Pope Francis to palliative care symposium: Euthanasia is a ‘failure of love’ (2024)

May 22, 2024Catholic News AgencyNews Briefs7Print

Pope Francis to palliative care symposium: Euthanasia is a ‘failure of love’ (2)

CNA Staff, May 22, 2024 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

Speaking to an interfaith symposium on palliative care taking place in Toronto May 21–23, Pope Francis said that “authentic palliative care is radically different from euthanasia, which is never a source of hope or genuine concern for the sick and dying.”

“All who experience the uncertainties so often brought about by sickness and death need the witness of hope provided by those who care for them and who remain at their side,” the pope said in his message to the symposium.

“In this regard, palliative care, while seeking to alleviate the burden of pain as much as possible, is above all a concrete sign of closeness and solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering. At the same time, this kind of care can help patients and their loved ones to accept the vulnerability, frailty, and finitude that mark human life in this world.”

The International Interfaith Symposium on Palliative Care was organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Canadian Episcopal Conference. The pope’s message was read on the opening night of the symposium by Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, apostolic nuncio to Canada.

Quoting his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis called euthanasia “a failure of love, a reflection of a ‘throwaway culture’ in which ‘persons are no longer seen as a paramount value to be cared for and respected.’”

He also repeated a conviction he has shared before that assisted suicide and euthanasia constitute a “false compassion.”

“‘[C]ompassion,’ a word that means ‘suffering with,’ does not involve the intentional ending of a life but rather the willingness to share the burdens of those facing the end stages of our earthly pilgrimage,” he explained.

“Palliative care, then, is a genuine form of compassion, for it responds to suffering, whether physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual, by affirming the fundamental and inviolable dignity of every person, especially the dying, and helping them to accept the inevitable moment of passage from this life to eternal life.”

The Church has long supported palliative care, teaching that assisted suicide and euthanasia — which both involve the intentional taking of life — are never permissible. Withholding “extraordinary means” of medical treatment and allowing death to occur naturally can be morally permissible under Catholic teaching.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia have been legalized in recent decades countries such as Canada, Australia, Spain, Belgium, and in multiple U.S. states, permitting patients to take their own lives or allowing doctors to kill them outright. In some of those countries, patients can request assisted suicide even if they are not suffering from a fatal affliction.

“[O]ur religious convictions offer a more profound understanding of illness, suffering, and death, seeing these as part of the mystery of divine providence and, for the Christian tradition, a means toward sanctification,” the pope continued in his remarks to the symposium.

“At the same time, the compassionate actions and respect shown by dedicated medical personnel and caregivers have often created the possibility for those at the end of their lives to find spiritual comfort, hope and reconciliation with God, family members and friends.”

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Pope Francis to palliative care symposium: Euthanasia is a ‘failure of love’ (3)

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7 Comments

  1. “an interfaith symposium on palliative care taking place in Toronto ”
    *******
    In Toronto?

    Reply

    • They mean “interfaithless”.

      Reply

  2. Mrs. Cracker above – Yes, Toronto.
    While Canada is in the “forefront” of the euthanasia/assisted suicide movement, it is also the home of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
    And some of our bishops have been quite active in urging support for palliative care, the real Medical Aid in Dying.

    Reply

    • The situation is perhaps less black and white than presented: When they switch up the morphine (palliative care), they know when the patient will die (euthanasia). But how many of us are willing to suffer death without morphine? Contemplating it is difficult…

      Reply

      • Monsieur Cracked Nut. The Church allows the use of whatever amount of morphine is required to alleviate excruciating pain for the dying, even to the point of risk of death. It’s not euthanasia because the intent is not to kill, insofar as we’re medicating within the limits of risk.

        Reply

  3. Life is sacred and a precious gift. Long live life.

    Reply

  4. Professing for media consumption the inadmissibility of euthanasia while simultaneously allowing its admissibility elsewhere, see “Pontifical Academy for Life is betraying its founder, JPII biographer George Weigel says” is indeed morally inadmissible. This charade doesn’t work anymore, that is, for those that give evidence of having an intellect.

    Reply

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Pope Francis to palliative care symposium: Euthanasia is a ‘failure of love’ (2024)

FAQs

What is the alternative to euthanasia? ›

Abstract. Background Today, euthanasia has become the option for terminally ill persons, in order to die with dignity. Palliative care on the other hand seeks to re-assure people with terminal or chronic ailments that they are still worthy of living.

Why do people disagree with palliative sedation? ›

Results: Palliative sedation can be argued to protect the ethical values of autonomy, beneficence, dignity and integrity, but simultaneously it is argued to violate those ethical concepts. There seems to be disagreements regarding which principle should be highest valued.

What's the difference between euthanasia and palliative care? ›

In palliative sedation, doctors administer pain relief with the primary intent of relieving pain. In the case of active euthanasia, doctors administer barbiturates with the primary intent of ending the patient's life.

What is the most humane form of euthanasia? ›

Direct injection of sodium pentobarbital (referred to as euthanasia by injection, or EBI) is the most humane method available because it causes rapid loss of consciousness and an immediate inability to feel pain.

Why are people against palliative care? ›

Many patients and even doctors shy away from turning to palliative care because they associate it with terminal disease and the abandonment of hope for recovery. Another complicating factor is that the same services are often referred to as “palliative care” or “hospice care,” depending on who is receiving them.

What happens in the last 5 minutes before death? ›

Facial muscles may relax and the jaw can drop. Skin can become very pale. Breathing can alternate between loud rasping breaths and quiet breathing. Towards the end, dying people will often only breathe periodically, with an intake of breath followed by no breath for several seconds.

What is the problem with palliative care? ›

cultural and social barriers, such as beliefs about death and dying; misconceptions about palliative care, such as that it is only for patients with cancer, or for the last weeks of life; and. misconceptions that improving access to opioid analgesia will lead to increased substance abuse.

What is the solution for euthanasia? ›

The euthanasia solution is usually a barbiturate- the same class of drugs used for general anesthesia. At a much higher dose, this solution provides not only the same effects as general anesthesia (loss of consciousness, loss of pain sensation), but suppresses the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

What is passive euthanasia? ›

Passive euthanasia: intentionally letting a patient die by withholding artificial life support such as a ventilator or feeding tube. Some ethicists distinguish between withholding life support and withdrawing life support (the patient is on life support but then removed from it).

What is palliative care vs hospice? ›

Both palliative care and hospice care are focused on the needs of the patient and their quality of life. Palliative care focuses on maintaining the highest quality of life while managing treatment and other needs. Hospice care specifically focuses on the period closest to death.

What can be done to prevent euthanasia? ›

Prevention measures have included, among others, explicit consent by the person requesting euthanasia, mandatory reporting of all cases, administration only by physicians (with the exception of Switzerland), and consultation by a second physician.

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