Pope rules patients in permanent vegetative state may not be denied artificial nutrition and hydration

Response to certain questions raised by US Conference of Catholic Bishops concerning artificial nutrition and hydration

Pope rules patients in permanent vegetative state may not be denied artificial nutrition and hydration...

"And I repeat again to all clergy in My Son's House: you shall not rationalize sin. Abortion is murder, and murder condemns you to hell without repentance! Euthanasia is murder, and murder condemns you to hell without repentance! The Commandments of your God must be followed, and no changes will be made upon them to suit the basic fallen nature of mankind." - Our Lady of the Roses, November 20, 1979

LifeSiteNews reported on September 14, 2007:

In most hospitals in North America, families of patients in permanent vegetative state are asked if they wish their family member to have their artificial feeding tube removed. According to a definitive ruling by the Vatican made public today, the withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration from such patients is immoral.

The ruling from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was made in response to certain questions raised by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops concerning artificial nutrition and hydration. The replies were approved by Pope Benedict XVI during an audience granted to Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the congregation.

"First question: Is the administration of food and water (whether by natural or artificial means) to a patient in a 'vegetative state' morally obligatory except when they cannot be assimilated by the patient's body or cannot be administered to the patient without causing significant physical discomfort?

"Response: Yes. The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented.

"Second question: When nutrition and hydration are being supplied by artificial means to a patient in a 'permanent vegetative state,' may they be discontinued when competent physicians judge with moral certainty that the patient will never recover consciousness?

"Response: No. A patient in a 'permanent vegetative state' is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means."

An English-language note accompanying the responses indicates that: "When stating that the administration of food and water is morally obligatory 'in principle,' the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith does not exclude the possibility that, in very remote places or in situations of extreme poverty, the artificial provision of food and water may be physically impossible, and then 'ad impossibilia nemo tenetur.' However, the obligation to offer the minimal treatments that are available remains in place, as well as that of obtaining, if possible, the means necessary for an adequate support of life.

"Nor is the possibility excluded that, due to emerging complications, a patient may be unable to assimilate food and liquids, so that their provision becomes altogether useless. Finally, the possibility is not absolutely excluded that, in some rare cases, artificial nourishment and hydration may be excessively burdensome for the patient or may cause significant physical discomfort, for example resulting from complications in the use of the means employed.

"These exceptional cases, however, take nothing away from the general ethical criterion, according to which the provision of water and food, even by artificial means, always represents a 'natural means' for preserving life, and is not a 'therapeutic treatment.' Its use should therefore be considered 'ordinary and proportionate,' even when the 'vegetative state' is prolonged."

(with files from the Vatican Information Service)

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There are four sins that cry out to Heaven for vengeance (extreme punishment):

1) Willful murder.
2) The sin of Sodom.
3) Oppression of the poor.
4) Defrauding the laborer of his wages.

Euthanasia, abortion, physician-assisted suicide, mercy killing, and homosexuality cry out to Heaven for extreme punishment on the United States.

Many people are ignorant of the Church's teaching regarding ordinary nursing care towards extremely ill or terminally ill patients. The Church states that "decisions about these patients should be guided by a presumption in favor of medically-assisted nutrition and hydration” and that for patients, even in an irreversible coma, "all care should be lavished on him, including feeding."

Pope John Paul II, March 20, 2004:
The Holy Father emphasized that water and food, even when administered artificially, are "a natural means of preserving life, not a medical procedure. Therefore, their use must be considered ordinary and appropriate and as such, morally obligatory."
The probability that there is little hope for recovery, "when the vegetative state lasts longer than a year, cannot ethically justify abandoning or interrupting basic care, including food and hydration, of a patient." Death by starvation or dehydration carried out "consciously or deliberately is truly euthanasia by omission."
The Pope recalled the "moral principal according to which even the slightest doubt of being in the presence of a person who is alive requires full respect and prohibits any action that would anticipate his or her death. . The value of the life of a man cannot be subjected to the judgement of quality expressed by other men; it is necessary to promote positive activities to counteract pressure for the suspension of food and hydration, as a means to putting an end to the life of these patients."

Bishop Henry Gracida (interview with Barbara Kralis)
"Some Catholics would argue that they are simply following their conscience and that the Church allows them to do so. They choose to forget that the Church says that one can only safely follow an INFORMED CONSCIENCE, i.e., a conscience that has been formed and illuminated by the teachings of the Church. The Church has given clear and explicit guidelines regarding the removal of a feeding tube through which 'nutrition and hydration' is supplied to a sick person.
"All persons who wish to remain in communion with the Catholic Church, to receive Holy Communion and the other Sacraments, must assent to the teachings of the Church in matters of faith and morals. [3]
"If a person supports euthanasia and assisted-suicide through the illicit rejection or removal of a feeding tube, they are not in communion with the Church. They have separated themselves from the Church."

Pontifical Council on Health Affairs, “Cor Unum,” June 27, 1981:
“On the contrary, there remains the strict obligation to continue by all means those measures which are called ‘minimal’, which are intended normally and customarily for the maintenance of life (alimentation, blood transfusions, injections, etc.). To interrupt these minimal measures would be equivalent, in practice, to wishing to put an end to the life of the patient.”

Pontifical Academy of Sciences, October 1985:
“If the patient is in a permanent coma, irreversible as far as it can be foreseen, treatment is not required, but all care should be lavished on him, including feeding... If treatment is of no benefit to the patient, it may be interrupted while continuing with the care of the patient.”

U.S. Bishops, Nutrition and Hydration: Moral and Pastoral Reflections:
”Therefore we are gravely concerned about current attitudes and policy trends in our society that would too easily dismiss patients without apparent mental faculties as non-persons or as undeserving of human care and concern. In this climate, even legitimate moral arguments intended to have a careful and limited application can easily be misinterpreted, broadened, and abused by others to erode respect for the lives of some of our society’s most helpless members. In light of these concerns, it is our considered judgment that while legitimate Catholic moral debate continues, decisions about these patients should be guided by a presumption in favor of medically-assisted nutrition and hydration.”

New Jersey Catholic Conference, January 22, 1987:
Another pertinent statement regarding the nutrition/hydration debate was given by the New Jersey Catholic Conference on January 22, 1987 in a friend-of-the-court brief entitled, “Providing Food and Fluids to Severely Brain Damaged Patients.” This document was in reaction to the Nancy Ellen Jobes case pending at the time before the New Jersey Court:

"The [New Jersey Catholic] Conference maintains that nutrition and hydration, being basic to human life, are aspects of normal care, which are not excessively burdensome, that should always be provided to a patient. Nutrition and hydration are clearly distinguished from medical treatment. Medical treatment is aimed at curing a disease. Nutrition and hydration are directed at sustaining life. Medical treatment is therapeutic; nutrition and hydration are not, because they will not cure any disease. For that fundamental reason we insist that nutrition and hydration must always be maintained....” (Origins, January 22, 1987, p. 583)

"No man shall murder--and it is murder, My children, when he shall give the excuse of saying an individual is no longer living or a part of the world because he has become emaciated, because he lives only with prayers and the help of all scientific means." - Our Lady of the Roses, June 5, 1976

"Who will be safe in your land, My children? You will one day grow old. Will you be a burden to your family, to be removed without heart? When you grow sick, you are ill, will you become too much of a burden to your society and they will remove you?" - Our Lady of the Roses, March 25, 1972

The awesome Bayside Prophecies... https://www.tldm.org/Bayside/default.htm
These prophecies came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995:

EUTHANASIA
“The time will come, My child, when those who are upon the earth will envy those have passed beyond the veil. Insanity, sin. Sin is insanity. The aged will be put to death, the crippled will be put to death, the mentally ill will be eliminated. The value of life will be gone. The value for life will be destroyed. Murderers! Sanctioned among those with the power to destroy the souls!” – Jesus, March 18, 1974

TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
"No man shall murder--and it is murder, My children, when he shall give the excuse of saying an individual is no longer living or a part of the world because he has become emaciated, because he lives only with prayers and the help of all scientific means. The Eternal Father has placed a soul in that body. That body is the temple of the Holy Spirit! No man can know when that soul must return to the Eternal Father. No man shall hasten its exit from a body by murder! Euthanasia is murder! Shall you become a judge over the living and the dead?" - Our Lady, June 5, 1976

CONDEMNS TO HELL
"And I repeat again to all clergy in My Son's House: you shall not rationalize sin. Abortion is murder, and murder condemns you to hell without repentance! Euthanasia is murder, and murder condemns you to hell without repentance! The Commandments of your God must be followed, and no changes will be made upon them to suit the basic fallen nature of mankind.
"The road to Heaven, My children, is a narrow one; too few stay upon it. For they are often carried away with the cares of the world, and the pleasures of the materialistic pursuits, and their gathering of money and prestige and power. For what? For the few short years allotted to each human upon earth. I ask you to ask yourself: is it worth it to lose your soul? Many will sell their souls to get to the head." - Our Lady, November 20, 1979

START AND EXPIRATION OF LIFE
"The Eternal Father is much distressed by mankind's actions. They must not try to control the start and expiration of a life. Abortion is murder, My children, for you bring to an untimely end a mission of a soul. The Eternal Father breathes the spirit of life into the body at the moment of conception. No man shall destroy this body until it has completed its mission as directed by the Eternal Father, for any man who destroys the mission and the body is guilty of murder. Euthanasia, untimely death, My children, man has transgressed into a form of evil far worse than in the time of Noe or Sodom. Therefore, how great shall be the punishment to mankind!" - Our Lady, June 12, 1976

GREAT CHASTISEMENT
"My child and My children, the murders of the unborn will bring great chastisement upon the United States, Canada, and the nations of the world, that are now contributing not only to the delinquency of your children and the world's children, but are condoning murder and euthanasia. Euthanasia, My child and My children, is murder!
"We have been very patient. The Eternal Father has voiced His decision within My hearing, and I tell you, My children, your chastisement is just at hand." - Jesus, July 1, 1985

DOCTORS OF THE EARTH
"I have, O woe to man, this saddest of stories: one of man against man, brother against brother, mother against daughter, father against son, in the battle of the spirits. Now, O poor aged and helpless, poor on earth, you will now be victims of your own. Doctors of the earth, what have you done to yourselves in your practices? You do not seek to preserve life, but to destroy.” – Our Lady, March 18, 1973

Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D247 - Euthanasia & Murder PDF

Articles...

Archbishop Burke warns U.S. legal infanticide, euthanasia are next
https://www.tldm.org/News10/EuthanasiaArchbishopBurke.htm

Euthanasia is murder
https://www.tldm.org/news6/euthanasia1.htm

Catholic hospitals defy John Paul II on feeding tubes
https://www.tldm.org/News6/euthanasia2.htm

Pope John Paul II said euthanasia "seeks to establish who can live and who must die"
https://www.tldm.org/news7/euthanasia3.htm

Cardinal Pell calls for "whole new form" of democracy and asks: "Does democracy need abortion, euthanasia and pornography to be democratic?"
https://www.tldm.org/news7/pell2.htm

Earlier screening for Down's Syndrome may fuel eugenic pogrom against disabled
https://www.tldm.org/news8/euthanasiadown%27ssyndrome.htm

Netherlands set to give go ahead to child euthanasia
https://www.tldm.org/news8/euthanasianetherlands.htm

Catholics in UK carrying ID cards asking not to be starved to death in hospitals
https://www.tldm.org/News10/UKCatholicsCarryingIDcards.htm

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Your names have been written in Heaven… "It is not by accident that you are called by My Mother, for your names have been written in Heaven.... But with this great grace you have great responsibility to send this Message from Heaven throughout the world, for if you are able to recover just one more for Heaven, an additional star shall be placed in your crown." - Jesus, August 5, 1975

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The sin of omission... "The sin of omission shall condemn many to hell, be they layman or Hierarchy. I repeat: not the sin of commission, but the sin of omission will commit many to hell." - Our Lady of the Roses, October 6, 1980

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