VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is raising its opposition to embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization and human cloning to a new level.
But the Vatican is also saying in a major new bioethics document that it approves of some forms of gene therapy and encourages stem cell research using adult cells.
And it says parents could, in good conscience, inoculate their children with vaccines produced with cells derived from aborted fetuses.
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith today issued the instruction on bioethical questions that have emerged in the two decades since its last such document was published.
The Vatican's overall position is formed by its belief that human life begins at conception.
