Catholics may receive organ transplants from animals, Vatican says

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, March 24 (Reuters) – The Vatican said on Tuesday that Catholics can receive animal tissue transplants to treat medical problems, as procedures involving genetically modified pig or cow organs continue to advance.

In an 88-page document providing ethical guidelines for such transplants, the Vatican reaffirmed previous teaching and said the Church had no objection to such treatments, provided they follow best medical practices and do not treat animals cruelly.

“Catholic theology does not exclude, on a religious or ritual basis, the use of an animal as a source of organs, tissues or cells intended for transplantation into human beings,” the document states.

The text discussed xenotransplantation, or the transplantation of organs or tissues from one species to another. The Vatican first green-lighted such procedures in 2001, when they were in the very early stages of development.

Animal organ transplants for human use are still rare. The first pig-to-human kidney transplant was performed in the United States in 2024.

The Vatican document, drafted with the help of Italian, American and Dutch doctors, calls on “scientists to pursue animal transplants in a ‘targeted, proportionate and sustainable’ manner.”

He also called on doctors to disclose the risks of animal transplants, including the likelihood of rejection by a patient’s immune system and the possibility of causing infection by microorganisms.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Andrei Khalip)