Statement of the Interreligious Working Group on Religions and Health
The ongoing debate in Portuguese society on the reality referred to as “assisted dying” calls upon everyone to engage in reflection and to offer their contribution in order to enrich a process of dialogue that requires the involvement of a plurality of social actors. Religious traditions carry a message about human life and death, as well as about the model of society that we are building, and it is both legitimate and necessary that they present this message with humility and freedom.
Now that the Assembly of the Republic is to discuss and vote on proposals for a possible law on euthanasia, we, the undersigned religious communities present in Portugal, aware that we are living through a moment of great importance for our collective present and future, declare:
1. The dignity of those who suffer
We believe that every human being is unique and, as such, irreplaceable and necessary to the society of which they are a part, possessing an intrinsic dignity that precedes any and every criterion of quality of life and usefulness, until natural death. Life does not lose its dignity as it approaches its end; rather, the particular vulnerability experienced at this stage is a special claim to dignity that calls for closeness and care.
We accept that all avoidable suffering should be avoided and, therefore, we are grateful that the development of medical and pharmacological sciences has reached a level that allows for effective relief of pain and the promotion of well-being. However, we do not ignore the dramatic nature of suffering and the difficulty involved in finding meaning in life’s experiences.
We know that religion offers a possibility of meaning to those who believe, but we also know, through the experience of accompanying so many people who are not religious, that the possibility of finding meaning in one’s own suffering does not depend on being religious. Indeed, from these people we have learned that this search is one of the greatest expressions of personal dignity.
The dignity of the person depends solely on the fact of their existence as a human subject, and personal autonomy cannot be emptied of its social meaning.
2. For a merciful and compassionate society
End-of-life suffering is, for each person, a spiritual challenge and, for society, an ethical challenge. Principles such as mercy and compassion, shared by different religious traditions, have shaped, throughout the history of civilization, social models capable of creating, at every moment, concrete ways of accompanying and caring for society’s most vulnerable members.
Today, human dying is one of the areas in which this challenge confronts us. What is asked of us is not that we give up on those who are living the final stage of life by offering them the legal possibility of choosing death, a choice that may arise from the experience of suffering without adequate care.
That is the true intolerable suffering: the suffering that creates the conditions for the desire to die. It arises from a society that abandons, that becomes dehumanized, that grows indifferent.
This conviction is reinforced by the experience that those who feel accompanied do not despair in the face of death and do not ask to die. What is asked of us, therefore, is that we commit ourselves more deeply to those who are living this stage, accepting the responsibility of offering them the possibility of a humanely accompanied death.
3. Palliative Care, an urgent and unavoidable requirement
We believe that palliative care is the fullest expression of the response that the State cannot fail to provide, because it combines the highest scientific and technical competence with the competence of compassion, both of which are essential for caring for those who are going through the final stage of life.
True compassion does not consist in insisting on futile treatments in an attempt to prolong life, but rather in helping a person to experience their own death in the most human way possible, respecting its natural course.
Palliative care does this by valuing the person until their natural end, relieving their suffering, and combating loneliness through the presence of family members and others who are meaningful to them.
We call upon Portuguese society to meet the urgent and no longer postponable requirement of extending access to palliative care to everyone, and we express our willingness and commitment to do everything within our reach to participate in this true national endeavour.
We cannot, however, fail to question whether the current debate, before this investment has been made, may be lacking in purpose.
Religious traditions profess that life is a precious gift and, for Abrahamic religions, a gift from God and therefore endowed with a sacred character; but this only confirms its natural dignity, from which derive its intrinsic inviolability and non-disposability, which therefore do not depend on religious foundations.
Religion, however, gives life meaning, hope, and another possibility of transcendence. Societies need this vision of humanity alongside all others.
We, the religious communities present in Portugal, believe that human life is inviolable until natural death and embrace a compassionate model of society. For these reasons, in the name of humanity and the future of the human community, which is a cause of religion, we feel called to intervene in the present debate on assisted dying, expressing our opposition to its legalization in any of its forms, whether assisted suicide or euthanasia.
Therefore, we jointly sign this Declaration.
Portuguese Evangelical Alliance
Pastor Jorge Humberto, representing the President of the Portuguese Evangelical Alliance, Dr. Pedro Calaim
Portuguese Hindu Community
Mr. Kiritkumar Bachu
Islamic Community of Lisbon
Sheikh David Munir
Jewish Community of Lisbon
Rabbi Natan Peres
Catholic Church
Cardinal Patriarch D. Manuel Clemente
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Archpriest Ivan Moody
Portuguese Buddhist Union
Eng. Diogo Lopes
Portuguese Union of Seventh-day Adventists
Pastor António Carvalho, representing the President of the Portuguese Union of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor António Amorim
Lisbon, 16 May 2018
