A priest must say clearly to a person opting for assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia that he is committing a grave sin, a Dutch cardinal told CNA this week. For the same reason, a priest cannot be present when voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide is performed. This might imply that the priest has no problems with the decision or even that “these morally illicit acts are not such in some circumstances according to the teaching of the Church,” Cardinal Willem Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht and an expert on euthanasia issues, told CNA.
A medical doctor before his vocation, Eijk dedicated his doctorate dissertation in the mid-1980s to the euthanasia laws. He leads a flock located in one of the countries with the most liberal euthanasia bill in the world. Cardinal Eijk explained to CNA that “a priest must clearly say to those who opt for assisted suicide or [voluntary] euthanasia that both of these acts violate the intrinsic value of the human life, that is a grave sin.”
The cardinal did not deny the possibility of spiritual accompaniment. Still, Eijk stressed that “the priest must not be present when euthanasia or assisted suicide is 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.”
The Church “spurs to form communities not to leave people alone. A person who lives in solitude, lacking the attention and the care from the others, is less able to bear the pain,” the cardinal said. Eijk added that the Church “announces a Christian spirituality and a lived faith. This implies that you can also join the suffering Christ and bear the pain with him. So, we are never alone.” CNA
