(KAIR)--The President of Atchison's private Catholic Benedictine College has taken the Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral sensation being used to raise money in the fight to find a cure for ALS. 

However, Steve Minnis, whose challenge was captured on video and posted to Youtube, points out that his challenge is not for the ALS Association but for the John Paul II Medical Research Institute. 

The Ice Bucket Challenge, which has been performed by celebrities, sports stars and countless others, began as a way to raise funds for the ALS Association: either donate $100, or do the challenge and donate a lesser amount. 

However, as the challenge has grown, so has scrutiny from some Catholic Church leaders citing a study conducted by the association that used embryonic stem cells in its research. That message, cautioning against supporting the ALS Association, was issued in Omaha Thursday when the superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Omaha sent a message to principals. The Omaha Herald-World reports the message urged those taking part in the challenge to designate funds to organizations that don't go against the Catholic Church's stance on embryonic stem cell research. The church calls the method used to obtain embryonic stem cells the destruction of human life. 

Other Christian organizations, including the Christian Broadcasting Network, are also advocating alternative donation sources.

The Associated Press reports that ALS Association spokeswoman Carrie Munk says the organization does fund one study using embyonic stem cells from one specific donor. 

She adds that the association allows donors to stipulate where their money goes and can ask that it not pay for embryonic stem cell research.