Pope orders Belgian religious group to stop offering euthanasia to patients

Pope Francis is cracking down on a Belgian Brothers of Charity-run organisation, giving the group until the end of August to stop offering euthanasia to patients in their psychiatric centres.

Aug 18, 2017

By Elise Harris
Pope Francis is cracking down on a Belgian Brothers of Charity-run organisation, giving the group until the end of August to stop offering euthanasia to patients in their psychiatric centres.

In addition, each of the religious brothers serving on the board of the Brothers of Charity Group, the organisation that runs the centres, has been ordered to sign a joint letter to their general superior, Br. Rene Stockman, declaring their adherence to Church teaching.

Brothers who refuse to sign the letter will face punitive action under canon law, while the group itself is expected to face legal action and could have its Catholic status revoked if it does not change its policy.

The Vatican order, sent at the beginning of August, follows several prior requests that the group drop the policy, which allows doctors to euthanise non-terminal mentally ill patients on its grounds.

In comments to CNA Aug 10, Br. Stockman said he initially went to the Vatican for help in the spring, when the group, which is a state organisation run by the order, decided to change their policy on euthanasia on the grounds that their stance was culturally abnormal.

Since the year 2000, the group has maintained a firm policy against euthanasia and how to cope with requests for it, he said, explaining that as a state organization, they take requests for euthanasia seriously, and try to help the patient regain their desire for life, “knowing of course that someone who is very depressive can have the tendency to ask for euthanasia.”

After doing everything possible to help alleviate any depression present in a patient, if the individual still requests euthanasia – which is legal in Belgium – the brothers would transfer them elsewhere.

“We don't accept that euthanasia should be done inside our institutes,” Br. Stockman said, noting that this had been the organization's firm policy until last year, when the group “started to deflect,” claiming that the Catholic position was “unique” in Belgium, where euthanasia is widely accepted, even for children.

The group argued that they had to “adapt,” and so developed a new vision that Br. Stockman said “we could not accept as a congregation.” --CNA

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