Euthanasia—Religious Perspectives: The Catholic Contribution

Richard Benson, CM, PhD, STD
Vice-Rector and Academic Dean
St. John's Seminary

I. The Catholic Moral Foundation

1. The human person as "Imago Dei."
2. Life is a gift.
3. A defense of a "right to life" from conception to natural death.

II. Unequivocal Response to the Euthanasia Question

Euthanasia defined as any "action or omission that by its nature or intention causes death with the purpose of putting an end to all suffering" is viewed as always objectively wrong. (Euthanasia, CDF, 1980)

III. Three Concomitant Contributions

The Church does at the same time see a concomitant duty to protect the dignity of the Imago Dei from any insult or assault from new technologies that may simply prolong the dying process. She, in fact, speaks of a "right to die" (Euthanasia, CDF, 1980) by which she means the right of every person to a natural death, i.e., one not protracted uselessly by what has been called modern medicine's tendency to "therapeutic obstinacy."

1. Physical life is a fundamental but not an absolute good.
2. The Right to sufficient and effective pain treatment.
3. The Right to forego "extraordinary" means.