Bro. Rene Stockman Belgium’s Brothers of Charity Group, which runs 15 centres for psychiatric patients, has rejected a Vatican order to stop offering euthanasia.
The organisation said that it “always took into account shifts and evolutions within society”, and “emphatically believed” its euthanasia program was consistent with the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
“We take unbearable and hopeless suffering and patients’ requests for euthanasia seriously. On the other hand, we want to protect life and ensure euthanasia is performed only if there is no more possibility of providing a reasonable treatment perspective to the patient,” the board said.
Only three Brothers of Charity are on the 15-strong board of trustees.
Bro. Rene Stockman, superior general of the Brothers of Charity in Rome, said he “deplores the fact that there is no willingness to negotiate” the text of the vision statement on the part of the Belgian organisation.
Demand
Bro. Stockman said Pope Francis gave his personal approval to a Vatican demand that the Brothers of Charity reverse its policy by the end of August. He said brothers who serve on the board of the Brothers of Charity Group must each sign a joint letter to their superior general declaring that they “fully support the vision of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, which has always confirmed that human life must be respected and protected in absolute terms, from the moment of conception till its natural end”.