After a prominent archbishop commented to journalists last week that he would hold the hand of a person dying of assisted suicide, two priests and a cardinal offered their perspectives to CNA on what a priest ought to do if faced with a person wishing to commit assisted suicide.
“Sitting there holding their hand as if it is no big deal is a huge mistake. I think it’s in fact quite cruel…I think we need to as a culture think more about preaching about why suicide is wrong,” Father Pius Pietrzyk, chair of pastoral studies at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California, told CNA.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, made headlines Dec. 10 by saying he would be willing to hold the hand of someone dying from assisted suicide, and that he does not see that as lending implicit support for the practice.
While not denying the possibility of spiritual accompaniment, Eijk stressed that “the priest must not be present when euthanasia or assisted suicide are performed. This way, the presence of the priest might suggest that the priest is backing the decision or even that euthanasia or assisted suicide are not morally illicit in some circumstances.”
Eijk also explained that a priest can celebrate the funeral of a person who died by assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia only in some circumstances, including in some cases of psychiatric illness, though suicide is always illicit. CNA
