National Institutes of Health Launches Stem Cell Registry

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Nov. 8—The National Institutes of Health has launched an online registry of embryonic stem cells eligible for federal funding, the business daily reported.

The launch of the site, part of the Bush administration's stem-cell plan, allows researchers to seek federal funds to study the cells. The NIH said it could begin awarding grants within a month.

The site lists 52 stem cell lines that have been propagated in research labs around the world from the original cells derived from days-old human embryos. The extraction process kills the nascent life.

Under a controversial plan announced by President George W. Bush Aug. 9, scientists at U.S. universities can win government grants to work with embryonic stem cells created on or before that date. No grants can go to research using other stem cell lines.

New Long Island Bishop Leads Prayer Prolife Vigil

NEWSDAY, Nov. 11—Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., led a prayer vigil outside a Planned Parenthood clinic, his first such participation since becoming bishop of the Long Island diocese Sept. 5.

About 350 people walked from Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park, where Bishop Murphy celebrated an early morning Mass, to the nearby clinic.

Planned Parenthood representatives compalined it was inappropriate to be protesting in a time of war. But vigil participants told the Long Island daily that they saw their efforts as more important than ever since the World Trade Center disaster.

Said Bishop Murphy, “What happened Sept. 11 makes this an even more appropriate time to pray. We're here to witness in respect for human life, including the lives of the unborn.”

Orthodox Priest Predicts Agreement on Creed

WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE, Nov. 12—An Orthodox priest participating in the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation expressed confidence that there will be agreement over the divisive “filioque” clause of the Nicean Creed, the Massachesetts newspaper reported.

But Rev. Nicholas Apostola, pastor of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Worcester, Mass., predicted opposition from “conservative” elements in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

The filioque controversy, which led to the Orthodox Schism over 1,000 years ago, centers on whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from only God the Father, as it is expressed in the Orthodox version of the Creed, or from the Father and the Son, as it is expressed in the Catholic version.

The Orthodox-Catholic consultation is cosponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.