Statement of the Pontifical Academy for Life on Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia Controversy - Archbishop Paglia "reaffirms his “No” to euthanasia and assisted suicide"
On April 19th, during the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia gave a speech in the debate on the theme "The last journey (towards the end of life)". A controversy occurred on social media after the archbishop called assisted suicide under certain conditions “feasible” legal (not a moral) approach to the issue in Italian society. The Italian news site Il Riformista published the text of Paglia’s speech on April 22nd. The Pontifical Academy for Life released a statement on April 24th its president is against assisted suicide but thinks it is possible to have a “legal initiative” that would allow it to be decriminalized in Italy under “specific and particular conditions.”
FULL TEXT Statement of the Pontifical Academy for Life
With respect to the presentation that Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life gave on Wednesday, April nineteenth, during the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, and regarding incorrect interpretations of the thought of Archbishop Paglia, the Press Office of the Pontifical Academy for Life states as follows.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, in full conformity with the Church’s Magisterium, reaffirms his “No” to euthanasia and assisted suicide.
In his presentation, in which he dealt extensively with the subject of the end-of-life, Archbishop Paglia mentioned, without full development, Decision 242/2019 of the Italian Constitutional Court and its specific Italian context. The Court held that assisting a suicide is a crime. It then enumerated four specific and particular conditions in which the crime carries no penalty. In this precise and specific context, Archbishop Paglia explained that in his view a “legislative initiative" (certainly not a moral one) could be possible which would be consistent with the Decision and which preserves both the criminality of the act and the conditions in which the crime carries no penalty, as the Court requested Parliament to legislate.
For Archbishop Paglia, it is important that the Decision holds that the criminality of the act remains and is not overruled. Any further elaboration is uncalled for. On the scientific and cultural level, Archbishop Paglia has always supported the need for accompaniment of the sick in the final phase of life, using palliative care and loving personal attention, to ensure that no one is left to face alone the illness and suffering, and difficult decisions, that the end of life brings on.
Vatican City, April 24, 2023
https://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/news/2023/paglia-end-of-life-statement.html
With respect to the presentation that Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life gave on Wednesday, April nineteenth, during the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, and regarding incorrect interpretations of the thought of Archbishop Paglia, the Press Office of the Pontifical Academy for Life states as follows.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, in full conformity with the Church’s Magisterium, reaffirms his “No” to euthanasia and assisted suicide.
In his presentation, in which he dealt extensively with the subject of the end-of-life, Archbishop Paglia mentioned, without full development, Decision 242/2019 of the Italian Constitutional Court and its specific Italian context. The Court held that assisting a suicide is a crime. It then enumerated four specific and particular conditions in which the crime carries no penalty. In this precise and specific context, Archbishop Paglia explained that in his view a “legislative initiative" (certainly not a moral one) could be possible which would be consistent with the Decision and which preserves both the criminality of the act and the conditions in which the crime carries no penalty, as the Court requested Parliament to legislate.
For Archbishop Paglia, it is important that the Decision holds that the criminality of the act remains and is not overruled. Any further elaboration is uncalled for. On the scientific and cultural level, Archbishop Paglia has always supported the need for accompaniment of the sick in the final phase of life, using palliative care and loving personal attention, to ensure that no one is left to face alone the illness and suffering, and difficult decisions, that the end of life brings on.
Vatican City, April 24, 2023
https://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/news/2023/paglia-end-of-life-statement.html
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