Catholic leaders around the world are standing up against
the biotech industry’s claim that the Vatican endorses genetically
engineered (GE) crops. Biotech proponents have enjoyed a
major public relations boost by trumpeting a portion of
a report released by the Vatican last year. In one part,
the report stated that it is the Catholic Church’s stance
that God gave humans the right to manipulate and control
the natural environment on any level, including genetic
engineering. The biotech industry has failed to mention
that the report also states that GE crops should not be
spread unless they are conclusively proven to be safe for
human health and the environment. The Vatican report elaborates
on that point, indicating that the Catholic Church does
not believe adequate testing of GE crops has been done,
saying, "available scientific data are contradictory
or quantitatively scarce. It may then be appropriate to
base evaluations on the precautionary principle." Learn
more…