NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (CWNews.com) - Archbishop Roman Arrieta Villalobos of San Jose on Wednesday strongly criticized the new baby sex-selection method developed by American scientists, explaining that "it is not morally acceptable and breaks the intimate union between marital love and procreation."

      Reports about the new method to select the sex of a child developed by geneticists in Fairfax, Virginia, have sparked controversy in the region. Archbishop Arrieta said the Catholic Church finds the new method "unacceptable," because "from the very beginning, it isolates the process of human conception both from the natural course of procreation and love."

      "Because of our respect for life and for the human person, Catholics cannot agree to a capricious will to choose the sex of their child -- by violating both natural and supernatural laws," the archbishop said. Archbishop Arrieta also said that the laws of Central American countries forbids genetic manipulation, "because most of the experts in the field are aware that such action has ethical and moral implications."