The Holy Father recognized the heroic virtues of JEROME LEJEUNE, the French geneticist who discovered the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome. (see Blog 6/24/2018)
The step means that Doctor Lejeune can now be referred to as “Venerable.”
Doctor Lejeune was born on June 13, 1926, in Montrouge, in the southern Parisian suburbs. In 1958, he deduced that Down syndrome was caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.
He dedicated the rest of his life to researching treatments to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome.
He firmly opposed the use of prenatal testing to identify unborn children with Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities for abortion.
In 1969 he received the prestigious William Allan Award for his work in genetics and said:
“For millennia, medicine has striven to fight for life and health and against disease and death. Any reversal of the order of these terms of reference would entirely change medicine itself.”
“It happens that nature does condemn. Our duty has always been not to inflict the sentence but to try to commute the pain. In any foreseeable genetical trial I do not know enough to judge, but I feel enough to advocate.”
After the speech, which received a cool reception, he reportedly told his wife: “Today, I lost my Nobel Prize in medicine.” Perhaps, but he gained his crown in a better place!
