Pope speaks out against screening fetuses for birth defects, genetic ailments, against artifical insemination and on and on!

Pope Benedict on Saturday condemned genetic engineering and other scientific practices that allow people to select so-called designer babies by screening them for defects.

In a speech to the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Church body of experts, the Pope also attacked artificial insemination and the widespread use of medical tests that can detect diseases and inherited disorders in embryos.

He also spoke out against civil unions as an alternative to marriage, his latest criticism of a bill approved this month by the Italian government granting rights to unwed and gay couples.

In other words, no surprising leap beyond the Dark Ages, this weekend.