Euthanasia, Funerals, and the Last Rites
Extreme Unction and a religious funeral are incompatible with euthanasia. Such is essentially the new position of several Canadian bishops with regards to pastoral care for persons requesting assisted suicide or euthanasia.
The Canadian bishops of the provinces of Alberta and the Northwest Territories published last month in French a text that was published in English in September 2016.
This thirty-four-page document is presented as a “vade mecum for priests and parishes." The bishops mention the legalization of physician-assisted death voted by the Canadian Senate on June 17, 2016. It is now authorized “on the legal level, but that in no way changes the moral law," they write. "These practices are serious offenses against the dignity of human life.”
So long as the penitent refuses to reconsider his decision and chooses in conscience to follow this path, the priest is not permitted to administer the last rites. Concerning funerals, if the Church refuses them, “it is not to punish the person, but to recognize his decision which goes against the Christian Faith," explain the bishops.
Source: Vatican Radio
