HOLY FATHER CONDEMNS EUTHANASIA AND SUICIDE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 27, 1999 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received the participants in the general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which has been meeting these past days to reflect on "The Dignity of the Dying Person."

He stated that "the phenomenon of abandoning the dying person, which is spreading throughout developed societies, has diverse roots and many dimensions. ... There is a socio-cultural dimension, known as 'disguising death': societies, ordered to the criteria of material well-being, feel that death has no sense."

"There is also a philosophical and ideological dimension," according to which man considers himself as "the author of his own life" and "even reaches the point of exalting suicide and euthanasia as paradoxical forms of affirmation and of the destruction of one's 'self'."

The Pope added that there is also "a medical and care-giving dimension, which is expressed in a tendency to limit the care of the seriously ill" where, as a consequence, "the hospitalized person often finds himself out of touch with the family and exposed to a sort of technological invasion which humiliates his dignity." Lastly, there is the "so-called 'utilitarian ethic'," according to which "those seriously ill and dying" feel "like a burden, and unprotected."

"The Church raises her voice so that no one will offend those who are dying, but rather that people will dedicate themselves with every possible loving care in order to accompany them as they prepare to cross the threshold of time to enter eternity."

Quoting his Encyclical "Evangelium Vitae," John Paul II condemned "euthanasia understood in the strict sense as an action or omission which of itself and by intention causes death, with the purpose of eliminating all suffering," and which, as such, "is a grave violation of the law of God. Suicide must be likewise condemned because, 'when viewed objectively, it is a gravely immoral act. In fact, it involves the rejection of love of self and the renunciation of the obligation of justice and charity towards one's neighbor, towards the communities to which one belongs, and towards society as a whole."

"It is necessary," he said in conclusion, "to face up to the new challenge of the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide. To do this, it is not enough to oppose this tendency of death in public opinion and in parliaments; there must be a commitment from society and the very structures of the Church to a worthy assistance to the dying person."

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