Last April, Belgian Catholic psychiatric hospitals that are operated by the Brothers of Charity, announced that they would allow euthanasia to be done in their institutions.
Soon after, Brother Rene Stockman, the superior general of the Brothers of Charity order, said he was devastated by the news and he asked the Vatican to intervene in this case.
According to Zenit news, the Vatican sent a letter to the Belgian Brothers of Charity condemning euthanasia and ordering them to stop euthanasia in their psychiatric institutions. Zenit news reported:
Vatican Radio reported August 11, 2017 that the Vatican Press Office confirmed that the Pope ordered the Brothers of Charity in Belgium to stop allowing euthanasia in the 15 psychiatric hospitals the group operates. The order came in a letter in early August.
The decision to allow euthanasia at Catholic psychiatric hospitals in Belgium was condemned by the Vatican through the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and the Brothers of Charity superior general in Rome, Bro. René Stockman.
The American Psychiatric Association recently condemned euthanasia for psychiatric reasons. The APA statement says:
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The American Psychiatric Association, in concert with the American Medical Association’s position on medical euthanasia, holds that a psychiatrist should not prescribe or administer any intervention to a non-terminally ill person for the purpose of causing death.
There is a growing number of people with psychiatric conditions who die by euthanasia in Belgium.
LifeNews.com Note: Alex Schadenberg is the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and you can read his blog here.
