On September 22, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the doctrinal authority of the Catholic Church, published a letter on the importance of caring for the sick and dying, which reaffirmed the Church’s teaching on the destructiveness of euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide (PAS), and abortion. The letter’s Latin title, Samaritanus Bonus, conveys the framework of the letter as the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The letter was approved by Pope Francis in June, and was written by the Prefect of the CDF, Jesuit Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria. It comes as an increasing number of countries legalize PAS and active euthanasia. In February, Germany’s high court ruled that a ban on PAS was unconstitutional, and the governments of Portugal and Spain introduced plans to legalize euthanasia. New Zealand will be holding a national referendum on the legality of PAS on October 17.
The Rev. Andrea Vicini, S.J., the Michael P. Walsh Professor of Bioethics in the Theology Department of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences and an affiliate faculty member at the School of Theology and Ministry, argues that the letter expresses the Vatican’s concern not only with current legislation, but also “personal or social attitudes that might lead to accepting or promoting euthanasia and PAS.” Fr. Vicini explained that “the choice of the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan–which is the title [of] the letter and accompanies the whole text throughout–stresses how generous care–and health care in particular–should be provided to everyone in need.”
The Vatican urges that “the pastoral care of all—family, doctors, nurses, and chaplains—can help the patient to persevere in sanctifying grace and to die in charity and the Love of God.”
The Church reminds the sufferer that they do not suffer alone. Rather, the agony of Christ on the cross brought to Christ “the experience of multiple forms of pain and anguish” which resonate “with the sick and their families during the long days of infirmity” before the end of life. The CDF urges that “pain is existentially bearable only when there is hope” and that this hope comes from the Resurrection, which shows “the last word never belongs to death, pain, betrayal, and suffering.”
The letter condemns individualism and what it calls “the most hidden malady of our time: “solitude or privacy” where a person can choose to kill him or herself based on autonomy and the “principle of permission-consent.”
The final section of the letter lays out the authoritative teaching of the Church in eleven situations. This section builds off of the affirmation of human dignity found in the four previous sections. In the first subsection, the CDF reaffirms the church’s ancient prohibition against euthanasia and assisted suicide as a “an act of homicide that no end can justify.” Additionally, it cautions against abuses of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders. Fr. Vicini explained that the letter does not prohibit or dismiss the importance of DNR orders in a limited scope, but “reaffirms how these orders should not be used for promoting euthanasia and PAS.”
“The choice of the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan–which is the title [of] the letter and accompanies the whole text throughout–stresses how generous care–and health care in particular–should be provided to everyone in need.”
FR. ANDREA VICINI, S.J.
The letter prohibits disproportionate aggressive medical treatments in situations where the treatment will only prolong suffering. At the same time, it condemns the suspension of basic treatments to keep a person alive and relieve suffering, like nutrition and water, including through a feeding tube, provided they do not cause “harm or intolerable suffering to the patient.”
A significant portion of the letter is devoted to promoting palliative care, positing that emphasis on palliative care “reduces considerably the number of persons who request euthanasia.” Sedative drugs are allowed so that the end of life “arrives with greatest possible peace” so long as sedation excludes “as its direct purpose, the intention to kill, even though it may accelerate the inevitable onset of death.”
The Vatican laid out recommendations for prenatal and pediatric medicine. It condemned a eugenic mentality that drives an “obsessive recourse to prenatal diagnosis” and often prompts abortion. The letter reiterated the immorality of abortion and that “the use of prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes is contrary to the dignity of the person.”
Concrete advice is given to healthcare employees working where euthanasia and PAS are allowed: “We must obey God rather than men.” It teaches that “it is never morally lawful to collaborate with such immoral actions or to imply collusion in word, action, or omission.”
Priests are called to “remain close” to patients who elect to receive euthanasia or PAS, always inviting them to conversion, but clergy must withhold the sacraments from them until they show some sign of repentance. The personal responsibility of the patient receiving euthanasia “could be diminished or non-existent,” however, and guilt is not to be assumed.
The letter concludes with a reminder that even in a “throwaway culture,” hope is always possible. It concludes with a reflection that “the vocation to love and care of another brings with it the rewards of eternity” based on Christ’s explanation that those who care for the least ones, including “a suffering brother or sister,” will inherit the kingdom.
Featured image courtesy of ProPublica
Correction 10/1: A previous version of this article and the print article incorrectly stated that the Walsh Professor of Bioethics was in the School of Theology and Ministry. It is in fact in the Theology Department of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences.
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