should be grown in Petri dishes or experimented on at all, but the idea that scientists believed insome limit was a comforting sign of respect for human life.

How ignorant I was. It turns out that the longest time that an embryo had ever grown in a Petri dish was 9 days. It was easy to observe the limit because it was unreachable anyway. Praising researchers' restraint was like awarding medals for services to endangered species to hunters who refuse to kill unicorns. Earlier this month, however, researchers announced that they had grown embryos for 13 days. Immediately, leading scientists suggested that the 14-day rule be revisited. No doubt this will happen quickly unless there is a robust debate. Below, Xavier Symons discusses some of the ethical complications.