Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Pope can’t donate his organs


TNT Magazine
The Pope cannot donate his organs, The Vatican has decreed.

Though he’s a long-time signed-up organ donor, Pope Benedict XVi’s donor card became null and void the day he became head honcho of the Catholic church, his personal secretary revealed.

This is because the Pope's organs belong to the church and cannot be just plonked in some mere mortals, apparently.

The issue came up when a German doctor recently promoted organ donation using the Pope as an example. The pope signed up to the organ-donor program more than 30 years ago and carried a donor card for decades in his native Germany.

However the the Pope's secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein asked the doctor, in a letter, to desist from using Il Papa as an example.



"While it is true that the pope has an organ donor card, it is also true that, contrary to some public affirmations, the card issued in the 1970s became ipso facto invalid with Cardinal Ratzinger's election to the papacy," he explained.

The Pope has long been a supporter of organ donation which he described as an "act of love."

In 2008 he said: "tissue and organ transplants represent a great advance of medical science and are certainly a sign of hope for the many people who suffer from serious and sometimes critical medical conditions."

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

No comments: