Elaine Fuchs Award-winning scientist joins Vatican academy
Pope Francis has named a pioneering US scientist specialising in stem-cell research to the Pontifical Academy for Sciences. Elaine Fuchs, professor and head of the laboratory of mammalian cell biology and development at The Rockefeller University in New York, was appointed to the papal think tank, according to a Vatican press release.
The scientist has done ground-breaking research on the biology of skin stem cells, studying how these cells make and repair tissues, how they ‘communicate’ with other neighbouring cells, and how the communication malfunctions in cancer and aging.
The research is aimed at developing therapies that enhance wound repair and impact the stem cells of tumours.
Born in Hinsdale, Illinois, she earned a degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois and got her PhD in biochemistry from Princeton University. She was the first woman hired in the biochemistry department at the University of Chicago in 1980.
In addition to working at Rockefeller University, she is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute – a philanthropic organisation working to advance biomedical research and science education.
Poverty and prayer helps discernment Pope says
The only way to understand and choose what is right in a world full of conflict, difficulties and materialism, is by living a life of poverty that is filled with prayer and patience Pope Francis said.
“If you pray, if you are poor, if you are patient, rest assured that you will be fruitful,” he told about 700 consecrated men and women in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall.
The religious were attending an international congress sponsored by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The congress in Rome from May 3-6 brought together members of many different forms of consecrated life, lay associations and movements to reflect on the meaning of ‘consecration’ and issues related to consecrated life.
The Pope said he was asked to come up with some “authentic criteria” for how to discern what is really happening in the world and how not to get lost in “the fog of worldliness,” temptations and “the spirit of war”.
Calling infighting within communities “a scandal,” he also warned his audience against the three “tiny steps” that will turn any consecrated religious into “a worldly religious”: money, vanity and pride.
Pope’s Geneva schedule released
During his one-day visit to Geneva, Pope Francis will highlight the importance of Christians praying and working together on their ecumenical journey.
He will visit the ecumenical centre of the World Council of Churches, where he will be part of an ecumenical prayer service and meeting June 21. The Pope will also meet privately with the president of the Swiss confederation and celebrate Mass with the local Catholic community.
The papal visit is part of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches – a fellowship of Christian communities and churches, seeking visible unity among Christians.
The Vatican released the Pope’s schedule for his trip on May 7.