Vatican 'largely supportive' of GMOs — Wikileaks

According to whistleblower site Wikileaks, the US Embassy in the Vatican reported to Washington that the Pope is receptive to using genetically modified crops (GMOs) to fight world hunger, but may encounter resistance from bishops from the Philippines and other countries. Among Wikileak's latest disclosures is a cable sent to Washington, DC in 2009 that touched on Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on environmental protection, among other things. The cable lauded Pope Benedict's remarks at the World Food Security Summit in Rome on Nov. 16, 2009, where he underscored the link between agricultural development and agricultural technology. "The Pope stated that access to 'sufficient, healthy and nutritious' food is a fundamental right upheld by the Catholic Church. Linking development with use of agricultural technologies (i.e., biotechnologies), Benedict stressed good governance and further infrastructure development as essential to increasing food security over the long-term," the cable noted. "[The Pope's] mention of agricultural technologies is a small but significant step towards more vocal Vatican support of biotechnologies," the cable stressed. The cable also mentioned a separate meeting with Monsignor James Reinert, "the point person on food security and biotechnology at the Vatican's Council of Justice and Peace". Reinert supposedly told embassy officials that not everyone in the Catholic Church may be comfortable with the Vatican's acceptance of GMOs as an alternative approach for countries to increase agriculture production. "The Vatican cannot force all bishops to endorse biotechnology, he said, particularly if their opposition has to do with concerns over protecting profits of large corporations who hold the patents for the crops, versus feeding the hungry. In the Philippines, he noted, bishops strongly protested GMOs in the past," the cable said. "Vatican officials remain largely supportive of genetically modified crops as a vehicle for protecting the environment while feeding the hungry, but — at least for now — are unwilling to challenge bishops who disagree," the cable concluded. — VS, GMANews.TV