Pope Euthanized? I saw a report that the last pope was euthanized, i thought this was against Catholic belief

Question

please advise

RP gave us a link

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1664189,00.html

thanks RP

Answer 1

Under Catholic law, when a pope dies, his medical records are destroyed and his body is not examined by a coroner, etc, nor is an autopsy etc. permitted to be perfromed. The death certificate is issued by the Vatican itself. It is forbidden to reveal the cause of death (beyond a very generalized statement such as "heart failure".) This same procedures were used when John Paul II died.

That anyone would have the information to know that the Pope was euthanized is very unlikely. No evidence would exist to support such a claim. Plus the source of the claim is from opponents of the Catholic church and the last Pope.

People can claim anything, but that does not make it true.

Answer 2

I attached the link to the article. There are two sides to this story... a doctor who wasn't even the Pope's doctor, and the Vatican's side. The Vatican said he wasn't, the doctor (and the author of a new book!) says he was....

read the whole article for yourself, so you can make up your own mind but here is a quote from the article


The Vatican quickly fired back this week. John Paul's longtime doctor Renato Buzzonetti, who now monitors Pope Benedict XVI, said that doctors and John Paul himself all acted to stave off death. "His treatment was never interrupted," Buzzonetti told the Rome daily La Repubblica. "Anyone who says otherwise is mistaken." He added that a permanent nasal feeding tube was inserted three days before the Pope's death when he could no longer sufficiently ingest food or liquids. Buzzonetti did not specifically respond to Pavanelli's claim that John Paul needed a tube weeks, not days, before he eventually died.

Answer 3

This was an OPINION. Not a fact. Just 'cause it's in the paper, doesn't mean it is true.

The Church believes and supports the sanctity of life from the instant of conception to the instant of natural death.

Nothing can be done deliberately to hasten death, but some measures to provide palliative end of life care may shorten a person's life.

Example- as my father in law entered his final days- believe me, you know it when you see it- I stopped administering his medications. They were burdensome to him, and no longer required by Church teaching. In his final hours, the hospice nurse gave me a medication to ease his fast breathing ( which was exhausting him), with the understanding that the medication might bring his imminent death a little sooner. We decided to go ahead and use it, and he met his death fully conscious, calm and beautifully.

There is no reason to believe those who loved and cared for the Holy Father would do anything but provide the best care for him at the end of his life. It doesn't make it euthanasia any more than removing an ectopic pregnancy is an abortion ( it ISN'T)

Answer 4

Following is from that article:

The article, entitled "The Sweet Death of Karol Wojtyla" (using the Pope's birth name) appears in the latest edition of Micromega, a highbrow Italian bi-monthly that has frequently criticized the Vatican's stance on bioethics.

The medical aspects of the Pope's final days are clearly difficult to verify from afar, and the Vatican is convinced that the actions of the both its doctors and its Pope were in absolute good faith. Of course, medical opinions can often vary. So too can those on bioethics.

Answer 5

Never heard of that - and utterly impossible.

The Catholic Church is so adamantly against euthanasia that it is positively a mania with them.

That poor man was sick for years, it's a wonder he lived as long as he did and certianly everything was done to keep him alive - even when it was cruel to drag his life on.

Answer 6

did he ask for it or was it the church?

Also all going against doctrine means is a mark against you. Perhaps the pope felt that he understood now what those people felt and that god would forgive him for it.


and what Father K said is a possibilitie as well.

Answer 7

Sources?

Answer 8

As Christians, we believe that human life is a sacred gift from God to be cherished and respected because every human being is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26).

In heeding God’s command, "Thou shall not kill" (Exodus 20:13), we recognize that we cannot end of our lives or the lives of others as we please. We must respect and protect the dignity of human from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.

Both euthanasia and assisted suicide violate God's commandment not to kill.

Euthanasia occurs when a doctor or medical staff person administers a lethal dose of medication with the intention of killing the patient.

Assisted suicide occurs when a doctor or medical staff person prescribes a lethal amount of medication with the intent of helping a person commit suicide. The patient then takes the dose or turns the switch.

We also recognize the need for the proper management of pain. Modern medicine provides effective treatments for pain that guarantees that no one will suffer a painful death. No one needs to escape pain by seeking death.

Suicidal wishes among the terminally ill are due to treatable depression similar to that of other suicidal people. If we address their pain, depression and other problems, then there is generally no more talk of suicide.

Repercussions of Assisted Suicide
+ The patient seriously, possibly completely, damages his or her relationship with God.
+ Anyone assisting a suicide gravely endangers his or her spiritual, psychological, and emotional well-being including family members and medical professionals.
+ Corruption of the medical profession: whose ethical code calls on physicians to serve life and never to kill. The American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and dozens of other medical groups argue that the power to assist in taking patients’ lives is "a power that most health-care professionals do not want and could not control.”
+ Society will more and more disregards the dignity of human life.

Possible Corruptions
+ Exploitation of the marginalized: The poor, the elderly, minorities, those who lack health insurance would be the first to feel pressure to die.
+ Cost control: Patients with long term or expensive illnesses and considered economic liabilities would be encouraged die.
+ Rebirth of historical prejudices: Many able-bodied people, including some physicians, say they would "rather be dead than disabled." Such prejudices could easily lead families, physicians, and society to encourage death for people who are depressed and emotionally vulnerable as they adjust to life with a serious illness or disability.

Jesus uttered the words of faith that continue to inspire and to guide the Church’s teaching in this mystery of Christian death: "This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again" (John 10:17).

+ Pope John Paul II +

The medical expert is grasping for notariety by proposing a non-existant scandal. She even tries to redefine the Church's definition of euthanasia.

Pope John Paul II was not euthanized. No one administered a lethal dose of medication with the intention of killing the Pope. Nor did they starve him to death.

At least Time Magazine presented both sides of the story: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1664189,00.html

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 2270 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt2art5.htm#2270
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0897.asp

With love in Christ.

Answer 9

Complete and utter nonsense. It was conjecture by an idiot writer from Time Magazine who IGNORED the medical records and the doctor's reports to try and stir up anti-catholic controversy.