In a provocative article, an Italian medical professor argues that Pope John Paul II didn't just simply slip away as his weakness and illness overtook him in April 2005. Intensive care specialist Dr. Lina Pavanelli has concluded that the ailing Pope's April 2 death was caused by what the Catholic Church itself would consider euthanasia. She bases this conclusion on her medical expertise and her own observations of the ailing pontiff on television, as well as press reports and a subsequent book by John Paul's personal physician. The failure to insert a feeding tube into the patient until just a few days before he died accelerated John Paul's death, Pavanelli concludes.
Moreover, Pavanelli says she believes that the Pope's doctors dutifully explained the situation to him, and thus she surmises that it was the pontiff himself who likely refused the feeding tube after he'd been twice rushed to the hospital in February and March. Catholics are enjoined to pursue all means to prolong life.
....The Church's doctrinal office released a one-page document, approved by Benedict, that denounced the cutting off of food and water to patients in a vegetative state even if they would never regain consciousness. This reaffirmed John Paul's stance in 2004 during the battle over ending artificial feeding for the severely brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, who was later taken off her feeding tube and died.
Hey Catholics! Whatever happened to THOU SHALT NOT KILL?
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