Gulf Pine Catholic

22 Gulf Pine Catholic • October 25, 2024 Good Samaritan From page 13 The legalization of euthanasia and assisted sui- cide in many places, however, has created great confusion regarding basic obligations to provide care. It should be recognized that the definition of palliative care has, in recent years, sometimes taken on a misleading and deeply harmful connotation. For example, in some countries, national laws regulating palliative care also provide, along with palliative treatments, something called Medical Assistance to the Dying ( MAiD ), which makes it legal for patients to request euthanasia and assisted suicide. Such legal provisions are a cause of grave cultural and moral confusion. By including provi- sions for euthanasia and assisted suicide alongside palliative care, these laws imply that it is morally permissible to request such practices. Equally harmful to the practice of palliative care, and to patients, is when interventions to reduce the suffering of gravely or terminally ill patients are given in order to hasten death. Also problematic is the withholding or withdrawing of hydration, nutri- tion or other interventions which the patient finds sufficiently beneficial and not excessively [or dis- proportionately] burdensome. Such refusal of ethi- cally required care is equivalent to a direct action or omission to bring about death and is therefore never morally permissible. The continued spread of such legislation and practices, and their endorsement by national and international professional societies, constitutes a socially irresponsible and grave threat to many people. A growing number of vulnerable per- sons who need only to be better cared for and com- forted are instead being led to choose death. Conversely, “the eloquence of the parable of the Good Samaritan and of the whole Gospel is espe- cially this: every individual must feel as if called personally to bear witness to love in suffering.” 2 The Church learns from the Good Samaritan how to care for those who are terminally ill, and likewise obeys the commandment linked to the gift of life: “respect, defend, love and serve life, every humand life!” 3 Each of us is invited to imitate the Samaritan’s exampled, to “Go and do likewise (Lk 10:37). The parable of the Good Samaritan demonstrates that our relationship with our suffering neighbor must not be characterized by indifference, apathy, bias, fear of soiling one’s hands, or occupation with one’s own affairs. Rather, our relationships should embrace the qualities of attention, listening, under- standing, compassion, and accompaniment. At work here is a contemplative gaze that beholds in one’s own existence and that of others a unique and unre- peatable wonder, received and welcomed as a gift. The mystery of the redemption of the human person is rooted in the loving involvement of God with human suffering. Hope is always possible. To those who care for the sick, the scene of the Cross provides a way of understanding that even when it seems that there is nothing more to do there remains much to do, because “remaining” by the side of the sick is a sign of love and of the hope that it contains. Healed by Jesus, we become men and women called to proclaim His healing power and provide care for our neighbors, until the very end. 1 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter  Spe salvi  (30 November 2007), 38:  AAS  99 (2007), 1016. Here Pope Benedict high- lights that the true meaning of compassion is to “suffer with” another person in their time of need (com: with; passio: to suffer). 2 John Paul II, Apostolic Letter  Salvifici doloris  (11 February 1984), 29: AAS 29: AAS 76 (1984), 246. 3 John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae  (25 March 1995), 5: AAS  87 (1995), 407. *Cf. Samaritanus bonus © 2020, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Summary comprised of quotes, paraphrases, and adaptations used with permission. All rights reserved. Models used for illustrative purposes only. iStock.com/sturti; iStock.com/Toa55; iStock.com/Yelizaveta Tomashevska; iStock.com/Jovanmandic. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2022, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Palliative care and hospice care Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illness, focusing on relief from symptoms and stress while they are still seeking curative treatment. Patients are candidates for palli- ative care whenever they are facing a serious illness. Care may pursue both curative and comfort goals that can be carried out over months, years, and decades. These goals may change with the progres- sion of the disease or condition. Palliative care is holistic because it is provided by a team of physi- cians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and other professionals who focus on physical pain and symp- tom management, as well as psychosocial and spiri- tual needs. The palliative care team works in service of the patient to coordinate all aspects of care, com- munication and decision making, as well as clarifi- cation and adjustment of the goals of care over time, all while also offering support to the family. Hospice care is a type of palliative care but with a particular acknowledgment of, and focus on, the patient’s approaching end of life -- when the goal of care is no longer cure of disease but rather comfort and relief from it. The hospice team of physicians, nurses, social workers and chaplains addresses the patient’s and family’s concerns related to the illness and approaching death. Hospice is for patients in the end stages of a condition (typically the last six months of life) for which curative treatment is no longer effective. Hospice helps patients live well with their remaining time on earth by ceasing cura- tive measures and continuing to focus on goals of comfort and symptom management, as well as the provision of psychological, spiritual, and social sup- port that patients and families need. 1 Pope Francis, Morning Meditation in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae: Choosing the Better Part , 8 October 2013, (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana , 2013). 2 More information: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services , 5th ed, (Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2009). United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, To Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide (Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011). 3 Pope Francis, General Audience, Wednesday, April 27, 2016, (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana , 2016). 4 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, To Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide , 10. 5 Viaticum is “the Eucharist received by a dying person. It is the spiritual food for one’s ‘passing over’ to the Father from this world. With Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, the reception of Holy Communion as Viaticum constitute the ‘last sacraments’ of the Christian.” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary .) See also C atechism of the Catholic Church , nos. 1331, 1392, 1517, 1524-25. 6 Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus, (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2015), no. 14. 7 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, T o Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide , 10. Excerpts from Morning Meditation © 2013, General Audience © 2016, Misericordiae vultus © 2015, Libreria Editrice Vaticana , Vatican City. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Catechism of the Catholic Church , second edition © 2001 LEVUSCCB. Used with permission. Photo: Halfpoint/iStock/Thinkstock. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2018, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Item #1845 Caring for Loved Ones From page 14