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By FRANCES D'EMILIO
.c The Associated Press

 
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican said Wednesday that experimentation on human embryos could spawn a new form of slavery by creating a ``sub-category'' of human beings: unborn children manipulated to serve the purposes of others.

In a document released ahead of the U.N. conference on racism, the Holy See also weighed in on the issue of reparations for descendants of slaves, suggesting nations apologize or express regret for past behavior but warning that calculating compensation would be difficult.

The document, produced by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, was a kind of position paper for the 8-day conference that starts Friday in South Africa. Vatican delegates will attend.

The Vatican document expressed concern about what it called ``new and dramatic forms of discrimination'' - including discrimination against ``the unborn child as the subject of experimentation and technological intervention.''

It cited artificial procreation, the use of ``superfluous'' embryos and ``so-called therapeutic cloning.''

``Here there is a risk of a new form of racism, for the development of these techniques could lead to a creation of a `sub-category of human beings,' basically for the convenience of certain others,'' the Vatican said. ``This would be a new and terrible form of slavery.''

It urged governments and scientists to be highly vigilant about trying to create a better human being through genetic manipulation, saying, ``Regrettably, it cannot be denied that the temptation of eugenics is still latent, especially if powerful commercial interests exploit it.''

The issue of reparations for the descendants of African slaves is among the most divisive under discussion.

Supporters of reparations say details would still have to be worked out, but that at a minimum, reparations would include cancellation of Africa's billions of dollars in foreign debt, and the funding of social, education and health programs.

The Vatican document said that calculation of compensation could be difficult. It suggested an ``apology or expression of regret to the victim state by the state responsible for the wrong.''

The United States - which will not send a high-level delegation to the conference and may not attend at all - fears that apologizing for slavery would open the door to countless compensation claims.

The statement said it was not up to the church ``to propose a technical solution to so complex a problem,'' but linked the issue to what it said was a need to address the disparity between rich and poor nations.

It said that ``the Holy See wishes to emphasize that the need for reparation reinforces the obligation of giving substantial help to developing countries, an obligation weighing chiefly on the more developed countries.''

Pope John Paul II has made reconciliation priority of his papacy, expressing regret for the Roman Catholic church's past treatment of others including Jews and Orthodox Christians. On a visit to Africa in 1992, he asked forgiveness for Christians involved in the slave trade.

AP-NY-08-29-01 1500EDT

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press