A brusque reversal by the Belgian province of the Order of the Brothers of Charity (1) has led to a lively polemic. The order has previously always refused to practise euthanasia, which has been legal in Belgium for nearly fifteen years. But in a document addressed to hospital management and staff of its fifteen psychiatric centres, the Belgium Brothers of Charity in March confirmed its decision to finally authorize medically assisted death, including for its patients who were “in a non-terminal situation.”
This surprising about face by a Catholic congregation attracted the fire of the Belgian Bishops Conference, the Vatican and the hierarchy of the Order.
In a July 29 statement published by the Holy See following a joint inquiry by the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pope gave the Belgian branch of the order until the end of August to reverse its position.
Failing this, sanctions will be imposed on the branch, which could go as far as excluding the Order and the withdrawal of its right to label its psychiatric institutions as Catholic.
In fact, it was Brother Stockman himself, who, after having tried in vain to get the Belgian branch to change its decision, asked the Vatican to open an inquiry into the issue.
Holy See Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, personally looked into the matter, Brother Stockman added.
In the face of a growing polemic, the Belgian Bishops Conference reacted at the end of May. A declaration entitled “Euthanasia and psychic suffering” reiterated its opposition to any “trivialization of medically assisted death.”
“We are conscious that psychic suffering may be immense and that a person can thus find themselves in a totally desperate situa-tion,” the statement said.
“However, it is precisely in this situation that it is necessary to remain close and not to abandon him or her,” the bishops emphasized, appealing to hospital personnel to implement “appropriate palliative care.”
