Last week Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said that the Church should “let go of the rules” regarding assisted suicide, adding that all Catholics have a duty to “accompany” those choosing to end their own lives. “I believe from our perspective, no one can be abandoned, even if we are against assisted suicide because we do not want to do death’s dirty work,” Paglia told journalists Dec. 10 following a two-day symposium on palliative care.
Paglia was responding to questions about a recent document released by the bishops of Switzerland, which said that pastoral caregivers should not be present during a person’s death by assisted suicide. While condemning suicide as “a great defeat”, the archbishop also said that “to accompany, to hold the hand of someone who is dying, is, I think a great duty every believer should promote.”
While Paglia has recently condemned euthanasia and assisted suicide unequivocally, his remarks this month have led some to wonder if, by “pastoral accompaniment,” he is opening up the Church to a kind of tacit acceptance for assisted suicide. Speaking last week about the Swiss bishops’ guidelines, Paglia said he “would like to remove the ideology from this situation.” “Let go of the rules. I believe that no one should be abandoned.” As assisted suicide becomes more commonplace in the West, the debate is likely to take on ever more urgent significance.
To respond to Paglia, and the bishops around the world facing end-of-life pastoral issues, the Vatican may choose to issue guidelines for priests confronting the situation of pastoral care for those who have committed, or attempted, assisted suicide. Until it does, a new front in the Amoris debate will be opened, as Paglia’s comments will be seen by some as pastoral kindness, and by others as a dangerous crack in the Church’s defense of life at every stage. CNA
