Catholic Church and Euthanasia

Even when not motivated by a selfish refusal to be burdened with the life of someone who is suffering, euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing perversion of mercy. True compassion leads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear. ... (Pope St. John Paul II's Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 66)

Assisted suicide advocates proclaim that the suicidal patients are selected on the basis of their rationality. They claim that they only select people who have with full possession of their mental facilities and have fully deliberated before choosing to allow themselves to be killed. In other words: people who are totally culpable for their actions. That s the exact type of person who the Catholic Church says will not be excused!

In other words, assisted suicide advocates are targeting people who (under Catholic teachings) are the ones least likely to be forgiven by their Creator for the self-murder and the most likely to be condemned to eternal punishment. Is there any wonder that the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Christian churches, and other conservative religious groups are adamantly opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia?

A martyr is a man who cares so much for something outside him that he forgets his own personal life. A suicide is a man who cares so little for anything outside him, that he wants to see the last of everything. ... Catholic convert Gilbert K. Chesterton

"Man, created by God and called to share in His divine life, has always been at the center of the Christian vision of the world and that is why the Church respects and defends life," affirmed the Holy Father. "How can she silence her great anxiety and reprobation in the face of laws recently voted on in different countries which legalize active euthanasia? He said that the "only true rampart" against the constant violations of man's dignity and his rights is "recognizing the sacred and inviolable nature of every human person." ... Pope John Paul II in a statement welcoming new Belgium ambassador to the Vatican (October 31, 2002).

"Pope Benedict often cited the significance of eternal truths and he warned of a dictatorship of relativism. Some values, such as human life, stand out above all others, he taught again and again. It is a message for eternity." ... Timothy Cardinal Dolan in a statement on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI (February 11, 2013).

" "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." " ... Matthew 25:31-46.

"Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up." ... G.K. Chesterton.

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