Italian Bishops Conference (CEI)
President Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco on Monday said the CEI was
"not a little concerned" about living-will bills now before
parliament along with other end-of-life issues. He said they "make life a good ultimately entrusted to the complete self-determination of the individual".
Bagnasco said the implications "on informed consent, planning treatment and advance declaration of treatment" were "very delicate and extremely controversial".
"Vital support such as assisted hydration and nutrition, for example, would be placed on a par with therapies, which can always be interrupted.
"We believe that the answer to the questions of meaning that envelope suffering and death cannot be found with simplistic or procedural solutions; the Constitutional safeguarding of health and life must remain not only as an ideal reference, but also as a concrete commitment of support and accompaniment".
Bagnasco also urged parliament to pass family-friendly measures and said there was great "pain for the priest abuse scandal but the Church is healthy".