These Filipino men sold their kidneys for donation

But he warned that any attempt to commercialise human organs or consider them as items of barter or trade must be considered morally unacceptable.

He went on to condemn all experiments in the cloning of human embryos, even with a view to obtaining new organs for transplant.

These techniques, the Pope said, insofar as they involve the manipulation and destruction of human embryos, are not morally acceptable, even when their proposed goal is good in itself.

Alternative

The Pope pointed scientists toward adult stem cells as the acceptable route for research in this field.

Both Britain and the United States have recently announced legislation permitting medical research with stem cells that have been removed from human embryos.

The Pope's support for organ donations could have an important effect in predominantly Catholic countries like Italy, where there is an acute shortage of donor offers.

People here are reluctant to offer their organs for transplant after death because of traditional Catholic ideas about the importance of the integrity of the human body at death.