Archdiocese cautions schools on ice bucket challenge

The Archdiocese of Chicago is telling principals of its schools that if they take part in the ice bucket challenge to raise funds to fight Lou Gehrig's disease to ask the ALS Association to direct the money to nonembryonic cell research.

Archdiocese officials say the Catholic Church supports only adult stem cell research and the ALS Association uses embryonic stem cells. Schools also have the option of donating to the John Paul II Medical Research Institute, an organization conducting similar research using only adult stem cells.

Chicago ALS Association development director Mary Ilene Blondell says a very small part of ALS Association funding goes to embryonic stem cell research.

The ALS Association said it has raised more than $53 million as participants take a bucket of ice water and drench themselves.