Body organ trafficking

Body organ trafficking is a flourishing, lucrative business, particularly in developing countries. According to the World Health Organisation, people in Asian city slums are often approached to sell one of their organs for as little as $5,000. These are then re-sold for anything between $100,000 and $200,000. The donors often do it to try to escape their abject poverty living on next to nothing.

In China, where 11,000 cases were reported last year, and other countries where organ trafficking is common, such as India and Brazil, steps are now being taken to reduce the trade. However, the Government of the Philippines, a Catholic country, still seems unconcerned with the practice, and transplants of trafficked organs are regularly carried out in government hospitals.

A Harvard professor leading a campaign against organ trafficking described the practice as "despicable exploitation of human misery" which all governments and, not least, the Church should condemn without reservations.

In his Lenten sermon four years ago, John Paul II had referred to the practice of human organ trafficking as "obscene". An official at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace also condemned the medical community's complicity because, he stated, "they contribute to the devaluation of the dignity of the human person, objectifying them and reducing them to a commodity that can be bought, sold and used."

However, Vatican officials have stated that more time is needed to learn about the very shady practice that was "hard to pin down". A spokesman for the Pontifical Academy for Life said the Vatican would soon announce a number of instructions to "draw attention to the issue".