Godfried Cardinal Danneels of Belgium Among Those to Speak as Foundations Meet on Life Issues

Washington, D.C. ----- Godfried Cardinal Danneels, a former seminary professor and the Primate of Belgium, will address the members of FADICA next January 26-27, when the grant makers’ organization meets in Florida.

Cardinal Danneels will speak at a national symposium entitled: A Matter of Life: Human Dignity, Religious Ethics and the New Frontier of Genetic Science.

The purpose of the midwinter gathering is to discuss how communities of faith should be participating in the world of scientific research in order to foster ethical reflection on human life issues.

Included among the rostrum of speakers will be Dr. Audrey R. Chapman, Director of the Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion at the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Bishop R. Pierre DuMaine of San Jose, California; Dr. M. Cathleen Kaveny of the University of Notre Dame; Dr. Charles L. Harper, Vice President of the John Templeton Foundation, and Dr. Susan Billington Harper, Executive Director of the Templeton Prize.

The discussions will also include a look at work to promote the sacredness of human life. Among the invited panelists are Clarke D. Forsythe, President of Americans United for Life; Dr. Rita L. Marker, an attorney and Executive Director of the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force; and Mary Jane Owen, Executive Director for the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities.

The invitational symposium is one in a long series of educational forums designed to help private foundations stay abreast of important trends impacting Catholicism. Foundation trustees taking part in the meetings interact with scholars, church leaders and other philanthropists.

In commenting on the symposium, FADICA’s President, Dr. Francis J. Butler remarked, "the current efforts to map out the genes that give life, and the head-turning advances in genetic science in general, suggest a future bursting with serious ethical challenges. We would like to explore just how the religious community is influencing scientific research and where future emphasis in the movement to protect human life ought to be placed."