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Catholic World News News Feature

Vatican concludes conference on end-of-life care February 27, 2008

The Pontifical Academy for Life has concluded a 2-day conference on ethical and pastoral questions involving care for those who are terminally ill.

The conference, held at the Vatican on February 25-26, explored the moral issues that arise in treatment of those who are approaching death. Participants discussed the moral principles involved in distinguishing between ordinary and extraordinary care, or proportionate and disproportionate efforts to preserve life. The conference also addressed the issue of palliative care, and the reality that the alleviation of pain may indirectly cause an earlier death.

At the conclusion of the conference one participant, Dr. John Haas of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told Vatican Radio that a key concern had been the desire to counteract mounting pressure for euthanasia in the case of patients who are terminally ill. The spreading acceptance of euthanasia, he said, is the result of a utilitarian approach to human life that is "increasingly dominant" in medical circles.

In opposition to that pressure, Haas told Vatican Radio, the participants in the Vatican conference sought to clarify the moral principles that should be used to determine the proper course of treatment and care. The clear exposition of those principles, he said, is increasingly important in the face of "extraordinarily complex" decisions in end-of-life care.