INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — Treatment of dying patients, legal
complications for family members and government policies were the focus of an
Indianapolis conference on end-of-life issues. Experts from a range of fields
spoke about legal, ethical and medical issues faced at the end of life at the
daylong conference held at Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis Oct. 19. Msgr.
Stuart Swetland, director of the Newman Foundation at the University of Illinois
and medical ethics consultant to Provena-Covenant Medical Center in Urbana,
Ill., laid a foundation by explaining Catholic teachings on end- of-life issues.
“The idea of stewardship is that everything that we have is a gift from God,” he
said. “Our life is a precious, precious gift. And every life on this planet is a
precious gift from a loving Father.” That is why euthanasia, in which others
actively end the life of someone who is suffering, is contrary to church
teaching, he explained. Human lives, like people’s possessions, come from God
and are merely entrusted to them temporarily, he said. “We have the duty to lead
our lives in accordance with God’s plan,” he said. [Via De
Virtutibus]
And then there is the ultimate
end-of-life issue – Sanctifying Grace.
