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October 28, 2019 "No to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Next on palliative care, a topic to be spread also in universities". It is a "historical" declaration signed this morning by Christians, Muslims and Jews on the subject of the end of life. A document of a few pages in which the opposition of the three Abrahamic monotheistic religions to euthanasia and assisted suicide is reiterated and delivered directly into the hands of Pope Francis."This is only the first step," said Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, during the press conference presenting the Foreign Press, together with the representatives of the other two religions. "Now the text will also be offered to other religions. We have already had contacts, unofficial, with Buddhists and Hindus".
During the presentation of the declaration, several times the finger was pointed at the laws that regulate the end of life in some European countries, such as Holland or Belgium, stressing that "euthanasia is nothing but a murder". "They are acts - the text reads - completely in contradiction with the value of human life and therefore consequently they are wrong actions from the point of view both moral and religious and should be forbidden without exceptions".
The document then explains that "the questions concerning the duration and meaning of human life should not be the domain of health personnel, whose responsibility is to provide the best care and maximum assistance to the patient". The declaration also promotes "a qualified and professional presence of palliative care everywhere and for each" in addition to supporting "laws and public policies that protect the right and dignity of the patient in the terminal phase, to avoid euthanasia and promote treatment palliative. "
"In Italy we have an excellent law on palliative care - added Paglia during the conference -, which however is practically unknown to all". "From the social point of view - we read in the conclusions of the joint declaration - we must strive to ensure that the patients' desire not to be a burden does not inspire them with the feeling of being useless and the consequent unconsciousness of the value and dignity of their life, which it deserves to be cared for and sustained until its natural end ".