Church in the World

Martini weighs into Welby row

Italy

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has called on the Church to be "more attentive" to how it responds to situations involving the "end of the life of a gravely ill person", saying that the "will of the patient, in as much as he is competent, must not be overlooked".

His words - which appeared in a full-page article last Sunday in the Milan-based Il Sole 24 Ore - were widely interpreted as a criticism of Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who last month ruled out a church funeral for a quadriplegic who had asked doctors to switch off the artificial respirator that had kept him alive for nine years (The Tablet, 30 December). Cardinal Ruini defended his decision on Monday in a message to the executive committee of the Italian Bishops' Conference, saying that the deceased man, Piergiorgio Welby, had "clearly and willingly persevered in his desire to bring an end to his own life".

Cardinal Martini, 79, a former Archbishop of Milan, seemed to suggest that it was precisely because Welby had acted "with clarity" that his request to abstain from treatment merited more attention. The cardinal, who has been undergoing treatment for Parkinson's disease, indicated that a patient had a major role in "judging whether treatments being proposed, in such a case of exceptional gravity, were effectively proportionate" to the result. He said that because of new technology, wisdom was needed in order "not to prolong life when it is no longer to a person's benefit".

Bishop Elio Sgreccia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, immediately countered Cardinal Martini in a long article in Corriere della Sera. He said that omitting treatment could constitute euthanasia because it was "still an intentionally provoked death".