Attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to in vitro fertilization can be changed, Bishop Savva (Tutunov), the Patriarchate’s deputy property manager, believes.
“One of the main, but not the only, problem of the in vitro fertilization was that several embruos were picked up and then their excess was eliminated. It is unacceptable for church approach. As I understand, today the new techniques allow avoiding such a situation, so the theme of in vitro fertilization is widely discussed in the Church and some new texts are being prepared,” the bishop said in his interview with NG-Religii paper on Wednesday.
He believes that the Russian orthodox Church can issue a new document to extend the Basis of the Social Concept adopted in 2000, which set forth the church view on different issues of political and social life, including bioethics – a special part was dedicated to it.
Bishop Savva stressed that the church Basis of the Social Concept has provisions that cannot be revised as they are “absolutely unacceptable” from the point of the Gospel teaching. “Euthanasia, for instance. It is evident that the Church will always be negative about it and it is reflected in the acting social concept.