Press Release

UPDATE: See video and photos of Rigg and Otten taking the ice bucket challenge here.

Jim Rigg, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and Tom Otten, principal of Elder High School, will take the popular “ice bucket challenge” to support medical research against ALS at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Elder High School in Price Hill.

FAQ: What is the Ice Bucket Challenge, and why is it happening?

In conjunction with the challenge, they will each make a contribution to the John Paul II Medical Research Institute in Iowa City, Iowa, which conducts research using only adult stem cells, which is morally acceptable under Catholic teaching. (Embryonic stem cells can only be obtained by destroying embryonic life.)

Media are welcome.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 38th largest Catholic diocese in the country, with almost 500,000 Catholics, and has the sixth largest network of Catholic schools in terms of enrollment.  The 19-county territory includes 213 parishes and 113 Catholic primary and secondary schools.

Posted Aug. 20, 2014